exGen3 owner, now 2 days with his new Gen4...WOW!

Oh no, that I could do. My gripe was about the number of digits available before and especially after, the comma...

 

I have Yokohama BlueEarth.

BTW: Toyota Germany called me today and confirmed no dipstick as the fluid level can be see directly without any other aid. Fine with me. Clear is though that the Germany manual is translated without thinking too much. And the EU English one too.

PS: the sloshing is gone. I really think it was the fuel vapor recuperation noise from the back, that I thought was coming from the front. Or maybe my Prius will break down soon...

 

Sloshing is continuing still, but not at startup and not coming from the engine bay, rather from the back - I think it is the tank purging air after first fill up still. It happened today twice on my way to work, both driving straight and in a sharp bend. It is not very loud, but clear enough to pinpoint it.

I can confirm that the warm-up sequence is completely different from Gen3. The car doesn't start the engine to warm up from "cold" with only 2 bars, and I can drive a few hundred meters and need to accelerate beyond the mid-line to start the warm up. Otherwise, no ICE noise before that.
Interestingly, Toyota engineers seem to have thought it is ok to warm up the engine during regular use - that is, the ICE fired up while I was driving at speeds higher than 30km/h - and then it seems they keep the ICE spinning totally independently from speed, as long as MG2 can move the car. Which in Gen4 is clearly stronger and has more speed range (as well known) to "play with". Essentially when in Gen3 would happen at 30km/h or less (ICE idling steady while MG2 was pushing at changing speeds), happens now with Gen4 at much higher speeds.

Moreover:

• the ICE will turn off during "sailing/gliding" with no need to release the accelerator (like one had to do with Gen3 to "force" the ICE to shut down and glide with MG2)
• the Hybrid Economy Range (the light blue bar that shows how much you can accelerate "eco friendly") does take into account the position of the car (i.e. on a slope/hill climb) - still not sure it takes into account traffic tracked with the radar; the bar will be longer on a hill climb, much shorter on flat roads
• when disengaging the DRCC/CC with the on/off switch on the stub at the wheel, there is no more "jerk" from the engine, it is butter smooth
• definitely ECO mode is more like Normal mode of Gen3 - from a traffic light, filling the bar is too much acceleration compared to Gen3 - I find myself often filling much less than a full bar (before PWR area) to achieve the same speed/acceleration - I don't think my driving habits have changed drastically in 2 weeks I own the Gen4. Otherwise said, you need to accelerate less now to gain speed - the MG2 does push a lot more
• 2 bars are definitely not a "oh my I need to charge the battery" situation for the Gen4 anymore. I can glide and even accelerate within the mid-line, plenty compared to Gen3

 

Between yesterday and today a few "surprises":

• ICE warm up is honestly "random" - yesterday morning, no ICE start up with 2 bars getting out of the garage and driving slowly several hundred meters in side road - this morning the same; but yesterday evening, 6 bars, ICE fires up as soon as I move (like a Gen3 so to say) - ???
• Yesterday I stopped at a gas station to "top-up" my tire pressure from 2.2bar / 32psi front/back as delivered to me last week, to a more interesting 2.6/2.5bar - 37/36psi front/back - not a peep! from the TPMS system I forgot to reset - I don't think I will reset it now since it seems he doesn't care...
• I have been blessed with "finally" (after a total of 350km/217mi so far in 1 week... ) with a Gen4 style fuel consumption

that's for non EU guys: 12mi / 78 mpg / 77F / 24mph average.
That's my overall commute - I stopped at the gas station for the tires inflation, so the trip from "hybrid start" was reset and I got on the rest of the trip (essentially city traffic, which yes, was quite smooth, but 5-6 traffic lights are there in any case) and found:

that's: 7,8mi / 102mpg / 77F / 23mph
The average speed is actually not too shabby for city traffic

Mind you, the 3.0L/100km is my record for this same exact route, same temp, same/similar average speed, compared to Gen3 (I usually never got less than 3.5L/100km...!).

PS: I am analyzing the MFD DTE estimations - from my preliminary findings, MFD is currently estimating the DTE value based on an average fuel consumption of 3.0L/100km (102mpg) (which is the EU test cycle value for the Gen4, my tank trip A average is currently 4,2L/100km - 56mpg) and a 3L reserve (i.e. when DTE is zero).
I will post full table with different scenarios of what reserve is considered by the MFD, when I fuel up again. At this tank Trip A average, it will take a while....
PS2: I will also post soon a speedometer error table gen3 vs gen4 based on GPS value vs display.

 

Will reset it then later today before driving back home (cold tires, that is).

 

A nice side-by-side (hopefully) of the engine bays of my ex-gen3 and gen4.

 

As I said, it is the best car out there *for me*.
Each person has his/hers "best car". According to his/hers driving style, usage patterns, and so on. If you manage to find me a car that has lower fuel consumption in city driving, that allows a trip of 6-700km without the need of a plug, that I can actually use, let me know.

Clearly, the Prius is not the car for you, there are plenty of choices out there. Like VW cars. That cost more and pollute, well..., much more. Surely they have more comfy seats and higher quality and reliability.

Sales numbers? I would like to know which car sells 25-/35k units a month in the USA after hardly 6 months of sales for a completely new model and after 1 earthquake and 2 suppliers' shutdowns (all Toyota fabs have been shut down for 2-3 weeks for this). Not to mention it has been selling about that number in Japan alone for 5 straight months...
Let's wait a full year, and let's see if it is really not selling well as planned. Let's wait fuel prices going up again, and then let's see...