Comparing the TCH to the 2010 Prius

I was asked this question on a PM but thought it might be of interest to people considering a Prius or a TCH.

I don't get my V until later this week. I'll let you know more then. I was very pleased with my TCH overall although the handling was a little mushy. But since I never intended to push it, it wasn't really a problem. However, I did find on mildly twisty 2 lane roads I had to slow for the curves which was something I never had to do in previous sporting cars (Infiniti FX45 / 350Z / Audi TT, etc...) I felt that by needing to slow down it actually cost me FE since I had to then accelerate coming out of the curve. I'm only guessing the Prius II thru IV may have a similar concern thus my decision to go with the V. I live on that 2 lane road so every drive starts out with that route before I hit the interstate.

I'm guessing that both the TCH and Prius will be equally quiet with the tires being the main factor. Although I have heard the Prius may be noisy, I really didn't notice it on my short test drive of a 2009 with that being one of the things I wanted to check. My TCH came with V rated Bridgestones that didn't last long (24,000 miles to completely worn out) and as they wore they became noisier and they had a lot of road noise. I later changed them out for Michellin's and they were much better. They lasted longer and were much quieter.

The TCH was a comfortable car. While it is wider, it still is not large enough (like most mid-size cars) to be comfortable for three in the back, although it can be done if everyone is friends.

It has a limited size trunk that I never found to be an issue. It is shaped well and easy to pack a lot of stuff. People that looked at the trunk complained but I don't remember anyone who bought one really saying it wasn't enough. However, the pass through space was small.

The TCH did have more than adequate power. Once a novice (me at that time) gained confidence that the car at a standstill with no ICE running could pull out in front of traffic safely there was no further concern. The same will be the experience for the Prius owner. I will have to thromp on the Prius when I get it to feel comfortable with how much power it has, which will be less than the TCH (but it is a lighter car so may be proportinate).

Interestingly, the new Lexus 250h has the power of the TCH but I believe it to be in a smaller package more similar to the Prius. Smaller size, more power. Might interest a lot of people, but it will be a $40K car. I thought of waiting for it, but since the Prius will be my third car and daily driver I really don't need the added cost and luxuries. Plus, I really like the looks of the 2010 Prius.

The new EPA ratings on the TCH are silly. It seems to be more in line with what Motor Trend and others achieved when testing cars. And they didn't test them for FE they did performance tests. Without doing anything more than sensable driving I was able to easily average 38 mpg. Later when my wife started commuting daily to babysit the grandkids did our average drop to 37.5. That was over 67,000 trouble free miles.

I traded the TCH for a HH because my only 4wd was an Expedition and my wife was driving that in the winter (I never bought snow tires for the tCH because we had a 4wd). I don't like the 14mpg of the Expedition so thus the 24 mpg HH suits us fine as an all around vehicle. I still thought for a large % of our driving the Prius sould serve us well and thus we'll put the Expedition out to pasture for use in towing and vacations. I may get rid of it this fall.

I am absolutely sold on Toyota's hybrid technology. I laugh at articles saying it will be obsolete. How is that? Untill all the current cars are off the road it will still be a better used car in 5 to 10 years than the rest. New technology will come out, but this system will never be bad, just maybe not as good as the newer technology.

It will be interesting to see how American makers attack the 35mpg mandate. Will it simply mix snall economy cars with Gas guzzlers as in the past for an average OR will it develop entire lines of cars with good FE? They still seem to be stuck on putting large V8's to make their power. I don't trust them to develop overall good FE products but they might. I don't want a cheap econo car. I'd love to have a Vette or even new Camaro that gets 35 mpg. A Tahoe that gets 25+ would be great too. I'll just have to wait and see.

 

I was able to average 44.5 for 300 miles when on vacation at Nags Head. Mostly 40 to 45 mph driving all flat. My 37.5 lifetime was mostly driving in the hills of WV.

I'm really curious to see what I can do in the Prius. That's part of what made me lean towards the Prius originally.

 

I would think all things considered a hatchback would put more road noise into the cabin that a car with a trunk