2010 Toyota Prius Photos and release specs posted

I'll buy that. Right now my Scangauge is perched on top of the
MFD, so it's a quick rightward but minimal jog of the eyeballs
to see it rather than a minimal jog down. It's when instrumentation
is mounted way down under the stereo or something that it starts
getting silly.
.
_H*

 

The switch 'conveniently' located under the arch where you won't be able to reach it while seated. At least not if you have a right leg (and maybe not even then).

 

.... MUCH!! I don't have to take my eyes off the road at ALL now, the buttons are all tactile. With the new system (besides the problem of winter driving with gloves on) you need to watch the HUD to see when you have your finger on the right place. LESS SAFE.

Um, what happens if the fob battery dies and you don't just happen to have a spare of the right type (and if still needed, a TEENY TINY Phillips screw driver) handy? Save even more gas I guess since you'll be walking? Or is there MAYBE a less shape specific place you can drop the fob so the car can read the chip? And do they still have an SKS defeat switch so the 12V doesn't get drained if you go off on vacation for a month?

Some more impressed than others I guess

• The arch is a horrid encroachment, a waste of space and the cup holder placement is bad.
• All the specific buttons around and under the MFD are NOT more ergonomic. The climate control buttons are not tactile other than fan speed and temp which will require the driver to look WAY off the road to find the right one (though temp up/down are still on the wheel). AND you have to reach over the shifter to get to most of them. You can't go directly to the fan speed you want, instead you have to press and wait. It looks like they now have a vent button, but I see no easy way to set the vent positions (face, face/feet, etc). Now I hit the Climate button on the MFD surround and the specific position I want (usually defrost/feet since the auto climate control doesn't know you need that ALL the time when the outside temp goes below about 45, at least here).
• They have lost the front and rear Defrost buttons from the wheel, as well as the Auto A/C button. Apparently the Info and Map buttons as well even on the Nav equipped car. Those are some of the wheel controls *I* use MOST. In fact, the only ones I DON'T use now are the phone buttons since I don't have a Bluetooth phone. Actually, I don't use the voice control much either, it is faster to hit the buttons on the MFD or the steering wheel.
• Since they lost many of the most useful (to me) wheel buttons, they could have at least moved the CC controls on to it. I happened to have my right knee in the wrong place under the wheel while turning the other day, lucky the CC stalk didn't snap off.
• The touted 'more ergonomic' move of the shifter off the dash AND super-sizing it is NOT more ergonomic since the driver RARELY has any need to touch it. At MOST, I touch mine twice when driving. PERHAPS once to reverse and ONCE to put it in Drive. It puts itself in Park when I power down. Why do I want it sitting in the middle of the car like some prima dona?
• While at least they didn't move the gauges back behind the steering wheel, shifting the whole HUD right means the driver must divert her/his eyes farther off the 'straight ahead' view to keep tabs on the speed. At least they have kept the energy and consumption screens but moving them to the HUD necessitates they be smaller, thus harder to read quickly.

Have they totally blown off the MFD if you don't get the Nav system? I guess so seeing later pictures with a radio/CD module in place of the NAV screen module. I guess that is the way the Camry Hybrid comes. Really sad they are moving LACK of ergonomics from other vehicles onto the new Prius rather than moving CURRENT Prius 'high points' to other vehicles. And is the Nav screen smaller than the current screen or does it just look that way? The position appears more horizontal, thus MORE likely to have glare. Might as well just get a portable Nav system and save a lot of money. A lot cheaper to get new maps as well.

The GOOD thing about the current Prius IS the MFD (though I admit to finding it very wierd at first) and all the easy to see/use screens. The BAD thing is that Toyota didn't make MORE use of that screen to set things like seat belt beepers, reverse beeper, maintenance light reset, TPMS reset, etc. Now they have removed it entirely?? SAD.

Yeah, sorry, I am even more disappointed after seeing these pictures than I expected to be from the 'peep show' pictures.

 

Those don't show in the TireRack survey. The 2 Bridgestones that are there scored poorly, just above the Integrity.

These scored a LITTLE better than the Integrity but still 17th of 18 on the list of Grand Touring. WHY does Toyota insist on putting bad tires on the Prius??

 

OK, while there is nothing new I NEED in the 2010 Prius and a LOT I don't like (no sale here) I guess I should at least post the positives:

• Adjustable driver's seat
• More rear travel for the driver's seat
• More rear head room (does that also translate to more front head room?)
• More rear leg room, though it was already top of the pack for mid sized cars so it wasn't a big 'need'.
• An EV switch FINALLY. And hopefully the ECO switch will allow better acceleration (or small slope climbing) without the ICE kicking on. EV won't engage when the ambient temp is COLD (at least in the current models with aftermarket EV) so it would be nice if ECO could hold 'auto EV' longer.
• All windows auto up/down
• 6 or 7% better FE with 134 combined HP. I don't think the HP needed to go up at all (let alone 22%) and they might have gotten a better FE increase if they stuck with the 1.5L but at least they didn't go to the (I think) 170 combined HP with the 1.8L that was posted a short while back
• sun roofs for those who won't buy a car without one

What I wish they HAD included:

• Lots of time and money on the 'cooling while parked' design, nice for those who need it. Where is the Winter Package that has engine compartment insulation and coolant temp controlled air flow blocking for those of us who suffer greatly from cold weather mileage hits??? I bet it would be cheaper than the solar cell controlled ventilation AND save a lot more fuel. I don't suppose you can get the solar cells to charge the traction battery.
• ScanGuage like information on the MFD. OK, there is no MFD , on the HUD then.
• User controlled electric cabin heaters running off the traction battery. The ability to use them, like EV, can be computer controlled relative to SOC. I don't know about other areas, but my battery is 7 green bars 70% of the time in winter and rarely goes below 6 blue. The colder it gets, the greener the battery. Let me use some of it to warm the inside of the car while the ICE warms up as I drive. I guess seat heaters are OK but it isn't my butt that is cold, it is my face.
• PHEV (though I knew not to expect it just yet) and I'm not sure even that would pull me over the ergonomic backslide in the 2010 driver's 'cockpit'.

And some questions:

• Are they going to make an EBH available to everyone now or do they still think only Canadians need them?
• If one wants the solar venting, do they also have to pay for a sunroof?
• If you want Nav are you stuck paying for the sunroof and or solar venting?
• Generically, which 'features' are you forced to buy to get one you want?

 

new prius does have heat recirculation system like in new RX450h, that also speeds up cabin warmup... in rx450h, we know it speeds up vehicle shutdown by 15 minutes at -5 cold start...

pretty much everything i see if awesome positive.. and real life pictures are even better... interior quality and options and even better... 10% better mileage, considerably better cold performance (not counted in those 10%), 20% more power, all in all, pretty awesome....

about only thing i didnt like was seat heater placement, but people complaining about seat warmer switches just shows how good new prius is .

 

Why has Toyota decided to make the wheels asymmetrical? On the one side, it looks slick with the 'flare' tapering to the back. On the other side it looks goofy as it tapers to the front. I wonder if it has an effect on air flow past the wheel.

 

I am disappointed in the mpg on 2010 prius. I don't think I will be trading in on a new prius, not enough improved gas mileage from 47 to 50, 3 mpg isn't worth it.

 

its 10% improvement... and 20% more power... and bigger, more luxurious cabin.
Pretty much what gen2 was to gen1 and look how that turned out

 

I'm pretty sure Toyota has been very clear for quite a while that this would not be the plug-in release or the li-ion release. I'm not aware of any other production vehicle currently available using li-ion, are you? Both the soon to be released Ford Fusion Hybrid and new version of the Malibu Hybrid are still using NimH. Using Li-ion for standard hybrids generally makes less sense anyway, as the increased cost doesn't buy you much. In the Prius it would save about 30-40lbs. Using them in PHEVs is more complicated, as you have to exercise them over a much greater portion of their SOC range. This makes for a lot more challenges in the realm of reliability and lifetime, and consequently means a lot more testing and tweaking. I know its frustrating to wait, but I'd rather see them take the time to get it right than rush it out and have a whole lot of negative publicity due to battery problems.

Rob

 

for those who did not get today's invite only email here are some details:

there are 3 levels, Gold, Silver, and Platinum

your sunroof cannot be separated from the solar panels

ordering the sunroof / solar panels and your preorder will not come with
intelligent parking assist, lane assist, radar cruise control, the led lights, etc.
the sunroof is limited to only the middle package

Originally i was going to post the jpg of the option packages but i don't feel like getting sued. i already risked my computers opening up strange emails, i don't need to take more risks

 

Got the email thread and read through it all. I've fallen off the map on this one and didn't even know a Gen III was coming out. Yeesh.

Some nice improvements, but less than I would have hoped for (remember seeing plug in prius photos some time ago from Toyota (holding my breath anticipation)). Seems more like a minor upgrade for those who already have the Gen II, unless you have an extra $20,000 kicking around.

Makes me glad I have an '05 Gen II

shaun

 

That depends on where you live. Here in Minnesota, the new design will provide a big boost to MPG during the winter.

Many of us will easily exceed that EPA number too. Wait for the real-world data to start coming in.
.

 

Late in the evening... several drinks to the wind... I actually managed to ask this. I personally asked Jill, 'cause I liked her and she helped take the cover off the first car so I figured she was pretty high up the chain.

So the deal is... there is no slot for the fob. There is apparently a reader IN the start button. You hold the thing to the start button and it'll read the chip of a remote with no battery in it. There appears to be no way of turning off the SKS system. One assumes that they've made it significantly lower power, and a defeat just isn't needed.