Hi All, I'm based in Bangkok, Thailand, recently traded in my 5 yr old Toyota Fortuner SUV for a Prius GEN III(V), the models are quite confusing, I'll post a pic later & let's decide which model it is. My suspicion is that because it's manufactured in Thailand, it's a Prius GEN III Model (Localised Hybrid) between IV & V as it has all the bells & whistles of V, including TRD exterior kit, LED lamps, fancy front seats, but it has no advanced electronics options, i.e. Radar, Parking Assist, Navigator, etc & it sports R16 rims instead of R17. Any ideas??? John
Toyota Prius Interesting that in Thailand the Prius starting price is lower than the Camry. If you have 16" rims you might have a "TRD Sportivo".
Welcome, congrats on the new car! Also, from your subject I picture you having this sort of hairdo http://img2.timeinc.net/people/i/2008/news/080211/new_kids320.jpg
Yes, I guess that right, so which Prius Gen III is it classified? IV, V or TRD Sportivo? Wished I was still that young, Mike.
Hi Johnsky88, Just bought mine yesterday, same specs as yours, hopefully to be delivered on Monday. What sort of MPG are you getting? Any success with pulse and glide driving in Bkk?
Hi Bkkorupcountry, Driving around BKK City...best so far is approx. 43MPG, pulse & glide is fairly useful on the roads so long as no one's behind you, then again u'll find irate drivers who thinks that this Prius is a green roadhog despite driving normally, that's when the "Power" button come in handy! Have fun! Point to note though, say goodbye to "Neutral" parking that's so common here, you can't do it with this car.
I'm yet to get mine so haven't had a chance to try out the P&G technique - hope it's not too difficult. Are you generally on Eco mode or the 4th mode which is normal driving? Good point about the Neutral parking - when the power is switched off, the car automatically goes into Park. For folks in USA who don't know what this means, double parking is very common in Bangkok but drivers leave their car in neutral so that it can be pushed out of the way if necessary.
I've only been driving it for abt two month, still playing around with the different modes which I've so far concluded as follows : EV Mode : Fun to quietly sneak out of your estate in the mornings or when you had a late night. ECO Mode : When you're stuck in traffic or in a carpark. PWR Mode : On the highway OR when someone's dissing you for driving a Prius Normal Mode : Just everything else that's not covered on the above. Have not had the chance to really try out the "Cruise Control" in BKK though, roads with smooth traffic's too short here! Probably use it the next time I'm heading out of BKK. All-in-all, I'm very pleased with this new "toy", especially when I'm saving abt 50% on fuel as compared to my previous Fortuner SUV. Though I must admit that there's times when I missed the cabin space I used to have. But hey, I just started on my new biz, so I need to buckle up on my $$$...at least in style!
Haha. I also considered the Fortuner SUV Diesel but apparently there is a new model coming out soon so the dealer said they are not selling any news ones at the moment. The way I worked it out, if I can get 20km/l, I would save about Thb1,000 each time I went to the missus village in Yasothon. Enough to bring the whole "extended" family out for a meal
I've driven the Fortuner for the past 5 yrs & believe me, it's has it's advantages of looking quite fearsome on the road whereby you'll get some respect fm buses here. However, I hope your whole "extended" family is not a BIG group as it normally is, you can probably squeeze max. 6 persons, but who knows, a 70CC bike here can carry up to six already! You shld be able to get at least 20+km/l, considering I'm getting around 18km/l driving in BKK city. Have fun!
You can fit 8 in a Thai taxi or tuk-tuk including the driver...so I'd imagine about that plus two children sitting in the cargo area...
