2011 Prius vs CT200h?

A Prius in Lexus trim would be cool as long as it doesn't get too expensive. We love our Lexus RX400h but that's a $50k luxury SUV.

Our Prius IV with leather and Nav is nice. It needs nice 17" alloys, fancier interior trim, and power/memory seats, mirrors, and steering wheel. That is all you really need to get it close to Lexus trim.

 

It looks like a Mazda 3 hatchback. Apparently uses the same drive train as our cars, same engine at least. May have more sophisticated suspension, hopefully without the live rear axle set up we have. Anxious to read a road test of the U.S. version if there is going to be one.

Not a choice for me because the nearest Lexus dealer is 200 miles away. I suspect most Lexux buyers will opt for a car with better performance and most hybrid buyers will choose a Prius.

 

PHV Prius and CT200h may be priced about the same. That's a harder choice for me.

 

I guess I am still young so speed does matter still. I am sucker for amazingly padded and well build interior (Prius was a big sacrifice for me).

I won't get either of those since I've got a Prius now, but if I have to choose one now I will probably go for the Plugin Prius because it will be more pratical to me since I want to start a family.

But If I am like some whoes kids have already grown up then I probably will think about the CT200h for some fun.

But actually I won't chose any of those I will get the $85,000 plug in sports hyrbrid car.

 

I've already seen blogs of others saying they'd like more than 134 net HP for the CT 200h.

At 6'2" tall, I likely wouldn't have enough extra headroom in the CT200h. I've got a little over 4" between my head and roofliner in my 2009 thanks to modded seat. CT200h sits like a sports car with a low roof. Looks like fun but seeing photos of rollover accidents has me thinking about safety - best headroom I can get in a Mazda3 with sunroof is maybe 1" clearance from headliner. Not enough.

 

Very very interesting but it seems that information is yet to give us a clear idea of what it will cost in the US and what the MPG will be. Lot of speculation on both, but I can't find an announcement which shows the actual claims by Lexus... frankly if it is close to the Prius, I think I'd much rather go with this. HDD nav instead of the silly DVD, moonroof without having to buy the solar panel,

 

I talked to the Lexus guys at the Denver auto show about the CT200h. They said that they "heard" that mpg would be in the mid 40's. That makes sense, even though it is slightly smaller, since the 200h will have extra luxury features that add weight such as power seats, sun roof (I think), etc. That seems like a reasonable trade off to me for more features and hopefully a more solid feeling interior.

 

Yeah, I've been doing more research on every article I can find and it seems like they are aiming at 45mpg which would be very very impressive.

I'll definitely be waiting for it to come out to see how it fares, but the listed extras quite frankly blow the prius out of the water. I think I can sacrifice a 10mpg or so if it lives up to what's being promised at the price range being quoted (seen anywhere from $27k to $33k).

 

I wish Lexus put in Lithium pack (non-plugin) to add more power.

 

The similar Lexus prototype at the L.A. autoshow seemed a lot smaller inside. Smaller than the difference in specs. I am all for a luxury small hybrid. The prototype was very small which may take it out of the equation for utility. We'll see in about a year and a half or two when it can be compared head to head with the Prius PHEV.h34r: Just gotta wait and wait and wait.

 

My problem is that most of the 'luxury' items do not interest me, so my chances of being able to buy a small PHV Prius with excellent suspension (but little of the extras) is remote.

Woe is me.

 

Wait for the Toyota version -- production version of FT-CH.

 

i would like it if it were a LOT quieter.

 

Yeah me too

 

My next car will not use gasoline. Period. Until then, I keep my Prius II.

 

Seems way overpriced to me but I've never been big on luxury. I prefer size, fuel economy, power as main things. If it's similar in performance to the Prius and costs gobs more I'd never be interested.

 

Auris Hybrid is coming here in July, apparently. The press release for that had it getting slightly better fuel economy than the Prius. Given that the CT is a ground-up design and the Auris a modified existing model, I would expect the Lexus to have better aerodynamics, and while the CT will probably be heavier than the Auris, it might not be quite as heavy as the Prius.

The improved Auris figure was for 15" wheels though - with 17" wheels it was the same as the 17" wheel Prius.

One major difference is that the CT will have fully-independent rear suspension, where the Auris has a torsion-beam setup.

 

i don't see why a few luxury features would reduce mileage much. i don't see a difference when i have a 150 lb. passenger. nobody ever talks about poor mileage because they weigh 250 lbs and someone else 140?
why can't the lexus just be a luxury prius? same mpg, nicer all around?