No. They (the 2012 v and 2013 v) are exactly the same. She was talking about the difference between the hatchback and the v, but said it wrong. There were several other facts wrong as well. But I genuinely appreciate her enthusiasm for the v. I agree that car & driver could take a few notes although it will never happen.
The car and driver review was bias as possible. They claimed never getting above 31 mpg on the v. I cannot even get that bad unless driving up a mountain, fully loaded in power mode. Essentially a Small Minivan Car and Driver reviewer even fluffs the 0 to 60 times to make C-Max better. Too bad they are like the rest of the review. Made up numbers. Ford 0-60 Times & Ford Quarter Mile Times | Ford Cobra 5.0 Mustang, 2012 Focus, Fiesta, F250, Ford GT, 2013 Taurus SHO, GT500 0-60, and Classic Ford 0 to 60 stats! Maybe the reviewer is the same person who fluffed the MPG C-Max was supposed to get that no one seems to be able to achieve. Edmunds review actually gets it correct. Matching the numbers of Fuel Economy 2013 Ford C-Max Hybrid Road Test
Except for the fact that piss poor mpg and less space in no way equates to "practicality". The Prius v is the epitomy of practicality. Ford cmax is just a bad purchase if you ask me. Maybe if they lowered their price a couple thousand more it might compete...sorta.
I'm not sure about the "little body lean" comment but that's relative. Coming from a more sports car oriented vehicle I notice the body lean a lot when cornering but it's a small, and fixable if needed, price to pay.
Compared to other small SUV I tested like CR-V, Murano, etc. Prius v definitely has less body lean. I just finished a road trip with a lot of mountain twisty roads with my v. No one in my car complained about "dizzyness". Not the case for my previous Murano. Of course you can't compare to other sporty cars if you want the cargo room.
We have both a CR-V SE (225/60R16) and a v Five (215/45R17), and you are correct, the v Five corners flat -- like the roadster (205/50R14) with NISMO comp suspension.