It's a bit frustrating that getting the XLE model means getting the 17" tires, because of the MPG penalty they come with. Which would get the best MPG? 1. The XLE with the 17" tires 2. The XLE with the convenience package (15" tires + sunroof) [I'm assuming the weight of the sunroof affects MPG.] 3. The AWD-E XLE [at least the mpg loss would be doing something]
Well if you want the XLE but want the 15" wheels, it seems that the Convenience Package is the way to go.
Highway driving? minimal. City driving? Not sure if it's enough to actually see unless you're collecting data with instruments. The reason I say that is because I had a 2010 Prius, fully loaded with the solar panel roof (that's tilt/slide moonroof in the front half of the roof, and a solar panel in the rear half of the roof) and I can still hit 50mpg (which is the rated mpg at that time). My lifetime ended up lower, around 48 or 48mpg but that's over 100,000 miles of -40 to +36°C temps, city, highway (both flat and mountainous). Given that the Gen 4's moonroof is smaller (and probably lighter) than the Gen 3, you should be ok. The bigger factor is 15 vs 17" wheels because of weight, aerodynamic design on the face and tread width.
Thanks! That makes sense. I agree the sunroof is probably the lesser MPG hit than the AWD-E or 17" wheel options. Did you find that the sunroof made the cabin noise worse?
The Gen 3 wasn’t a quiet car and I can’t remember making any mental note of additional noise in my back to back test drives back in the day. I did note that when the Gen 3’s moonroof was opened, it generated less noise than a regular moonroof and I think it’s because of the larger air deflector (it was a full pane of glass) vs a regular moonroof that has a small plastic air deflector.
I have the Gen 4 Prius XLE w/ sunroof + 15s, no issues with wind noise when closed and even open it seems to be designed as well as can be. MPG seems to be on point. If you're worried, get a Prime, no sunroofs on those.
