http://thehollywoodextra.blogspot.com/2006...g.html#comments ok, I realise some people have a beef with this site and it's accuracy. Some have noted that it looks like the Corolla spy shot but it isn't, I double checked before I posted this. It has the same yellow camouflage as the Corolla pic but that's about it. The wheels and the roof are from the current generation.
Sorry, but that doesn't look like a Prius to me. Neither the front end nor the rear. And why would they remove the trim rings from the wheels? (If they take the hatchback design away they are so going to lose market. I for one would never buy the redesign but keep my current car until I die. I am never buying a sedan again. Not after the Prius hatchback design. This looks like a sedan. Could it be some other Toyota? The Corolla or even a mock up of a Camry? Too small for an Avalon.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Godiva @ Jul 30 2006, 03:46 PM) [snapback]294706[/snapback]</div> If you showed a 1G Prius owner the 2G prius before it was released, they would say something like... Sorry, but that doesn't look like a Prius to me. Neither the front end nor the rear. And why would they remove the trim rings from the wheels? (If they take the sedan design away they are so going to lose market. Hatchbacks are synonymous with cheap in this market. This looks like a hatchback. There is no indication that the 3rd generation Prius has to or will look anything like the 2nd generation. Altho maybe they'll finally fix the seats and give it as good an interior as the 1st gen had.
I agree. It looks too much like a "car". I love the design of the 04-06 Prius and would not buy a sedan. Maybe if the sedan was 100% EV I would but thats a different story.
Looks like a mocked up 'mule'. Companies do this to disguise new cars fo real-world checkouts. Couple of years ago, I was passed by an entire train of the then-new Toyota Tacomas wearing a bunch of plastic wrapping.
i would think to get the 90s mpg they would have completely revamped... but then again a lot of consumers like it for how different it looks. looks disguised to me... they're definitely covering something up
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(galaxee @ Jul 30 2006, 03:17 PM) [snapback]294719[/snapback]</div> Why? I thought the Prius hatchback was shaped the way it was because it is the most aerodynamic shape. So moving away from that shape would make it less aerodynamic. Not something you would do if you're looking to increase gas mileage even more. I can see maybe doing some revamping to the mechanical stuff. But the not the shape.
You do realise that manufacturers do use current bodystyles as a form of DISGUISE. Just because it looks the same, doesn't mean that's how the 2008/09 Prius will look like. It looks like they're testing the underpinnings at the moment. Given that the current model seem to fit well, that could mean that the new Prius will be based on the same chassis and thus we could expect the same wheelbase.
I used to read that site long ago. After a while, you would now that that site is full of wrong "guesses". I gave up on that site long long ago. thecarconnection.com has the best spy photos I have seen. http://www.thecarconnection.com/Enthusiast...Shots/S178.html
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tideland Prius @ Jul 30 2006, 03:14 AM) [snapback]294538[/snapback]</div> That looks like one of the worst photshop jobs I've ever seen! This is a joke right?
<sigh>... obviously some of you still can't get pass the fact that they're using the CURRENT Prius body as a shell. It's the hybrid system/engine/suspension etc that they're testing. Who cares what the body looks like.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tideland Prius @ Jul 30 2006, 06:46 PM) [snapback]294756[/snapback]</div> Well isn't that the whole point of the spy? I can barely tell that thing is a car, let alone a next generation prius.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(RichBoy @ Jul 30 2006, 05:49 PM) [snapback]294761[/snapback]</div> Anticipated release in fall of 2008. Sometimes people mix up the years. I assumed we *were* talking about the 2009 new design....to be released fall of 2008.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(sl7vk @ Jul 30 2006, 04:13 PM) [snapback]294765[/snapback]</div> Ya well, good luck talking to Toyota telling them to test the car with the new style and letting photographers snap pictures. You can't tell them what to do. If they feel like hiding the real design from us, you can't do anything about it. But as I said above, you can deduce a few things from that like the wheelbase for example. I don't see any cuts in the body or other crude changes which suggest that the new Prius will probably keep the current chassis.
What ever it is it has a lot of body putty on it. Look at the color!! Prius? not Prius? Who can tell/
