Poll for your reaction of the Gen 4 - so far.

Is that... is that... a ROUND steering wheel I see???

(one of my biggest peeves is that the steering wheel in my Gen III is not a circle!)

And they killed the flying buttress! That's kind of nice, because now there's a place to actually put my bag or phone instead of throwing it under (where it doesn't fit) or over the giant hump.

One thing I'm not liking-- why so many odd angles?

 

i don't think we'll know until gas prices go up. and even then, with more and more competition, it's going to be difficult to assess reasons for sales. plus, some people buy or don't for reasons other than appearance.

 

My reaction has been that I've been looking at used 2012s -2014s and new 2015s for the last hour. It's the storage situation that is pushing me this way. Toyota really screwed up removing one of the Prius' most useful features.

 

hopefully, there's more storage than we can see. hey, we've already got a new pen holder!

 

What's not to like about the center-stack resembling one of the most awesome movie villains of all time? lol

 

Perhaps this is what they meant by aggressive styling!

 

Contrast and black point, have you heard of it?

 

LOL, I totally can't un-see that either!

 

I was thinking earlier that I'd be withholding judgment until a test drive, but now even more so. Some things have already improved with more incoming info:

1) The sunken cargo area is a "feature" of the avoidable Li-ion battery upgrade. One more reason to skip that.
2) The "fine bone china" white ornamentation is apparently a premium upgrade, so presumably also avoidable.
3) There will still be a spare tire with 15" wheels.

I was interested in the Toyota Safety Sense features and perhaps some other luxo-touches, so hopefully wouldn't be forced into 17" wheels, Li-ion batts, or an interior graced with bathroom porcelain just to get features I want.

Speaking of tech, there haven't been many comments about controls, understandable given the dearth of details, but it sure looks like a touchscreen-oriented interface with few hefty buttons and/or knobs. I hope that's just an impression, but even if not there seem to be enough controls on the steering wheel to avoid having to bother with the screen.

I'm not happy about the storage situation, but I'm more concerned with ingress/egress for a design that reports indicate sits noticeably lower than the Gen3. I've long considered the high seating position and ease of getting in/out of our Gen2 one of its greatest daily benefits after the MPG, and now that my aging frame is well past the half-century mark I expect I'm going to value that even more in the near future. I noticed a taller reporter commenting that his head was touching the roof when seated in back, where it had cleared by a few inches in the Gen3, but I haven't seen numbers on that; if true, that would also be a minus.

We're not big fans of the Gen3, so I don't expect we'll be grabbing one of the great deals on those this fall, though we'll be discussing it (we plan to hold it long past the point that there'd be much difference in resale value anyway). My wife's a Toyota bigot and the dealer's in our back yard, so I don't think any news about the upcoming Hyundai hybrid will affect our thinking. Right now I expect that when we go shopping next spring we'll be taking a close look at the new Prius and the updated Avalon Hybrid (due to be fitted with a smoother-riding suspension for MY '16). I like the hatchback form factor, but that won't necessarily be determinative if we conclude the Avalon will be easier for us to live with and worth the price.

 

Yay the buttress is dead! I'm still hoping they will sell the plug-in nationwide. Cold starts to drive a mile drive me crazy. The white dash would push me to a base model though, I'm sure it would look nasty after a short time.

 

what a terrible disappointment
especially the interior

 

[QUOTE="Vike, post: 2237750, member: 136085"
3) There will still be a spare tire with 15" wheels.
/QUOTE]
Where did that info come from? Is that official? For me no spare=no sale.

 

I'm neutral -

Styling wise I'm not impressed. While the 2016 Prius is sportier looking than the 2010 Prius that I have but - sporty look was never on my radar - I'm more concern about functionality. The Prius v (lowercase v for the Aprils v wagon) does a better job than my 3rd gen Prius in the Cargo area but it takes a hit of fuel efficiency. I am a bit surprise that Toyota is steering the regular Prius Hatchback towards the sports car market - especially since the sports car market is suppose to be Toyota's sub division Scion's market focus..

The New Toyota Global Architecture that the Prius is built on reportedly can adapt to several road clearance heights so while not a plus for this version of the Prius - it could mean a bigger Prius family in the future... like a Prius crossover SUV which I know would go well here in the DC Area. Toyota's new engineering architecture will also allow for Just in Time Design - which theoretically will give Toyota the ability to make a customized Prius very quickly at a lower cost - I am interested to see how far Toyota will actually implement Just in Time concepts in Manufacturing and apply them to the Design Phase of engineering.

Functionality wise - It looks like Toyota re-did the HSI Display.... control wise it looks like Toyota kept the ergonomically flawed cabin climate control design.

Walter

 

I wish I could be more enthusiastic regarding the Gen 4 Prius, but I'm not. My 2012 PIP is only two and a half years old with only 15,000 miles. I'm not in the market for another Prius, and probably won't. My PIP peaked my interest in EVs, and that's where my interest is. Too many other vehicles to choose from. In the mean time, I'm a solid Gen 3 Prius fan.

 

And how about nav controls while in motion?

 

I was ambivalent about the 2010, despite having been flown to Detroit at Toyota's expense (Thanks! Sorry...) but I like this design right away. I shudder to think what new headlights and bumper covers will cost, but if that's my biggest criticism, that's pretty positive overall.

 

Is it me, or are the center air vents on the binnacle sticking up a bit too high and obscuring part of the MFD? I am 6'1", so as long as the driver's seat height is adjustable, I shouldn't have a problem, but those of smaller stature (vertically challenged? ) might.

And I hope the shiny white plastic is an option, 'cause I don't pay extra for ugly.

 

"Around 50 km (31 miles) of all-electric range (in JC08 estimations) was their range estimate posted to around 26.4 km (16.4 miles) for the previous version – or 11 miles (nearly 18 km) of EPA. In other words, performance will go up (range could nearly double to 20 miles / 32 km EPA), but as always, we still need to wait for confirmation."

Next Generation Toyota Prius Debuts, Now Here Is The Plug-In Version?

 

I like everything EXCEPT the white plastic which should be matte silver in my opinion, and the "happy puppy" looking steering wheel. Maybe Toyota will have different options for both by the time I buy one.

Bill the Engineer