Prius or TCH for long Highway drive ??? good and bad

No clue what a TCH is. Everyone makes three letter acronyms a guessing game. I know that TDI is the Volkswagen turbo diesel. If I posted Prius vs TDI I would not expect people to figure out that acronym. I would spell out the entire name of the car you are comparing it to.

The Prius will do better on the highway then the city. Unless you are in a city with no traffic lights and no stop signs and the speed limit is less then 35MPH. The winter gas will affect MPG’s. Running the heat will also affect MPG’s.

 

I think that you will find some who are partial to one, and some who are partial to the other. The last time I was at our dealership for service, I got into a conversation with another customer who was all into tire sizes and pressures, trying to find the 'perfect' ride. I am using stock tires. You need to test drive both cars to decide for yourself. I also recommend that you bring 2 or 3 friends and have them all ride in the back of both options. That is honestly the only way for 'you' to know what suits you best

 

What type car are you now using? That will define what you think is a comfortable ride. The Camry will be the smoothist ride (depending on your tires - LRR tires tend to give a rough ride). The Prius will give up you to 10 MPG better than the Camry. Cold weather will decrease the MPG of any car. You might get 40-45 MPG in the winter in a Gen III Prius. Your 75 mile trip helps. It's the ICE warm-up time that cuts MPG in the winter when doing many short trips. You don't give a location, what type of cold weather are you talking about?

 

We like our Prius because it suits our needs. However, being 6'-4" I would not want to drive it every day for 150 miles, unless I could move the driver's seat back further than it now moves. I think the stability and road-worthiness of our 2010 Prius is excellent, but of course we drive more conservatively than some. We have no cold weather driving experience because we winter in FL, but whenever the AC or heat are turned on, there is a loss of MPG. And I imagine that driving in the snow, slush, and very cold air will cause fuel mileage to be about the same as a small compact modern car. I suspect that the Camry hybrid will behave in the same manner as the Prius in cold weather.

 

If you want a smooth highway ride with optimum mpg's, I don't want to sound like a trader here, but I would take a long serious look at the Ford Fusion Hybrid which get 47 mpg on the highway which is only 1 mpg less that the 2010-2012 Prius.

 

I've had both and the TCH is the better highway car; better ride and more comfortable. The Prius will, of course, get better hwy mileage.

 

150 miles a day? Here's my advice: If you buy a Prius, buy a model with the Softex seats. This year's cloth seat models aren't very comfortable for such a long drive.

You won't make a mistake with either Prius or Camry. You should make your decision by test driving. I was going to get a Camry until I test drove Prius. I just liked it! And I really like being part of the PriusChat community.

One last thing -- with 150 miles round trip, don't bother with the Prius Plug-in. It won't be efficient with those distances.

 

Toyota Camry Hybrid aka HyCam

 

we have had both for 5 years. prius is great and gets around 60mpg at 55 mph. hycam is like a lexus compared to prius and we take ours to florida every winter and gets 40 mpg at 55mph. new hycam should get better mpg's, but how much i can't say. if it was me, i would rent a prius and see if i could handle 150 miles per day in it. all the best with your decision.

 

I don't have a HyCam, see my signature for what I drive... but I would say it depends on what your priorities are. If it's mpg first, you can't beat the Prius. But if you want a more comfortable/enjoyable drive, then go with the Camry Hybrid, it will drive pretty much like a normal car (200HP vs. 134HP) while still saving a lot of gas.

 

I highly doubt it has a V4 engine. I'll bet you that it has an inline 4 cylinder engine.

In cars sold as new in the US in the last 20-25 years, I don't think I've ever seen a V4 engine equipped car, at least not from an American or Japanese manufacturer.

 

Honda has an extensive history with V4 engines (1982-present) but it's in their motorcycle product line. My avatar is a 750cc V4. I see V4 used a lot, especially in used car ads, but I've always attributed it to a keyboard typo.

 

I would go with a TCH, the seats are more comfortable, the ride is better. You will pay more money and fuel economy is worse. Its 39 highway, versus prius 48 highway - so you will burn about 25% more gas, but that is a long time to spend in a car every day. Test drive them, and check out the seats and stereo. You may also want to wait and check out the 2013 fusion hybrid if you aren't in a rush.

My brother lives in chicago, and has a long long commute, and regularly beats epa in the tch. If you take shorter trips the cold gets you though. He really likes the improved mileage over his last car, but misses his infiniti G.

 

I would personally go with the Camry for long highway commutes. If your budget allows I would strongly look at the 2012 Ford Fusion Hybrid, it fits your commute perfectly. The Prius is not comfortable at all and being 6'3 does not help that.

 

All the honda cars have been i4s. The inline configuration is smoother, which makes a difference in a car engine. They use the Vee configuration in a bike because an inline would not fit.

 

Quite simply, no. Honda motorcycles were known for IL4's since 1969 when they shocked the world with the then groundbreaking CB750K, a transverse SOHC IL4. They rested on those laurels and were overtaken by others in both performance and size throughout the 70's. This was due to large scale kidnapping of their engineers over to the auto side to come up with the Civic, cvcc, accord, etc.

By the 80's, they need a "moon shot" to wake up the sleeping motorcycle arm and thus the V4 engine line, which was unique and unheard of, was born in 500, 750, 1000 and 1100cc versions. Both Yamaha and Suzuki tried with very limited success to bring out their own respective V4 lines but quickly reverted back to the tried and true IL4.

Modern Honda MotoGP race machines (Formula 1 equivalents) have been V4 and V5 over last few years.

 

OK, I stand corrected, I have never seen one on a honda. If they didn't switch to a Vee configuration to fit, what was its advantage over an inline four. I've driven yamahas with inline 4s, but I thought the honda v4 engines were physically larger.