Featured Comparison Test: 2017 Toyota Prius vs 2017 Hyundai Ioniq

funny, after all the complaints i made about prius styling when it came out, the hyundai looks really dated in that picture.

base hyundai is 3k less than base prius, is that correct?

 

Very interesting, didn't expect that conclusion.

Because, " the Prius edges the Ioniq out in a key way: Toyota’s Safety Sense package – basically, the umbrella name for all these features – is standard on all trim levels. You have to upgrade up two levels from base to get the same in the Ioniq. While each car’s various safety systems work well, that’s a big value-add for Toyota."

Once you option out the highest trim Ioniq to get all the safety stuff (especially ACC), it's much more money, like $9800 more, here in the USA. That has to be factored in but they really didn't in their conclusions.

 

I would add the Ioniq Blue, the most fuel efficient, can't get the safety stuff.

Bob Wilson

 

It is a Canadian publication.
In the US, the Ioniq Blue is $1275 less than the Prius One.

You can get the Smart cruise control on the Ioniq SEL, along with all the other advanced safety systems. Well, all except the bending headlights. Again, the article is for the Canadian market.

The Ioniq SEL w/ Tech package is $24,950. To match it on safety features, you have to get a Prius Four, at $29,135, because blind spot monitoring and cross traffic alert is not part of TSS-P. From our recent test driving, I put that cross traffic alert up there in importance with the rest of the advanced systems. I'd have more confidence in using the rear camera with it.

If it weren't a hybrid, the Blue would just be called whatever Hyundai's base trim is. The lighter weight from being feature stripped, smaller wheels, and narrower tires gave marketing a chance at bragging rights. It isn't like the Prius Two Eco, which Toyota tweaked for efficiency, but is like the Prius One in terms development attention.

If the EPA required separate MPG ratings for individual trims, as in other markets, we would see more base trim cars with better ratings than the rest of the line up.

 

I don't know why I was expecting a little more of the Ioniq. It looks pretty austere and not very technologically advanced, to me.

Maybe Hyundai has their version of a universal platform, the dash looks very similar to the Accent I'm renting.

I like the "go faster folds", as William Gibson called them, on the Gen 4 Prius. Love them or not, Prii have never looked like everything else on the road.

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

The full strength parallel hybrid that is acceptable to the typical consumer in operation might be a more difficult technical feat than a power-split hybrid.

Taking the on Prius on all fronts would be foolish, and unnecessary. Hyundai is trying to have the Ioniq appeal to people turned off by the Prius.

 

An error in the piece:

Both the Ioniq and the Gen 4 Prius have a multi-link setup inspired heavily by the Mk1 Ford Focus's control blade setup (although incorporating the design tweaks that VW did to the basic design for the Mk5 Golf).

 

yeah, don't you wish car reviewers would take a look under the cloak, instead of just copy and paste?
this is why they are useless for serious shoppers.

 

From the configuration options on their respective web sites accessed from the US, the base Ioniq starts at just over $23,000, which is roughly $400 less than the base Prius. However, once both are fully optioned, the Prius ends up at roughly $36,000, or over $4000 more than the Ioniq.

 

In fairness, how would they even look at the Prius' rear suspension with those aero panels in the way?

Careful with those numbers. The one quoted in Hyundai's build site includes delivery. Add $895 to the Prius MSRP for comparable.

 

They could even look at the cutaway photos Toyota released in their own documentation...

However, the rear suspension is fully exposed:

 

Nit-picking, I know (they started it!), but the B Mode does not simply engage the engine as a brake like they state.

 

Additionally, all the Hyundais I have looked at have movable sun visors. Very import when put to the side windows to block a rising or setting Sun! Say you are heading north in the Prius during a setting Sun. The visor edge stops at the North West. I have purchased an extension for mine, the a movable* visor or one with an extension would have been much appreciated. It's not like Toyota doesn't know! My wife's 2011 Sienna had a movable visor... on both sides. My wife's 2002 Odyssey likewise had an extension that slid out of the edge of the visor *Slides sideways on the (up and down) rod. Seems like a pretty small thing on a car this expensive.

 

Where did you get your extender from and can they ship to UK?

 

I've missed the visor extenders since my Camry. Why the designers failed to include them has been a mystery to me.

 

You an' me both!