Does anyone have a nice high resolution photo of what the underside of the Prius looks like? Just wondering. Also, so I can see what people are talking about with respect to various things under the car. Thanks.
The 2010 Prius is a thing of engineering beauty, no matter which side you view it from. Thanks for the pictures Paradox..... Keith
I have no idea. It is so beautiful. Everything is covered up. Very streamlined. Are all cars like this or just the Prius. From my limited experience, I don't think all cars are this streamlined. Although I haven't looked at the undercarriage of cars for some time.
Sorry all, I put the link to the thread before the pics but the photos are courtesy of Lutece7 in the linked thread. As for other vehicles, while 'some' may have plastic added to the bottom for airflow the Prius has more than most. It is all added to help keep airflow moving smoothly under the car so it does not begin to get all turbulent under the car.
Does anyone have similar of Gen II ? The Gen III seems to be much more protected then the II. I need a reference I hit something on my dirt road and really dont know if something is missing.
There's a thread in the Gen II forum showing photos of a Gen II in accident flipped on its side, and the undercarriage is pretty similar but not as complete.
I'd love to see a current shot of the undercarriage of that same car. I was dissappointed when I kneeled down the other day to look at the underside of mine. It was dirty and "rusty looking". I don't think it's actually rust, but I surely didn't expect to see so much discoloration on the "silver areas" in such a short amount of time. (purchased in June '09)
Consequence of living in the rust belt I suppose... In all seriousness though... They all get ugly pretty quickly. My wife's 06 Outback looks much terrible than my 06 prius on the belly.
It looks like the model cars I use to build when I was a kid. You would think the Prius would have a much quieter ride?
We own a 2002 prius that spend the first 6 years in PA. When we first got it I gave it a once over. The underside of the car was incredibly rusty for a car that was just 6 years old. I wound up spending a week underneath it with a wire wheel brush and black spray paint. I know Toyota has had some issues with rust for the past 10 years or so. My Tacoma was actually one of the worst. Luckily it had spend all of its life outside the snow belt so it is fine. But I've seen pictures from others who live in those areas and some of those frames were rusted through.
My Prius 2010 was serviced for the 15.000km oil change last Sept after 1-year of usage and one snowy and cold german winter. Looked together with the technician the undercarriage and he asks "do you park your can in a garage, right?" - I smile and say - "No, on a road" - "It looks like you have kept it in a garage this past year - it is perfect". German Technicians see a lot of stuff in their lives and german winters and salt on the roads are not gentle; I trust his comment - he had no interest in saying what he said for any other purpose. I wash the undercarriage at least at the beginning and at the end of winter and after a long trip on the highway where they use salt.
Thanks for the photos! After sticking my head under my new Gen3, I thought I was missing a bunch of panels - I guess it's not as covered-up as I was expecting. My '06 diesel smart, by comparison, is a complete solid plastic slab underneath. -Iain
Crept over a parking lot curb and landed with a thud (long story). Wanted to compare my undercarriage with the standard to make sure the slight bends I noticed were part of the design. The bends I'm speaking of are in the (for lack of a better term) three-bolt L-brackets behind the front wheels (also just behind the forward lift points). The bend is where the L meets up with the footwell; more pronounced on the passenger's side. Judging from the images, this looks like an intentional design. But whereas the image shows an L-bracket, my 2011's bracket is closed; same size as the L-bracket, but with additional framing to connect the ends to make a closed triangle. Do any other 2011 owners have this triangular bracket versus the L? Do they also see the slight bend I'm talking about?
