New guy with a PC4

Hi Everyone,


New guy here with a PC4, had it 3 weeks now and am really enjoying it. I have been an auto and motorcycle enthusiast since I started riding motorcycles at the age of 5. At 39 I have had over 45 cars/trucks and 55 motorcycles… it was my hobby (obsession) for a long time. Many years ago when I worked for Honda motorcycles I had 11 at 1 time. I used to race SCCA Solo I and II AutoX, I raced my S/C Mustang Cobra (the Terminator for those who know Mustangs) and then later my friends Lotus 7. Bikes have included many dirt bikes, many sport bikes…CBR929, CBR1k, ZX14, a couple supermotos, some touring bikes like Harley Street Glides and Victory Cross Country as well as a few Harleys. These days I just cruise and enjoy the ride/scene, I’m in no rush. I have 2 motorcycles now that I ride ¾ of the year, one is a touring bike, the other a dual sport. I usually left my Tundra parked but after many issues with it I just traded it in for the C4. We didn’t have the need for the truck much these days so wanted another economical vehicle. We will just borrow or rent a truck for the few times a year we need one.

I’m not going to list all the vehicles I have had but in the economical realm the top fuel savers were a pair of Honda Civic Hybrids my wife and I had at the same time, we did that a few times… 2 Jeeps, 2 350Z’s, etc. More recently a 2012 Smart Fortwo which I really enjoyed as well. I love hatchbacks, closest vehicle that I have had to the C in size/shape is my 2011 Mazda 2 Touring that I gave to my son 2 years ago. He loves it and is happy with the 32-34mpg it returns with his good driving habits.

I’m spending some spare time catching up with this informative forum. Thank you for the detailed threads, I hope to be able to contribute one day as I perform a few things to mine. So far I have just tinted the windows (tint every vehicle of mine), ordered weathertech floor liners (use these in most vehicles I have had) and a rear hitch for my bike rack (another must for me). After some further research I will either dip/paint my existing alloy wheels or just buy some black ones from Tirerack and use the stockers for some winter tread, just not decided yet… with winter winding down I will have plenty of time for that before next year.

No great pics and the car is stock but here are a couple…
(EDITED as my account won't allow links yet)



Cheers!


(Will make another post here soon with a short review of my C thus far)

 

Thank you for the welcomes.

I like the Road Star's, they look nice, I bet they are comfy. Camaro SS huh, nice ride as well... fun, just a different kind of fun than the C.

 

Short term ownership review:

I decided to write a review of my C4 to share with you my personal opinion. Everything comes down to expectation... for every car, option, observation, etc. I love how marketing influences people, our perspective and decisions. Prius C meaning City, LOL... I just love it. I guess my 72 VW Super Beetle that I drove full time and took several trips in two years ago defies the laws of nature. I have read many magazine articles/reviews on the C and have to laugh at how some choose to pick the car apart... context is important here to keep things relative and fair. Rating several 100hp or less cars in a shootout or challenge would be reasonable, not comparing to others. After driving my father’s Corvette Grand Sport or Cadillac CTS-V does my C feel slow? Not really because I don't expect it to pull with the force of a vehicle with 556hp. I have also read many reviews on this site, so nice that lots of folks share, some obviously just like to beat up on certain vehicles, brands, etc. Maybe to justify a newer purchased of their own, maybe to talk themselves out of something, who knows. Taking things with a grain of salt is always good advice. I like to research, poll several reasonable experienced folks and then take a nice long test drive then formulate my own view.

Shopping
I have had vehicles that returned less than 10mpg and some more than 40. After a discussion with my wife we decided to pick up an economical vehicle that didn’t feel too cheap, is equipped with some modern options (such as Bluetooth, fog lights, NAV, etc) and wasn’t boring to drive. I like to use many of the popular car buying/review sites but often start with Yahoo Auto Finder... enter your price range, required number of seats, drivetrain, or whatever else you wish and it returns a list that you may sort and further refine as needed. Aesthetics are very personal so I won't go too far into that other than I'm a fan of hatchbacks over sedans so I started with those. We test drove the regular Prius and the C. The regular Prius didn’t feel as sporty and I didn’t like the console, admitting I do like small cars.

Comfort/fit/feel
We are a family of 5 with 2 teen drivers so 95% or more of the time this will be a 1-2 person vehicle. At 5'9", 175 lbs. I find the front of the C very comfortable, the seat has many adjustments. Though I have only made a 250 mile trip in it thus far I was comfy the entire time. I have a small seat pad for my lower back that I like to use when we drive to Florida in the summers. All this is from a guy that rides a motorcycle 3/4 of the year and just got rid of a pickup truck... from those my C feels like a luxury vehicle, LOL. The rear seating feels narrow for 3 of us and if your passengers are tall the sweeping headline may be an issue. Our oldest son is the tallest at 5’10” and is fine in the back. Four of us, or up to 3 of us and our 100 lb dog fit well in the C. A good test drive at your local dealer and sitting in the back is the best way to test this personal fit, don't rush it and take your time.

Options/features on my C4, Many of these options come standard with the different trim levels but the features that stuck out the most to me overall for a vehicle at this price point were…
Keyless entry – So nice to not have to put the key in the door, most newer vehicles have this but many of my Jeeps have not.
Push button start - Easy/quick in and out feature, leave fob in pocket, bag, etc.
Heated seats - This is nice in a car without remote start. I turn this on right away on cold days and let the heater catch up after a few miles/minutes.
Cruise - I don't use this daily but on long flat trips it's nice to have. Also nice for those areas where speed is critical, set it and avoid that ticket.
6" NAV stereo with Entune/apps - Nice size touch screen packed with features. Navigating the features isn't super-fast at times but isn't too slow either. Nice to also view vehicle information here as well as the 3.5" screen.
3.5" display - Makes driving the car fun, provides a lot of good feedback and statistics and as other posts have said, it's like a game.
Fog lights - Gives the vehicle a nice look and adds some additional lighting.
15" alloy wheels - Look pretty nice for stock wheels.
Moon roof - For those nice days.

Storage
I like the cubbies around the driver, would have been nice to have covered storage on the driver’s side of the dash. The cup holders are hard to access with large tumblers as they sit a bit forward but easy enough I just use other slightly smaller tumblers in the morning. I will be modifying the rear under floor storage as another forum member did by installing a raised platform... my goal is more storage under the floor as well as creating a flat platform with the rear seats when they are folded down.

Driving - Highway, city, country
- Acceleration - Reasonable for a 99hp car, on par with my Mazda 2, slightly slower.
- Braking - Braking is really nice, I also like the electronic/regen features.
- Handling - Not as sporty as my Mazda 2 but pretty good for a 99hp commuter. If better handling is preferred tires first then suspension work would be the route to consider. For me I like the stock setup.
- Road noise - Pretty good, about the same as the other commuters we have had in this price range. I really don't get the complaints people have but again this is from a guy who rides motorcycles most of the year.
- Blind spots - The rear corners are tricky, take time to setup your mirrors correctly and eliminate them as best you can. Our Nissan 350's had terrible rear visibility; makes the C seem pretty good.
- My mpg and how I drive to get it - There are many posts on this so I won't go into too much detail. My car is new and in the break in period during the winter so I'm not putting much into where I am not with mpg's other than to say I'm in the mid 50's, some trips with the use of EV are 60's and 70's but some are in the 40's. The most simple advice to new eco conscience drivers is to drive as if you don't have brakes, no need to be the 1st one to the red light. Where I am in MD it's a balance of not going too fast or too slow and still getting good mpg's. I never touch the console buttons; I just pay attention to the car and terrain I'm on.

Modifications, mostly just little adjustments rather than any real modifications...
- Tint - I tint most of the cars I own, a bit for privacy, a bit for the look of it.
- Debadge - I like the clean look so I often remove these from my vehicles. I did leave the front fender badges on. I now get people asking me about my "hybrid".
- Weathertech floor liners - I put these in most of my cars to protect the carpet. They fit perfectly and are easy to clean.
- Hitch - I have a nice lightweight aluminum bike rack that I like to use.

 

Your welcome, it's nothing other than my personal opinion but it was fun reflecting and writing. Who knows, it may even help someone considering the C.

 

Added a few new items to my C this week...

Weathertech Floor Liners (not pictured) - Love these, I have had them in several vehicles before. They fit perfectly as usual and provide great protection to the carpet. I purchased front and 2nd row in black.

Antenna, $5 eBay special...




Wheels - 16x7 Motegi Racing MR125 with P195/50R-16 Kumho Solus KH25.
I debated between 16's & 17's for a bit before I settled on the 16's, I really like how they turned out. I have only been on one drive so far and like it. I'm running 40 psi front and 38 psi rear to start, if it's too harsh I will lower by 2 psi each.

 

Yes, a straight swap from 15" to 16" on stock suspension, no mods and no rubbing. As an aside research indicates many 17's with 205's fit without rubbing.

I only have 800 miles on my car so not even broken in yet but my mpg's are currently around 50 mpg of mixed highway/city, plus it's winter so we know how that impacts your mpg's as well.

Total delivered $1100 with tpms. I wanted fully built new wheels/tires/tpms as I intend to sell my stock 15" alloy wheels/tires/tpms as a complete bolt on package on the forum here in the PriusChat Marketplace soon.

 

Thank you, I'm diggin it.

Yes, I got the "All Toyota Model 3" inch 76mm 100% Carbon Fiber Mini Antenna Ji7 ABLS DOT". I first saw the fin type on this forum and liked those but for $5 I couldn't go wrong and now I really like it.

 

Reception is the same, maybe slightly lower. I mostly use my phone for music so isn't much of a priority.

Yes that section has a lot of info in it.

 

Thank you again. I wanted a couple of days driving to be able to at least give an initial response to the handling. It handles a bit better, probably because of the added width. MPG's don't seem any different but it's hard to tell without more time. No regrets, recommended mod.

Thank you! These were the main items I wanted, I may do a few more but once the weather breaks I will be mostly focused on my motorcycles instead.

I may look into the following...
- Roof rack.
- Rear cargo mod to store more items around spare.
- Plastidip/paint front center portion of bumper black to link the 2 grills.
- Mod headlights/taillights, maybe paint super white, black or a combo.
- Switchable interior LED lighting, I'm thinking blue.