well, as everyone knows i got "smiley" yesterday. it is a VERY neat car.as a driver of sportscars, motorcycles and performance cars for years and years here are a few comments. seating positon very high with almost a mini van feel. no real blindspots including the much maligned rear view.my mercedes c230 has a rear view like the prius. the ride is nice and firm which is what i like. acceleration not very good but adequate. i took it for a highway drive and found it very responsive. just a tad twitcy but no big deal. no wandering at all . cornering adequate but you can tell its a "tall" car. definitely NOT a sportscar. seats great!! and very supportive.steering wheel position is fair to good. with all this said this is a great car! very21st century with a great feel. as we used to say "its too cool for school!" finding more and more great things about it by the minute. fred and smiley(04 black)
That is how i felt to. I am going from a Sportscar to a Truck to the Prius. I actually think the Prius is going to be the most comfortable of the three. As for speed, I'll always fall back on my motorcycle. I love seeing the look on a mustang owner's face when he can't beat me off the line (Up to the speed limit of course).
I guess I must be wierd, but I NEVER stand on it off the line in my '95 Odyssey, even if I'm first and its 0-60 is slower than the '04 Prius. AND I've not noticed too many other people doing any different. So I don't really see why people make such a big deal out of it. I managed to get on the So. Cal freeways - those that don't know - signal at the top of the ramp, just fine in the '03 rental last July so the '04 should be fine as well. I'd rather see good 30-70 figures. My last car was a turbo charged Mazda 626. It had a LOT of torque steer, if I had stood on it at a signal, I probably would have been a couple of lanes over instead of in mine! It was great for passing those people that do 70 downhill in a 50 zone but only 40 uphill, especially when there is little opportunity to pass. Nearly rear-ended a guy once when we both pulled out to pass on an uphill I do miss that in the Odyssey but if I get a Prius, I won't be as affected since I've learned to be patient in those situations.
bruce thanx for your nice reply> since you arent a car guy like a lot of my friends are you dont get the same feeling that us car guys do when we accelerate in a car or on a motorcycle> its just plain fun>also if driven or ridden right there is no such thing as too much power to overcome a dangerous situation> my new prius is a lot of fun to drive but is just a different little beast that it takes a while to sort out all its strengths and weaknesses> anyway it is a blast to drive and im already able to get in the stealth mode easily
