Prius c Concept

Crap, it's coming out *after* I bought the Prius. If it were available in 2009 when I had to change my Polo, I would have bought it hands-down. I mean the Prius is comfy, excellent fuel consumption in town and at the time matched all my "goals". But a bit expensive. Likely I will not match the fuel savings with the extra €€€ paid to get it in the first place (compared to, say, another similarly sized, 3-4000€ cheaper car).

If it comes out next year and trading in the Prius to get one doesn't cost me a fortune and the mpg is markedly better than the Prius (to justify on the long term the costs of the swap) - I would really consider it. And BTW - the Yaris HSD is coming out soon as well. It is going to be a very interesting 2012...

 

I'm eagerly awaiting the Prius C or the Yaris HSD. My 2004 has been super and it will be hard to let it go, but coming close to semi-retirement, something a bit smaller but equally versatile will be just right. Gas prices aren't going down any time soon, unless the Chinese decide to go back to rikshaws and oxen-pulled carts.

I hope the C has all the amenities of the regular Prius -Smart key is a MUST. Eye-level display is important. The Yaris HSD can be the entry level hybrid but let the C be something a cut above.

 

You don't seem to be in the demographic that I am talking about.

That demographic wouldn't care if they were eating at at McDonald's or a fancy restaurant. To them, it's food and nourishment.

You only get utility from those features if that's what your looking for. Otherwise all the vehicles mentioned get you from point A to point B, in a relatively economic fashion. The difference is Prius has a higher capital cost, and lower operating cost. The others have a lower capital costs and higher operating costs. Many people would gladly purchase a lower cost vehicle, when the clear break-even point is 70-90k miles for a higher-priced (regular) Prius.

Fact is you can compare them within a different set of criteria, but it's your criteria not to.

Now my main point was the Prius c, with it's lower entry price, will attract a different sort of demographic that would otherwise not be looking at the regular Prius, due to that demographic's particular criteria.

 

^^ Sounds right

 

Don't hold your breath.

Amenities cost money, and the 'C' is meant to undercut the Prius in price.

 

It's midsize, but midsize has been growing That boat feeling is about the tires and suspension, on the prius C they should offer 16" or 17" rims as an option without forcing you to buy 5 trim. That's pretty standard on the competition. The drop in weight will help. Price is another factor in this segment. Really if you can drop smart key and drop the price $500 that would help. And hopefully if they are hitting people my age or younger they will get the stereo to work with ipods properely. My aftermarket is the thing most people think is high tech about the prius. Get rid of that 1990s instrument panel and make it modern.

It's not that the prius is too small, at all. There are other cars that serve those wanting boats, and toyota is pushing the vensa on them. The vensa could use a synergy drive though.

 

so where are the specs on this? is it known yet? all i see is that it promises much higher mpg then the current prius. Any speculation on pricepoint as well?

 

Nothing really. They are setting it up to be the lowest priced unit in the Prius family so I would think they may try for a $18k price point. Because it will be much smaller the MPG rating EPA should be closer to 60mpg combined if they use this new efficient engine design they are talking about. If they shrunk the weight down enough they may be able to get close to 60mpg with the existing engines.

But yes, all that is out there information wise is just speculation from what I have seen.

 

When the lease expires on the Fiesta this will be the car we are after. I cannot wait to see it come to fruition and I hope it looks like the proto because it is a sweet hatch.

Also hope it at least matches or beats the Prius in performance. If it could match the Fiesta that would be even better.

 

Fact is born!

Fwiw I guess the same numbers, or maybe 55 combined mpg. I say diesel killer.

 

What is the new efficient engine design? I haven't seen this talked about. Do you have any specs? Are they adding DI or cylinder idling?

 

The Start button is an important feature that deters thieves. I don't see any Prius departing from it. I don't understand the lack of information on this car if it will be in production in 10-12 months.

The EPA labeled the Gen2 and 3 at 46 (corrected) and 50 mpg. My impression is that the average driver will get 48 mpg in a Gen 2 and 51 in a Gen 3. The Prius c should be able to get 60 mpg combined.

Pricing will be interesting, I bought my Gen 2 package 2 for under 21000 and now the Gen 3 package II costs $23500. I'm hoping for something around $18,000.

I would really like this car, but I don't see how I could justify its purchase since I can get ~60 mpg in my Gen 2. At least until the battery warranty expires in 2015!

 

Sorry, I didn't mean to imply that the Prius C will have this design. I meant that if they incorporate this design into the Prius C then achieving 60mpg average should be easy.

http://priuschat.com/forums/prius-h...l-efficiency-engines-in-next-gen-hybrids.html

The GenII was actually rated 46mpg average after the 2008 EPA update. Since the 2010+ was rated the same way we have to use current EPA, not the ratings the car originally came with.

If you can get 60mpg in the GenII then imagine what you could get in a Prius C if it got 60mpg EPA. 70mpg shouldn't be a stretch.

 

70 mpg ? pffft.
73.4 mph in my round-trip yesterday, starting from a car rested 3 hours.

I have my eye on the 'C' if I do not buy PHV or EV. 80 mpg or bust.

 

Hmm and here I was thinking the Prius c might just be the 4th Gen Prius or at least get some future tech we'll find in the 4th Gen Prius. The push button start is pretty much the nom de guerre as far as Prius is concerned. Maybe there will be something to make the c stand out, other than the funny name letter.

 

I am waiting anxiously for this vehicle to hit production.

I hope the mesh seats stay intact in the production version (it would be a great way to cut weight and help City MPG).

 

Yes I hope new Prius lives up to hype as well. From what I have read it will be about the size of a Honda Fit. Only concern is they will have to shrink there hybrid system to fit the compact size they have set for themselves on vehicle. I have read at the moment they are having trouble accomplishing this.

 

Good point, but, on a technical level, didn't Toyota already accomplish the same feat (more or less) with the 60-MPG compact Auris Hybrid?

 

Prius c is based on something like new Yaris... Auris is very similar to Prius in size.

Since Prius c will be cheaper car, i cant see some uber advanced tech there, certainly not more advanced than Prius, otherwise it will be priced the same?

I think they would do good to hit 55 MPG.

 

Sure, but I think we can throw out concept 2, since I doubt toyota is going to drastically up the hp, so a turbo would need to be a 3-cylinder. Concept 1 has about 42% thermal efficiency or 10% better than the current prius. DI might be able to get you the same hp in a 1.5 or 1.4 liter engine as the current 1.8 and keep the rest of the psd while dropping weight.

Your other savings will be from weight and CdA. Let's say they drop the weight 10% and CdA by 5%, you can get to your 60mpg. For real world mpg electronic grill blocking would help. I think dropping lithium in there and a better hybrid ecu might save more, but toyota says want it to be the least expensive prius, so I doubt we will get all these advancements.

Why does the hybrid system need to shrink? They just need to shrink the rest of the car. I know the ct200 is smaller with the same hybrid system.

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