Cargo room

The slopeing roof does indeed account for the difference in cargo space. The Imprezza is almost a square back. The Prius is a very slanted roof hatch back. The roof slant reminds me of CRXs of years past in terms of rear end design and slope. There is enough slope, that there is a vertical window below the spoiler which increases the viewable area out the back of the vehicle, like later CRXs.

Anyway, the cargo room is quite good for my purposes, groceries, etc. The folding seats make it significantly more utilitarian than if the back seats didn't fold down (nobody would really design it that way today).

The Prius is very roomy. With the front seats all the way back the rear passengers have plenty of leg and knee room. The car's interior volume is deceaving with a casual look, but the proof is sitting in the back seat with a tall driver in front of you. You do that once and questions about cargo room all fly out the window.

 

You sure that 64.1 Cu Ft isn't with the Rear Seats Down?

Edmunds shows Impreza Wagon (Outback) as

Luggage Capacity: 27.9 cu. ft

Maximum Cargo Capacity: 62 cu. ft.


The Outback does apparently have more space with the seats up, but it's back is also more square than the Prius.

 

Well, I don't know about other cars as far as numbers go but I can tell you that I put to 15 cu Ft bags of packing peanuts and assorted boxes (flattened but huge) and 5 or 6 shopping bags in the back of my Prius (seats down of course) and still had some room and could see out of the back window to boot.

I think that the 16.1 refers only to the space behind the back seats when they are up and in position for passenger use.

Rest assured that there is plenty of room back there for whatever your little heart might desire to lug around.

Before the site crash there was a thread about what people had hauled in their Prius' and I was astounded by some of the things they had been able to put into their cars while still closing the hatch (couches, tables, 10' ladders, lumber sheets, the entire contents of a 10' x 10' storage shed...

Hope this helps. Take care,

Tisza

 

It isn't quite long enough to fit a sport wheelchair without bringing down the 40 seat, which would cut down the space for the service dog.
But then, maybe it would fit better if I pop off the main wheels.
With my '92 sentra, I was able to get 2 wheelchairs in the trunk if I popped off the wheels. Sometimes though I had to put the cushions in the back seat area. There's no way I could do that with the Prius without losing back seat space.

 

With the seats down, I've carried the following loads:

Drum set, consisting of bass drum, two tom-toms, floor tom, high hat, snare drum, 2 cybmal stands, snare stand, throne, 1980 size sterero recievier and turntable (yes, I still have a turntable and extensive album collection)

Another load was 2 large speakers, and a snow blower (had to fold down the handle to close the trunk).

It's got plenty of cargo space if you ask me

 

Big move up for me, from 2001 beetle to the 05 Prius. at the end of beetledom, i was driving up to a deposition in baton rouge, with three bankers boxes of documents, and assorted stuff crammed into the hatch/backseat area. on the same case, just after getting the prius, headed over to lafayette for trial, fit thirteen bankers boxes of documents, my bosses' secretary, and our luggage for two weeks.

 

Mine just holds one golf bag with the requisite 14 clubs. I guess if I drive anyone else, I'd have to fold down the rear seats. Wahhhhh.

 

The Prius has much more personal space than the Impreza. I have had a 2000 OBS, 2002 Impreza WRX wagon, 2004 WRX STi. The area befind the seats on the Prius is smaller than the Impreza Wagon but the space for people is almost the size of the Lexus ES300.

Blue

 

I just checked Consumers Reports.

For this month they have the car issue online, and they give you access to the 'specs' of each car in a table form.

They list the Impreza Wagon cargo space as 20.5 cu ft, which sounds about right.

The terminology Subaru Uses for the vehicles is confusing.

They have an Outback, but they call the Impreza Wagon the "Outback Sport".

 

Right, that's the problem.

Usually when you make a 'sport' version of a vehicle, it implies it's the same vehicle with improved engine/suspension.

You don't take a Focus and make a "Crown Victoria Sport" out of it.

 

Well, as a Ford/Mercury fan I thought I'd provide a link you should find interesting. There is a Crown Victoria Sport.

http://www.fordvehicles.com/cars/crownvict...ndex.asp?v=html

 

The way we plan on handling the cargo area, especially on long trips is to use "Space Bags". You can compress your cloths enough to fit in the under floor cargo box which leaves the rest of the cargo space for other junk.

 

Can the cargo area accept grocery bags at the very end of the car? My wife has a bad back. I'm concerned she'll have to reach the bags to the center of the car to clear the sloping hatchback.

 

There's not that much slope, rayx. I put my groceries and stuff at the end of the cargo area too. The only problem you'd have is sliding groceries if you brake hard or turn too fast.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(rayx\";p=\"93411)</div>

[font=Comic Sans MS:046acd17b0]No problem with shopping bags, you can put them right at the edge inside the door and they'll be fine. Put the beer keg forward behind the seat...[/font:046acd17b0]

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(rayx\";p=\"93411)</div>

Absolutely, with room to spare. While the very end of the hatchback has the least vertical clearance, it is still tall enough for moderately-packed paper grocery bags.