Drove our new 07 Touring Package 6 yesterday. We are a little overwelmed with all the electronics, but I figure we'll get over this after a while. The thing that was most impressive to me was how solid the car feels. It feels solid and heavy, not what I expected. In other words it doesn't feel like a small car. Have been watching the forum for 6 months and no one has mentioned how solid the car feels, so wanted to share with those who are considering a Pri purchase.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(sonny @ Oct 7 2006, 07:37 AM) [snapback]329386[/snapback]</div> More details and impressions please. We are getting ours in about 4 months! Congrats. What color?
The car is solid and heavy. In fact, it is very heavy. I assume due to the batteries. But the weight of the car rivals that of a pickup truck. It our hilly Northern California terrain the weight is my biggest nemesis. It is hard to keep a constant freeway speed and still do the gliding that gives the better mileage. It becomes a matter of really anticipating the hills. Push up the speed as much as possible and then getting out of the fast lane and letting it drop in speed. The car and mileage does best on level ground.
I don't think of my Touring Edition as "heavy", but then again I traded in a Ford Explorer. It's really fun to drive. I was merging into the express lanes today on 90/94 W from downtown Chicago, and was surprised at how the car accelerated out of the on ramp into traffic. Felt great. The tires and suspension gave me tons of confidence. We're having a blast with our 07 TE. It's got about 220 miles so far.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tony_Min @ Oct 7 2006, 10:49 AM) [snapback]329459[/snapback]</div> Prius, very heavy? I don't think so. 1300kg is on the light side of things. In comparison, our 02 Camry XLE 4 cylinder is 1500kg, the new ES350 is 1610kg, a 7 series is 19xxkg. On the flip side, an Echo is a shade under 1000kg, a Corolla is around 1100kg. Another car that's fairly close in weight to the Prius is the Scion tC at around 1,300kg.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tideland Prius @ Oct 7 2006, 02:31 PM) [snapback]329521[/snapback]</div> Maybe the TE is giving a more solid feel of the car rather than the normal rolling/swaying/buffetting distraction of the standard version. I would say, Positive review of the TE handling.
Congratulations!! Glad to hear that the TE handles so well and feels so solid. I have no complaints about the handling of my Prius, but I was coming off 9 years with a tiny Saturn coupe so anything would have likely handled better.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(sonny @ Oct 7 2006, 06:37 AM) [snapback]329386[/snapback]</div> My friend, who has two Audis commented how solid and what a "big car" feel my Prius has. His Audi is like a vault, so I guess he was impressed with the road feel, and ride enough to comment on it. I do have the BT brace, but stock everywhere else.
My '06 with TRD Sportivo and chassis bracing handles WAY BETTER than a '73 Pinto; this I can say with certainty.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tony_Min @ Oct 7 2006, 12:49 PM) [snapback]329459[/snapback]</div> Gliding is best done at speeds under 41 mph. It's an engine/motor thing, not a weight thing. Maybe you feel the weight because you're more aware of the effects of inertia and drag when concentrating on efficiency? The batteries are about 4% of the vehicles weight, if I did my rough math correctly. It's 160 lbs lighter than a 2WD regular cab Ford Ranger (the smallest pickup I could think of), 400 lbs lighter than a Saab 9-3 (I chose the 4-cylinder engines for both, not the V-6). It's not super-light, but remember the Prius is a mid-size vehicle, not a small car.
