I miss my gen 2. The gen 4 is great. By every measure a better car, but it doesn't feel like a Prius. The gen 2 and probably all previous Prius hand a definite feel call it quirkiness if you want. You knew you were driving a hybrid. The new Prius has tamed all the demons. No more clunky ICE stops, no hum when you step on it. The new Prius actually has an engine note, a gwowl, from the ICE. Any power conversion hum that may be there is completely covered. The gen 4 feels like a regular car.
I agree, the Gen 4 has tamed some of the original Prius personality traits, but you can tell who it's parents were.
Thank god. I admire the process and progress needed to get where we are, but I'll take the non-egg design and many improvements. As a (reluctant) 2009 Camry owner, I'm glad they took it to where it is so that I could climb on board.
Yup, the differences between my '06 and Energi are far and wide. 10 years in hybrid design improvements have been astonishing.
interesting. i wonder if the complaints about quirkiness and odd noises are coming mostly from hybrid newbies.
I named mine EggBert. I think it still sort of looks like an egg. I think I give my favorite cars deprecating names.
When I was scrapping ice off the windshield the other day, I noticed the inverter noise for the first time... I thought there was something wrong w/ my car The inverter on my 2000 Insight was quiet by comparison.
Well as gen 2 driver, I drool over owning a 4th gen or a Prime! I didn't expect others to name their cars after eggs haha - Mine is white and called "El Huevo Libre." Translation: the free egg (with some throwback to Mexican Luchadors, similar to Nacho Libre).
I only hear a small fraction of "hybrid sound" when starting out from a stop. But I definitely notice the loud gas engine growl. (Even at slower speeds). It doesn't bother me, I just figured there's poor sound insulation in the firewall. I think the Prius is even louder than my V6 Camry was. I keep reminding myself... Don't analyze it, just drive it!
As the owner of a gen 3 and now a 4- the "inverter growl" freaked me out the other day when I was working on my other car in the garage and my wife pulled up. I never noticed it was as loud on the old car.
