others tell me prius is ugly but its a beauty

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, isn't it.
All that matters is if you like the looks, right?

 

since i'm driving it, i'd rather see everyone else in cobra's.

 

they let you diy it at the dealer?

 

^
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hahahaha

 

it is UGLY!!!!!!!!! but guess what we dont have to look at it!! we just drive it! and sure is fun to blow by some car at bout 75mph at 45 mpg,,, when they feel like they are doing a good job at 27mpg, cops dont give Prius a ticket unless you are driving like a nut!,,, I JUST DRIVE MY UGLY CAR and let the over engineering work for the 2nd gen cars!

 

Form follows function...

Just as a jet plane seems to be highly stylized, nearly every aspect of it's design is objectively calculated to be the best shape for it's intended purpose. Nature follows suit with body designs which appear beautiful to us, but were crafted by the blind watchmaker of evolution for no other purpose than to survive and reproduce.

A Prius is beautiful in the way it's designed to slip quietly through the lower atmosphere, but style wasn't the primary intended purpose of the shape. To achieve a 0.24 drag ratio, all surfaces must achieve a mathematical harmony, which is coincidentally pleasing to the eye of many. She's a fine lady with a thick bottom, but that makes her the best of all worlds; a dainty fuel-sipper and a reliable cargo-hauler all in one sweet package.

 

Much talk has been given to the aerodynamic design of the Prius. It's actually quite old, dating back to the '30s. The Prius' is a modern and 'practical' derivative of the 'Kammback' or 'Kamm-tail', named after Wunibald Kamm.

Various Kammback designs dating before 2G Prius....

Ford GT40 prototype


Porsche 917


Citroen CX... Imagine that, the French got there before Toyota.


Honda Insight

 

I think CX has too steep rear window. I’m only looking at picture so actually I don’t know. If air doesn’t follow the surface then I wouldn’t call it real Kammback.

 

You forgot the Aztek!

 

OMG!!! I can't believe I liked the Aztek when they first came out, but I also liked a girl in high school named Kati. Turns out she got a sex change 2 years after graduating. Thank God I didn't follow through with either endevor.

 

The ORIGINAL Aztek Fan Club - Index

Not everyone feels that way.
Just sayin'.

 

This is my old Mazda MX-3 1.6i Twin-Cam Coupe - my previous car; It just so happened that not only did it have a split rear window (which I really liked for backing up), but it IS also a Kammback design! And I bought it partially because I was completely smitten by the unusual but entirely functional Kammback design. Incidentally, the MX-3 can be spotted lurking as a backstreet prop in the movie "I, Robot". In one scene, Will Smith can be seen leaping over the bonnet of one in a carpark during a pursuit. So, that's another Kammback for the list

 

Back then it wasn't to save gas, it was to look like Buck Rogers would drive it....

 

.....unless always seen from the quarter below, there are several troubling aspects in appearance....

The high point on the curve of the roof appears too far forward, and this is emphasised by the bulk of the rather strange headlight equipment which foreshortens the front end of the car. Together with this the rear of the car looks unbalanced against the front. Other design tricks so popular with Japanese such as the smiley face grill, also do little to rescue the situation.

On the Gen 3 model these oddities were addressed, where the curve of the roof is very slightly moved back, the rear of the car looks higher, and the front quarter light windows penetrates further forward creating a lower window line. This together with the steeper cut off angle of the rear quarter lights moves the glass entire forward along the hip and does much to repair the faulted profile curve of Gen 2.

So all that said, are there things that can be done to relieve the profile? You can use paint by creating a window surround that projects that tiny bit forward as it does in the photoshopped image of my Gen 2 below via faux paint. This meets the objective of moving the glass profile forward and balancing somewhat the misshapen curve.

Likewise the bulk of the headlamp structures can be lessened by painting or covering the massive parker lights, relocating the utility of the lights elsewhere. Ive seen advertisements from Japan that offer products to do this as plastic covers. Some leaving the indicators clear, some not.

this too has the tendency of stretching the front of the car, further redressing the rather blunted pause from the roof curve.

Other features of Gen 2 are actually more appealing than Gen 3. For instance the rear kammback curving upwards and inwards lessens substantially the bulk of the rear of the car, particularly where wheels are spaced further out almost flush with the wheelwell. It is a far more delicate design from this standpoint, and lends itself well to the use of spacers.

 

Does that improve MPG or 0-60 time?

 

MPG of course.

Suspension related stickers will improve handling and engine related stickers will improve 0-60 time. So hybrid synergy drive sticker will improve MPG.