I traded in my 97 Camry with the i-4 engine. In terms of power I say they were equivalent. Like mentioned before, there seems to be that instant power feel in a conventional engine I will give you that. But I don't miss it knowing that my engine now shuts off when it is not needed and I am saving $$$. I really did like the feel of the wheel in the Camry. Kind of a thick, rubberized, non-slip feel. If I could swap them out, I would (assuming that I had the on-wheel controls still). It is just a different car but similar in many ways like the size. This is one of the reasons I considered the Prius... it had almost the same interior size with outstanding gas mileage. Maintenance in terms of oil changes is going to be much harder on the Prius. The Camry was the easiest and cleanest I ever did an oil change on. Peter
It is not sluggish, just how the pedal request is programed to respond. It takes a little bit of getting used to, for the better. You will be able to precisely control it when Prius is operating from the HV battery.
I must say, I had the same concern before I bought the gen III prius. I told myself I would leave it in the power mode all the time since I really liked the responsiveness of the acceleration, but I rarely ever use the power mode. I never thought I would care much as long as I got 40+ miles per gallon, but seeing the instant gas milage on the dash all the time really did change my driving habit. I drive it in normal mode most of the time and change to eco when I'm coasting on the highway.
