Why I'm going to ditch Prius for Subaru

If I still lived at 5000 feet and worked at 6500 feet, I would still own a Subaru and get 24 MPG. When it snows 10 months a year a Forester.is a good choice!

 

I live at 6800ft and routinely go to 10,500ft. All with the Prius, and it does perfectly. I had a suby as my first car and the AWD was incredible. If you are a poor driver, that can compensate. A Prius with good snow tires (I run Michelin X-ICE2 then X-ICE3) can keep up with the rest of them. I drive into blizzards so I can get the fresh powder. We had snow in late May and thismorning a nice little covering of snow. The Peak has turned white already too.

 

There is no question that you are an expert concerning winter and where you live. I would listen to you concerning any winter related issue.

 

I got married (and moved to MS) in 2002. I had explained to my wife-to-be that it had snowed on the last day of school the 3 previous years and we were scheduled to be married the day after the last day of school, so snow was not out of the question.

June 8 was actually quite pleasant, but she woke up married on June 9 to 29F and snowing. She was not amused.

Unknown road to 130 Stitzel Rd, Elko, NV 89801 - Google Maps about 7 miles are unpaved.

 

I arrived home with SL 63.x mpg on the gage. Good think it gets those astronomical numbers, cause at, say, 38 mpg lifetime, it wouldn't be worth up putting with padded headrest, padded door and center armrest, clipped on board to often rest right leg on, as always, a 'longer than I'd like reach to the steering wheel' and its overall mild case of 'weirdness' (sp?).

I'd like to see a photo of someone who is like 6'6" tall with dr. seat lowered all way down, slid all way back and reaching to the moon for the st. wheel ... and no faking seatback xtra forward in position you couldn't take driving the car in.

 

i guess it depends on driving position. i personally do not like driving with my legs stretched straight out in front of me. the prius has more than enough room for knees to go on either side of the steering wheel. i am 5'7". that being said i have the wheel pushed all the way in, is lifted other wise i cant see over the dash. its not pushed all the way back or all the way forward kind of in between. its just a very comfortable ride for me.

 

Ah, I see you are 5'7" tall and that may explain why Prius liftback with manual dr. seat works for you ...

Toyota manually adjustable driver's seats as found in Prius liftback/PiP, Prius v, Corolla and maybe more have the following trait i do not like: As the seat is lowered, the TILT or lean of the entire seat increases, to over 17 deg. fully lowered. I have 15 data points (tilt) on that. Leaning back too much is not good in a passenger car: Head needs to be upright so one can turn it and look around. hard to turn your head when leaned back.

Also, leaning back too much makes it harder to reach the steering wheel. There are some around here who claim they like this 'Fomula 1' style of straight arms to the wheel. Good gravy, what does a Prius have to do with a Formula 1 car? Plus, no driving instructor worth a squat will recommend straight arms while steering. It is unsafe.

Also, the headrest tends to separate from the head when seatback is overly reclined. Can't just put the seatback more upright if front lip of seat cushion is too high: Creates undue pressure on legs. Worse yet, on Prius manual dr. seat, there is no knob to adjust the TILT of the seat bottom cushion. How lame. You can adjust the seatback angle, but not the seat bottom angle. So, the butt area of the seat bottom cushion lowers quite a bit while the front edge of seat bottom stays up high to press hard on a long pair of thighs. This approach to seat design makes no sense to me.

I've yet to see a Honda manual dr. seat where the seat tilt changes when raising or lowering. Same with the Jetta rental I had for two days. Not so familiar with other brands.

I would guess Prius (w/ manual seat) is better suited to those who can raise the seat about half way up since the cushion tilt is at midpoint.

Safest to have an 8-way power seat with 2 directions of slide, height, seatback and seat bottom (Toyota) or whole seat (Honda) tilt adjustment.

 

why would anyone drive a prius if it only got 38 mpg? that's the whole point. the only point.the reason for the season.

 

sorry if i offended you with the 'fact' statement. i certainly didn't mean to. i was just saying, i felt that subaru had to cut a corner compared to honda/toyota because of offering the awd feature. are you suggesting that a car like the legacy is in fact better than the camry or accord or fusion?

by the way, my "factual source" was Alex Dykes from Alex on Autos. He also wrote and edited; "The truth about cars" auto site.

 

If you deliver mail, pizza or newspapers, 38 MPG is well over twice tbe MPG of whatever you used to drive

 

What I find very ironic in this thread is that Toyota owns 16.5% of Suburu, or more specifically, Fuji Heavy Industries. That fact aside, here's a very good review from the New York Times on the Suburu XV Crosstrek Hybrid. No attempt here to take sides on this issue. I've owned a Suburu and miss it, but I really like the Prius. Both great, excellent cars. But, like fingerprints, hairstyles (or lack thereof), we're all driven by what we are and who we are. And hopefully, we're all different. What a boring world it woud be if we were all alike.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/07/automobiles/video-the-subaru-xv-crosstrek-hybrid-wont-save-much-green.html

 

We're all different and have different reasons why we do things. What one person does that does not make sense to another person is perfectly logical for that person. We all have different financial situations as well that causes us to do the things we do.

 

I don't understand all the hate directed to poster # 1.

 

I don't either, but this is the Internet. Enter, and speak, at your own risk.

 

I don't have any problem with someone deciding for what they perceive as valid reasons, moving on or away from Prius. I love my Prius, but it most likely won't be the last vehicle I own, nor will Prius probably be the "only" vehicle I own in the future.

But as far as any heat or flak the poster has taken?

Well before I owned my Prius and even after I have owned a Prius, I have occasionally made posts critical of the machine. ( It's Not Perfect ). I think that's fine...for me..for anyone.

But also in communication you need to try to keep you audience in mind. Hey, this IS "Prius Chat". I expect the majority that respond and reside here to be "fans" of the vehicle. So I would always expect resistance to criticism.

In general, I would say this is a really good community at "fairly" evaluating criticism and accepting it when valid.

 

I am not suggesting as fact that the Legacy is a better car than a Camry or Accord. 3 similar sedan cars, pick what you like, it is subjective.
I've owned Accords, Camrys, and now a Legacy, because I need to have at least one vehicle with a trunk if my other is a hatchback. They are all similar, but I don't personally find that Subaru cuts any corners. A similar car from Subaru vs a Honda or Toyota, whether it's a Corolla vs Civic vs Impreza, or the Camry vs Accord vs Legacy, the Subaru is always a at least a thousand dollars more because of the AWD system. No corners are cut, they just charge more. I paid for it because I thought it was worth it. Some cars just cost more. I feel safer in wet or snowy weather with the Legacy than I do with the other cars because of the AWD, and the extra money, at least to me, is worth it.

I'm sure if you were to look at car ratings, you'll find that those 3 leapfrog each other all the time, but they are still 1 thru 3 at the top of the heap, regardless of the few thousand dollar price difference.

 

Im sure Subaru makes a stellar 4wd system and vehicle. Ive never driven in one or known anybody personally - friends or family - who has owned one. But, I dont even like the name "Subaru". It sounds like the name of a cheap chinese restaurant down town that would give you diarrhea for 3 days....

 

but if 38 were the epa, you probably wouldn't get that delivering pizza.

 

I am sorry, I thought you said no one would buy a Prius if it got 38 MPG. I pointed out entire classes of users who WOULD by a Prius for 38 MPG.

Your original quote does not appear to be a reply to anyone, nor does it mention the EPA.
Now you seem to be changing the requirement that it needs to get 38 MPG on the EPA test.
Is this at all what happened?

(My Prius is EPA rated at 40 MPG on the highway and I get 40.4 MPG and am happy as a clam with that)

 

apologies, it was directed to cycledrum, a couple posts earlier. he said it's a good thing it gets fabulous mpg's cause no one would buy it if it got 38. i assumed he meant 38 on the sticker.