A Missed Opportunity to Reach the Magic Number- 60 MPG

Well, i'm waiting to see in EU which kind of rating for rolling resistance our tyres will show, but until now Toyota never provided stock tyres even closer to the best class, the "A", and on the 1,8 it was enough to increase btw 5-10% the mileage, coupled with some slight overpressure (personal experience).

I would see no problem to go +60 MPG with the 17". It would be more difficult with the 19" but, alas, Toyota keep associating high trims with the compulsory bigger wheel size, damn...

 

You're saying that you have personally experienced a 10% improvement in MPG due the use of a specific LRR tire? What tire was that?

 

Yes, it was passing from the stock "F" Continental to a very slippery TOYO "A" on my Auris Hybrid 2013 at the first change. Actually 10% average, at the low speed was even more than that, less at high speed where aerodynamics dominates. But the "D" class on wet surface was a nightmare. Old stuff, now ther's excellent AA tyres.

P.S. 225/45 R17 94W TOYO NANOENERGY 2

Although is yet to see what will be available for those exotic Prius 2023 sizes...

 

Thanks for such detailed information.

 

Somebody's hung up on a number.

As applied to our actual usage and fuel costs, the difference between 57mpg and 60mpg would be $62 per year. That's small enough to get lost in the noise.

 

i agree with you. at least one model should have hit 60.

that being said, toyota has changed tactics, they want new customers due to dwindling sales. can no longer rely on prius chatters to keep them afloat

 

people that buy a Prius want maximum MPG. People that want eco performance are already buying Teslas. The Prius is supposed to be an economy car. For people that think the mpg difference is noise, they are buying something other than a Prius.

 

Economy doesn’t mean the absolute highest mpg. People want to be comfortable and enjoy other amenities too. Besides, there is the Prius Prime that gets way over 60 mpg considering how many miles can be driven in EV mode. I’m sure they could easily achieve 60 mpg, but how many would they sell in the US where people are still eating up gas guzzlers like crazy? I’m also pretty confident there will be those mpg-oriented buyers who will achieve 60 mpg in their real-world driving.

 

The magic number was 50mpg. Now that people can get that out a Corolla or Camry, more will choose that over the Prius. The Camry hybrid is outselling the Prius in the US.

I'd love to see more hatchback options here, but they were never big sellers with the American public. Toyota has a Corolla hatchback hybrid if that was ever to change. Getting production for that up in North America would be cheaper than the Prius.

Prius sales have been declining for years. Its peak was during high gas prices. It was also the only feasible efficient option then. The market has changed. Now there is many more efficient options for those looking for that. The Prius needed to differentiate itself from those options. Even better fuel economy was one path, but likely one that would have resulted in even higher price increases, assuming Toyota had a more efficient engine to put in the car. They might have had to go with a diesel at this point.

Prius sales were heading for the cancellation limit. Improving performance, and going slightly upscale, will get non high efficiency people interested, and get those considering a plug in to give it another look.

Exactly. In September, Toyota had sold 19.5k Prii in the US. In the same time, they sold 33k Camry hybrids, and 124k Rav4 hybrids. The Corolla hybrid sold 22k, and that is when it was only available in the LE trim. The 2023 model has expanded that.

The market size for max efficiency ICE cars is shrinking. Most in that segment are moving to plug ins. Europe has higher fuel prices, and they are no longer getting the NoPlug Prius, because the efficiency difference between the Prius and Corolla hybrids isn't enough to cover the tax difference. 2 to 3 better mpg wouldn't change that.

 

The main factor is the wheel diameter. Toyota needs to give people the option of sticking to 17" wheels on higher trims. 17" ls large enough. I stop noticing the beauty of the large wheel slowly but am impacted by the fuel economy penalty always. Bad tradeoff. And the poorer handling is countered by improved ride quality in my books.

 

how is thirty + thousand dollars an economy car?

here-are-the-10-cheapest-new-cars-you-can-buy-right-now-421309

cheapest

 

Agree, bigger wheels also means a lot more unsprung mass which puts more stress on shocks, decrease efficiency especially in stop & go traffic. And the worst is handling is not necessarily improved because of the weight.

 

When we bought our Prius c (new) it was in the mid 20s. We wanted a nice modern small hatchback.

@idahohacker We didn't especially care that it was hybrid. We just wanted a nice Toyota hatchback, and in 2018 that meant it was a hybrid and said Prius c on the back.

I knew it was going to cost us more, and that it wouldn't even be likely to earn back its cost premium over the other hatchbacks we were shopping.

But we really liked it, so we kept it.

 

The gen 4 started at 25k or so only 1000 more than the Honda Civic, like it or not this is “economy” now a days. Regardless of semantics, Toyota did themselves no favors by hiking the price on the new one, EV tax credits will be the death of this new Prius.

 

I look at the EPA numbers for the Gen 4 and I look at the numbers I get and there's a huge difference in fuel economy. I'm expecting the Gen 5 to at least be able to give me around 65 mpgs.

As for more horsepower in the Gen 5, you have to realize that you don't actually use all that horsepower all the time.

If you can't get more mpgs from a Prius, are you even a real Prius driver?

 

I agree...and I want to see *real world* numbers in the base model from people who really care about MPG.

In my opinion, the fact that the motor is more powerful is a huge deal, and should really help many of us "enter glide mode and stay there" much more easily than previous models.

For my commute, I have a very slight incline once I enter our neighborhood street and every single Prius I have driven struggles to make it up ( Prius C, Gen3 liftback, and Prius v wagon ). The Prius C is the best due to it's low weight...and the Prius v is the worst....but they all struggle.

 

That would save me $50 to $60.

The engine that would achieve that would add hundreds to the price of the car.

Toyota has done all the easy things to improve efficiency in the previous generations. Now it takes more effort to get smaller gains.