Summary of proposed improvements for future versions of Prius

I've had my 2010 model iv for 5 days and love it. There are many good suggestions here, but my priorities would be:

1. Power seats with heating, lumbar and memory.
2. Better audio. I think my gen II JBL sounds better.
3. Power mode on steering wheel for passing on highway. Also, the power mode should respond faster. It takes 2 or 3 seconds to kick in.
4. Blind spot warning buzzer (should be legally required on all new cars)
5. Bring back the black rubber external buttons on the outside car door handles. I still have my 2005 Prius and it is more convenient to press the button to lock the car than have to fish out my remote key and find the lock button.
6. Rain sensor on moonroof to automatically close it.
7. All leather seats with better leather, not just leather trimmed.
8. Why can't the nav voice have a sexy French accent?

Forget no: 8. (My wife does not approve)

 

I think they need to scrap the whole line.

Start over with something with really big wheels that is powered by a V8 engine only.

Enough of this "Harmony between Man, Nature and Machine", because we know that is never going to happen.

I think the next generation Prius needs to be exclusively an V8 ICE and the tagline needs to become "Sucking Gas and Kickin' nice person!". Plus, no more Kiddy Show advertising...give me Sexy women and explosions....If I see another felt covered nature sprite swaying to folk music as a Prius batteries past, I'm going to get sick.

(just kidding)

 

Some kinda dorky stuff about my shiny new Prius that I have not read about already

• Steering: A little hard to describe, but the steering feels strangely disconnected from the front wheels. Is the steering "fly by wire" like the brakes and accelerator? In a "normal" car, you "nudge" the steering wheel to make a correction, and afterwards it springs back to where it was. In the Prius, after you nudge the wheel, it stays nudged, and you have to position it back to where you want it. This is not a big deal, but just different and will take getting used to.
• Bluetooth:
  • For years I have dreamed of a car/phone partnership that just works. No tweaking, no twiddling, no looking on the internet to see what to do. Just get in the car, it sees your phone, and the car takes over as the interface. Get out of the car and it lets go. The technology should not be that difficult, but since there is no standard for the phones, the car mfrs have to contend with hundreds of different phone designs. I have an AT&T Blackberry 8310. The car sees the phone, and for incoming/outgoing calls, I can use the car's mike and sound system. But to place a call or see who is calling, I have to use the phone's handset.
  • Even if I could upload contacts, wassup with the 20 contact limit? I have over 400 contacts in my phone! It would be nice if they could eliminate the need to upload contacts altogether and just have the car be a portal for the contacts that reside on the phone. Maybe in a few more years...
  • The car only uses the front left speaker up under the windshield for phone communication. Again, not a big deal, but why couldn't they use all the speakers?
  • I hooked up the wire from the BB to the car's Aux input to see if I could use Pandora instead of having to pay for satellite. Cheap, I know, but hey, why not? I could get it to work, but the phone would lock up or error unpredictably if you tried to send/receive a call. But I am thinking this is the phone's problem, not the car's.
• Climate Control:
  • I may be wrong, but I think that in "Auto" mode, the CC is not smart enough to know when to turn the AC on and off. Example: Warm day, get in the car, start it up, CC blows hot air because you didn't press the AC button.
  • If you are wearing polarized sunglasses, you can't see the LCD displays for the CC (I don't have NAV).
  • You can't see the green LED indicators on the buttons if the sun is on them.
  • The set-point display always shows the temperature you have the CC set for. In my previous car, it would show the set point temp while you were changing it, then revert back to showing you the cabin temperature. I kinda miss that.

 

Re: Some kinda dorky stuff about my shiny new Prius that I have not read about already

You should move this stuff to the summary of proposed improvements page in the Sticky section....

 

I think the next generation Prius needs to be exclusively an V8 ICE and the tagline needs to become "Sucking Gas and Kickin' nice person!". Plus, no more Kiddy Show advertising...give me Sexy women and explosions....

(just kidding)[/QUOTE]


Getting drunk and posting is a bit dangerous...It always comes back to you...

 

Remember the 81 Nissan's with the sexy voice reminder? I think it was the 240sx that had it... Also didn't the Mitsu Starion have that feature as well...Anyway it wasn't a bad idea...There could be a driver selectable ladies option as well so we are not totally sexist.

Remember when listing your recommendations is that a lot of what is wrong with today's fleet has to do with weight. A Prius that weighs 3300 lbs is the wrong idea. Every bit of this vehicle is a compromise between size/comfort/power/weight/fuel economy. For me I think Toyota has done a pretty good job.

 

Re: Some kinda dorky stuff about my shiny new Prius that I have not read about already

The steering is the same rack and pinion type steering found on any other kind of car. The system for power boost however is completely electronic so it feels a little "odd" when compared to a regular car.

You want to leave the "A/C" on all the time. When it is off, the vehicle is just blowing vented outside air. If you leave it in "Auto" and leave the A/C on you can set it and forget it.

 

Getting drunk and posting is a bit dangerous...It always comes back to you...[/QUOTE]

What's really scary? I was totally sober.

 

They could call it the Prius Type R! Add a couple stickers and the horsepower immediately improves. Instead of EV mode, there could be ICE mode. Push a button and the engine roars to life and revs near its limit, even at a complete standstill.

 

Re: Some kinda dorky stuff about my shiny new Prius that I have not read about already

The climate control will turn the ac on and off as required only if you have the ac active. Think of the ac button not as on/off but rather as allowed/not allowed. If the ac is not allowed then the CC will do it's best without it.

 

Re: Some kinda dorky stuff about my shiny new Prius that I have not read about already

I never heard of a 20 Contact Limit. As far as I know it is 1000 Contacts. I have around 200 Contacts and they were all uploaded. (iPhone 3G)

 

Re: Some kinda dorky stuff about my shiny new Prius that I have not read about already

As for the AC not working on the auto setting, it's possible Toyota reacted to the confusion found in the Gen II climate control setting. Near as I could figure it, there was no setting named "auto" and they instead called it AC. Many thought that turned on the air conditioning in addition to acting as an "auto" setting. There was confusion over whether you could operate the climate control system without it being able to use AC.

 

Re: Some kinda dorky stuff about my shiny new Prius that I have not read about already

I believe the (US) Non-NAV phone, which the OP has, is limited to 20. Never tried to add that many myself but I saw it on the video for other non-NAV Toyotas.

 

Re: Some kinda dorky stuff about my shiny new Prius that I have not read about already

No, my Gen II has an auto setting. The system in the Gen II, the Gen III, and every other Lexus/Toyota I've ever had works exactly the same.

 

The things I miss most are a tach, a LMPG system , and a total lack of eye candy. Toyota engineers should check out the Fit, and the new Insight for how to create nice looking feedback instruments with actual color. I do like the MPG which was why I was willing to trade off the other things. Ted

 

Why did Toyota eliminate the black buttons on the door handles to lock the car used in generation ii? They were easier to use than having to reach for the fob.

 

a) with current battery technology, it will improve fuel economy below 40 miles (near 0), but will also make the car heavier, hence making fuel economy worse over 40 miles (e.g. GM's Volt). Be ready to pay a premium for such a huge battery (several thousands more).
b) be ready to pay the premium for a diesel engine
c) good idea for the Prius PHEV. In would simply require a better EBH technology that can create more heat and with more control. I hope they do it.

 

You don't need to use the FOB with a Gen III... The black push-buttons were replaced with solid-state touch sensitive controls. Simply touch to handle to lock the car.

 

Really? I had no idea. I'm going to try it now. Just last week I learned from a woman in California that you have to press firmly to move the map in nav. I learn something about my new car every day from Priuschat. Thanks!