2015 Frankfurt/IAA Auto Show Prius Second Showing

Did I miss the big news or did Toyota not reveal anything new in Frankfurt? What I've seen appears to be a rehash of the Vegas premiere.

 

More people went inside the car and had meetings with Toyota representatives, but i'm afraid little revelations were made. All focused at Tokyo Show, let's cross the desert to get there in a month.

 

IMHO, TOYOTA has used that kind of phrase for every THS car from more than 10 years ago.
Here is a figure TOYOTA's Public Affairs Division used in 2003, the "Current Prius" is Prius G1.

P1P2Camry by Grus posted Sep 18, 2015 at 5:28 PM

 

10 years have passed since, current autoboxes are quicker and have more ratios to explore. Toyota must keep responsiveness under pressure

 

I think the important thing is that Toyota keeps repeating the same points i.e. as long as they acknowledge that those aspects need improvement and as long as they keeping improving them in successive revisions, I am happy.

 

i think my gen III is exactly the same as my gen II, don't expect anything different from the IV, it's the same e cvt.

 

I'm saying those are most likely to be some characteristics THS born with.
I have read an article written by a TMC test engineer, said they have a standard set of more than 200 drive ability tests. So they definitely know the advantages and weak points, and they are doing improving and fixing all the time. But for the advertising story, the advantages will always be bragged about, the weak points ... please stay positive

 

it's an economy vehicle, not formula 1.

 

I was reading one of the on-line automotive magazines that featured the Frankfort Auto Show, and Toyota was not even mentioned.

That is a marketing failure.

 

but statis quo for auto mags.

 

Perhaps, but they were touting a few cars I never heard of. You would think that Toyota would merit at least a mention.
It strikes me that Toyota manufacturers a wonderful product. But there marketing is so laid-back and reserved, they give the impression of indifference. Maybe that is just the Japanese way???

 

well, there are plenty of japanese auto companies to compare them to. they've been running the same commercials for years. perhaps they are like a lot of their customers, or vice versa, boring.

 

Last i checked, Toyota was #1, so they must know what they are doing!

 

Hi there!

Back from Frankfurt I'm a little bit disappointed. There is nearly nothing really innovative at all.

At Toyota one can see the FCV Mirai. But it is not at Toyota but at Jtekt where one can see the opened chassis with the fuel cell stacks, the hydrogen tanks, compressor and so on. Interesting.

And finally the new Prius 4:
One can see, touch and sit in. But there weren't any further information than in the official press information from Toyota media.
The hostess told me, until the real presentation in Tokio the hood stays closed and technical details kept secret. She told me only, that the HV battery moved from under the trunk / luggage room under the back seats. But she didn't knew, where the AUX battery is. Under the floor of the luggage room is no more room like in my Gen 2. There is only some Polystyrene foam in which will fit some tools like the lifter (or what's the meaning of "Wagenheber"?) I wasn't able to remove more parts.

And she was proud to show the inductive charging spot for your cell phone. Nice, but not as important as power, torque, mileage etc.
I wasn't able to check the brake lights.

The rear axle area was very dark and too close to the lens for taking good pictures. I tried with my cellphone on the floor and led flash on.

Above the back seats the roof could be higher. I'm 1,9 m tall and still don't want to sit on a back seat.
And the sight to the back is bad, as you can see at my pictures.

Sorry for not having more or better news for you!

SM-G900F ?

 

Don't see much.

 

Thanks for optimizing the picture. Now I see the chassis and the rear suspension with spring (and the muffler). But if there is any driven shaft hidden, it must be crossing the spring to reach the centre of the wheel. I can't believe so. But who knows...

SM-G900F ?

 

2015 Tokyo Motor Show Press Days - 6 weeks!

October 28 (Wed)
October 29 (Thu)

 

Hello. We call the device a 'jack' for lifting or jacking up a car to change a tire. Thank you for all the pics and information !

 

The black and white interior is very interesting - I'd noticed this black/white seatback through the windshield in the Malaysian shots, but when we didn't see it in Vegas I assumed it must have just been some kind of protective wrap. Now it seems that was a car headed for Frankfurt.

The "fine bone china" accents on the dash and center console looked downright weird in the otherwise all-black interiors we were shown in Vegas. Those accents make a LOT more sense in this interior. Not sure I'd go for it myself, but at least I wouldn't be embarrassed by it, unlike the creepy "porcelain fixture" look of the accents without this full black/white interior treatment for visual context.

Assuming we can get this interior in the U.S., and/or that we can get an interior WITHOUT the "fine bone china" accents, I'm calming down a bit. At this point, as I now intend regarding any assessment of sight lines or seating position for ingress/egress, I'll reserve judgment about the interior until I have a chance to experience it firsthand.

I haven't given up on the Gen4 hb yet - though our leasing an Avalon hybrid or Prius v (or even a Gen3 hb?) does seem more likely than before the Vegas reveal. This would buy time and let us study other options hitting the market in the next couple of years, including the Gen2 v, Gen2 PiP, Hyundai hybrid, etc. I'm hoping high residuals on an Avalon or Prius would keep monthly payments reasonable, especially if we opt to include fewer miles in the lease. What I really hope is that seeing the Gen4 hb live and in person puts my concerns to rest and it finds a home in our garage - we'll just have to see how it goes.

Looking forward to a lot more detail from Tokyo next month . . .