Discussions comparing the CT200h to the Prius have been alive in the Lexus forums for a while now. I'm a bit surprised that this topic hasn't shown up here yet so I guess I'll start one. While we absolutely love our 2010 V I'm thinking this might make a nice companion to it. Or for those simply looking for a higher trim Prius from Lexus this is much closer than the HS250. From what I've gathered its got the Prius drivetrain but is slightly smaller and has more lux treatments and sporty handling. Current guesses are putting the price one notch above the V and below the HS250h. Personally I'd like to see an AWD variant but know that's not realistic. Unfortunately it looks like we in the US will have to wait a bit as the rest of the world will get it first (this fall) before it finally makes it to the US in "early 2011". What's your take on this Prius cousin?
A Prius in Lexus trim would be cool as long as it doesn't get too expensive. We love our Lexus RX400h but that's a $50k luxury SUV. Our Prius IV with leather and Nav is nice. It needs nice 17" alloys, fancier interior trim, and power/memory seats, mirrors, and steering wheel. That is all you really need to get it close to Lexus trim.
It looks like a Mazda 3 hatchback. Apparently uses the same drive train as our cars, same engine at least. May have more sophisticated suspension, hopefully without the live rear axle set up we have. Anxious to read a road test of the U.S. version if there is going to be one. Not a choice for me because the nearest Lexus dealer is 200 miles away. I suspect most Lexux buyers will opt for a car with better performance and most hybrid buyers will choose a Prius.
I'm thinking the look they were going for was the BMW 1 series 5 door. Although 300hp would be cool I don't need it as much has good handling to have fun (at least at anything remotely close to what's legal) so I'd rather have double the fuel efficiency and lower emissions. I agree that there it's pretty close to a V and it would be a tough choice if I could only pick one. However, I already have two Prius (the other one's my son's 2007) so the choice doesn't apply to me. However I do think I fit their target demographic (except I'm probably older). Although I can afford the other Lexus hybrids, and like many aspects of them. I've long since outgrown my lust for power and now value high efficiency (within reason) and decent handling more. (The HS250 missed on both). Since we don't have to haul kids around anymore the extra space of the larger vehicles is wasted. So basically I see this as giving me more of the Lexus interior quality (although I'm not kidding my self it's going to be in the same class as the LS) in what basically amounts to a slightly smaller Prius with a better suspension. 50mpg, better handling than my Prius, and Lexus interior trim hits on the most important points for me. The only misses are that I like the extra space of the Prius and could take advantage of AWD, even if it cost me few mpg.
I guess I am still young so speed does matter still. I am sucker for amazingly padded and well build interior (Prius was a big sacrifice for me). I won't get either of those since I've got a Prius now, but if I have to choose one now I will probably go for the Plugin Prius because it will be more pratical to me since I want to start a family. But If I am like some whoes kids have already grown up then I probably will think about the CT200h for some fun. But actually I won't chose any of those I will get the $85,000 plug in sports hyrbrid car.
I've already seen blogs of others saying they'd like more than 134 net HP for the CT 200h. At 6'2" tall, I likely wouldn't have enough extra headroom in the CT200h. I've got a little over 4" between my head and roofliner in my 2009 thanks to modded seat. CT200h sits like a sports car with a low roof. Looks like fun but seeing photos of rollover accidents has me thinking about safety - best headroom I can get in a Mazda3 with sunroof is maybe 1" clearance from headliner. Not enough.
Very very interesting but it seems that information is yet to give us a clear idea of what it will cost in the US and what the MPG will be. Lot of speculation on both, but I can't find an announcement which shows the actual claims by Lexus... frankly if it is close to the Prius, I think I'd much rather go with this. HDD nav instead of the silly DVD, moonroof without having to buy the solar panel,
I talked to the Lexus guys at the Denver auto show about the CT200h. They said that they "heard" that mpg would be in the mid 40's. That makes sense, even though it is slightly smaller, since the 200h will have extra luxury features that add weight such as power seats, sun roof (I think), etc. That seems like a reasonable trade off to me for more features and hopefully a more solid feeling interior.
Yeah, I've been doing more research on every article I can find and it seems like they are aiming at 45mpg which would be very very impressive. I'll definitely be waiting for it to come out to see how it fares, but the listed extras quite frankly blow the prius out of the water. I think I can sacrifice a 10mpg or so if it lives up to what's being promised at the price range being quoted (seen anywhere from $27k to $33k).
The similar Lexus prototype at the L.A. autoshow seemed a lot smaller inside. Smaller than the difference in specs. I am all for a luxury small hybrid. The prototype was very small which may take it out of the equation for utility. We'll see in about a year and a half or two when it can be compared head to head with the Prius PHEV.h34r: Just gotta wait and wait and wait.
My problem is that most of the 'luxury' items do not interest me, so my chances of being able to buy a small PHV Prius with excellent suspension (but little of the extras) is remote. Woe is me.
Seems way overpriced to me but I've never been big on luxury. I prefer size, fuel economy, power as main things. If it's similar in performance to the Prius and costs gobs more I'd never be interested.
Auris Hybrid is coming here in July, apparently. The press release for that had it getting slightly better fuel economy than the Prius. Given that the CT is a ground-up design and the Auris a modified existing model, I would expect the Lexus to have better aerodynamics, and while the CT will probably be heavier than the Auris, it might not be quite as heavy as the Prius. The improved Auris figure was for 15" wheels though - with 17" wheels it was the same as the 17" wheel Prius. One major difference is that the CT will have fully-independent rear suspension, where the Auris has a torsion-beam setup.
i don't see why a few luxury features would reduce mileage much. i don't see a difference when i have a 150 lb. passenger. nobody ever talks about poor mileage because they weigh 250 lbs and someone else 140? why can't the lexus just be a luxury prius? same mpg, nicer all around?
