From Car and Driver . com... Alas, on southern Ohio’s serpentine roads, the Prius was less a fish out of water than a corpse in a coffin. Body motions were poorly controlled. The Bridgestones and the torsion-beam rear suspension felt overwhelmed. And twirling the steering wheel was like pushing a doughnut through a vat of yogurt: zero on-center feel, numb, nobody home. What’s more, the Prius’s stability control is not only aggressive but can’t be disabled, as if the driver must be denied any semblance of fun. Question: What shall we do when the Prius is stuck in snow?
What's your point? Car and Driver says one thing in its magazine and another on its website? The thread title is "I love how my Prius Handles" not " Web sites praise Prius Handling! Also...the first sentence in this thread reads "on a positive note"...This is the first forum I have joined that is totally populated with buzz kills and haters! I don't get it...I enjoy my car's handling and I want to see if others do as well. I am very happy with the Prius and would not post if I did not care about the car. I am an enthusiast....which is what IMO Forum posters who actually own (or in my case lease) the vehicle should be! Heck I might just buy the car at the end of the lease (assuming it is worth anything once the Prius detractors populating this forum get through scaring the fence sitters away). Anyway WHAT'S YOUR POINT!
Just remember to keep in mind which models the magazines are driving. Most praises are from those that drove the "V" model. Those that drove the 15" alloy models tend to lean towards the poorer handling bit. (because the steering isn't as sharp and well the 15" tires aren't up to the job)
I also wonder if Car & Driver drove with 15's with stock air pressures. Things can be somewhat mushy running 35/33, but with higher (I do 38/35) the handling becomes nicer. Or perhaps C&D is speaking of the car's handling at the limits, which they would likely be. Then yes, of course the car is not going to take that corner as good as some of the cars they like. My personal thoughts - when not driving the car hard, it doesn't drive any worse compared to my '99 Civic EX that has sticky tires, stiff springs & shocks, a good rear sway. It definitely drives better than the same car in stock form (bad body roll, not much grip). And I don't find it that much less fun than my '06 Acura TSX either. But of course all this is not at the limits of traction, which I would never do anyways since my Prius is my commuter car that is supposed to save me $$$ in gas. I do say though that the Prius doesn't deal with frequent bumps very well. My Civic & Acura soak up bumps pretty well. The Prius - sometimes it gets into a bad sort of rhythm when there are irregular bumps/potholes on one side and not the other, then the car starts jostling left and right like a see-saw. But aside from that, I really like the Prius handling, its really good for what it is. I'm glad they gave the NA cars the touring suspension that they did across all the trims.
that jostling is due to the torsion beam rear axle. Your Civic and TSX would've had double wishbone rear suspensions.