Gen III Prius - Dashboard and Center Console design.

Aesthetically it look great and it places controls within reach and view. The main problem I have is glare from the sun! That's the only complaint but it's a major one. As much as I hate the aftermarket visor for the touchscreen, I just might have to buy it.

 

I really like the layout and hope a similar but more advanced layout is on the next gen. If the shifter is placed on the dashboard I will be very disappointed.

 

I love the look of the console. It's one of the things that swayed me toward the Prius. We call it the Enterprise.

Nexus 7 ? HD

 

The floating bridge console may be futuristic, but it doesn't work very well IMO. Look at the pickle they are in with the cupholders: For 2010/11 they had a sliding armrest to reveal the 2nd cupholder which jutted into back passenger space. Then they shorten the armrest for 2nd cupholder, but the armrest is short. It's already been criticized by Consumer Reports year ago for making it hard to reach seat heater switches and for me 12V outlet.

Without the blocky floating bridge, they could just have the shifter and 2 cupholders down low like the other 14 car models currently outselling Prius to date in '13. Here's a BMW 328i. Think BMW makes console this way just for looks or futuristic? pfft, no. Because it works well.

Floating bridge more like 'floating barrier' console between husband /wife, boyfriend/girlfriend, so / so.

and the 'prototype' interior was called out to probably be the CT200h dash.

 

i like it, but i wish there was more storage and the shifter was on the steering wheel. i bump it every time i reach for the switches to the right of it.

 

I really like that it's not over-designed. We test drove a lot of cars that had overly complicated dashboards and interiors. The Fords had way too many buttons, the Civic had too many gauges, etc.

Of course, this is subjective and people will have different opinions. I'm a designer (user interface) and prefer cleaner designs. The flying bride works well for me-the cup holders are perfect for my Kleen Kanteen and the space underneath is perfect for my phone.

Overall, I like that the Prius is different inside and out. It's much more interesting(to me) than a typical sedan.

 

I had a BMW 335 coupe like the picture above. The cup holders were on the dash not the console and they were spring loaded, and would swing out and were horrible. I prefer the Prius console and layout of the cupholders

 

Ironic that you use this as an example as I don't think it's dash that works well. The E46 was better. What's terrible about that is air controls are hard to read and access. The cup holder is placed right above the passenger's knee. So if you had a cup in there, lifted your knee, out comes the cup.

What I like about the BMW dash is the way they light their display. It should a black back ground so what sun shines on it, it's still visible.

Given the Prius dash isn't perfect but BMW's isn't neither.

 

I love the layout of the Gen III, including the bridge. It is very comfortable and everything is easy to reach, Consumer Report's whining about the heated seat switches notwithstanding (I think they sometimes tend to whine about some inconsequential things - that being said, they are a useful resource). I am always mystified by people complaining about "too many gauges". There is no such thing. The more information you have about the inner workings of the car, the better.

 

I like it too. I wish there were a hand brake lever for the emergency brake though.

Galaxy Nexus ? 2

 

I like the fact that you really don't have to take your eyes off the road to check you speed limit, mpg's and such. At first I thought I wasn't going to like it but it turns out that I love it. Can't wait until the Gen IV comes out, hopefully they'll just improve on the Gen III.

 

The center console layout and shifter location are what made me buy a gen III instead of a gen II. Mainly, the shifter is in a much better place than it was before.

 

My only complaints about the bridge are the squeaks and rattles that come from it in the winter. I appreciate the storage underneath - often dead space in many cars. I especially like how the central dashboard displays eliminates visual interference with the steering wheel. I no longer have to move the wheel to a less comfortable position in order to see the instruments.

 

It was a deal breaker for me. I thought it looked cheap, and made the car feel less spacious than my Smartcar. I bought the v as soon as they came out: NO flying bridge!

 

My main dislike of the Prius dash is the centrally placed instrument displays. Speed in particular, should be directly in front of the driver, in my opinion. You should not have to take your eyes from the direction you're travelling to see how fast you're going. I'm actually a little surprised they get away with this, from a regulatory standpoint.

The lack of Tachometer and engine coolant temperature is dismaying too: most any economy car has these. Also, the illumination of the digital instruments is poor. I've found it near impossible to read in worst case scenarios, say bright sun bouncing off wet roads.

 

i can't remember the last time i saw a tach and temp gauge in an automatic.

 

Believe it or not, but I'm coming from a Honda Fit, which IMO had one of the best designed interiors ever. I loved the dash and instrument panel in that vehicle.

IMO The Prius's, is OK. Very mortal.

I actually get along with "The Flying Buttress" better than I thought I would. But the cup holder layout isn't very good.

For a "Go Before" vehicle I find the dash on The Regular Prius, to look incredibly dated. It looks almost like a piece of primitive art work, almost Fred Flintstone like...with just the rolling lump of clay or rock look, with a big slit that is the information center.

It's all OK....passable, but IMO not cutting edge or really worthy of the vehicle The Prius is...

I think this is an area Toyota can really improve and move forward with the next incarnation of The Prius.

 

It's not too many gauges, but for me it's available information screens that are simply repetitive duplications of themselves, either on the dash or on the bridge LCD screen.

It looks "cool" when you first see it, but after just a few weeks of ownership I find myself using keeping the dash display set to the HSI indicator, and the bridge LCD either off completely or on audio display or the fuel consumption graph.

All the other screens Toyota provides really don't offer too much tangible or needed information.

I have nothing against more gauges or more information, but too many of Toyota's screens are just re-shuffles of the same information available on some other screen.

If this wasn't true why else would Scan Gauges be so popular? There is plenty of information that Toyota's relatively repetitive options on the dash aren't telling you. I don't really need 2 screens showing me a display of the car, engine, battery with arrows flying in whatever direction.

Instead of giving me two screens displaying almost the exact same information, how about 1 screen showing that information and another that might give me something like engine temperature or coolant temperature?

Some of Toyota's gauges or screens just seem like Glitz or show. The "touch tracer" IMO is just something that "Wow's" the first time you see it on a test drive. But it quickly becomes unnecessary and I never even use it.