Standard can make you feel better about getting more MPG's while the Touring can make you feel better about having a stiffer suspension, bigger tires and and tighter feel of the road. Of course you can modify the Standard and make it like a Touring then you can feel less and (more?) better because the mileage now suffers but you have modified your car at a hefty cost to Touring so you can experience the same loss of MPG's they have...but feel better because now it has the Touring name as opposed to that common 'Standard' name. Life's complicated!
The most basic model does not have cruise control, heated mirrors, wheel trim rings, the retractable tonneau cover, or seat back pockets. A package 1 has all of those items. Most of the new Priuses these days that don't have Nav (package 5 or 6) are a package 2. A package 2 has all the stuff from the 1 plus the Sentry Key System, Aux jack and MP3/WMA playback CD player, back up camera, and Vehicle Stablilty Control.
i think the answer to this question is the trim levels?? prius basic, your basic prius with am/fm radio, single cd, 6 speakers, no cruise control prius with packages All Prius features plus 15-in. alloy wheels with trim rings, cruise control, tonneau cover and dual seatback pockets, packages include various options like a back up camera, dvd, 9 speakers, bluetooth, etc prius touring = orius with packages + larger rear spoiler, 16" alloy wheels and tires, euro suspension, standard HID headlights + fog lights
Let me continue to muddy the waters on basic/standard or touring....My Standard Prius model has a package 6. It is only sold to real smart customers because you have to be a expert in guessology to figure out the Navigation System that deactivates when the car is moving. I rented a Prius Touring model, probably a package 2 and loved it so much I bought a Standard Prius with all the bells and whistles, xm radio, navigation, traction control fog lights. I frankly could not tell the difference between the two. Some touring model owners can discuss at length on the merits of purchasing the touring edition. Both models have the same horsepower and same guts (hybrid system). Its a no-brainer, if its a Prius, regardless of model and regardless of package (trim level) you bought a great car.
Just took a quick peak. Edmunds.com is just drawing off of the Toyota website. Go to "Build Your Own" and you can see each model type, what it includes. Base (not BASIC) and Standard are the terms Toyota uses for the different versions. You can easily read and compare the difference from that web site.
For model year 2008, Toyota came out with a lower priced, slightly stripped base/standard model that is missing the following 5 items that used to be on prior model years' base/standard model: -- Heated outside mirrors -- Wheel trim rings -- Cruise control -- Front seatback pockets -- Tonneau (cargo) cover Once you choose any of the option packages, those 5 items get added back in, but at a correspondingly higher price. Option Package #2 is the sweet spot for safety features -- it gets you, among other things, Vehicle Stability Control and the Back-up Camera.
