4th generation coming 2015!

Thank you for the update.

Well, it looks that Toyota Canada has made 2014 Prius v officially available it's quite some news, at least to me. The entry-level price tag was marginally increased (a few dozen $). That being said, the financing options have gone up considerably, from 1.9% to 4.6% on a 72mo purchase (my preferred option). If no incentives are announced within next six months, or so, I might be going for the entry-level model (an equivalent of the Two in the US). I am not complaining, though. I have been still debating for a while a potential of purchasing a Touring Package Prius Liftback, but with the expected increase in costs of financing the dilemma will soon end for me. In all fairness, the only thing that I would miss from the Luxury Package (equivalent to the Three south of the 49 parallel) of the v that I could potentially purchase right now would be the nav system (I consider the leather surfaces as a bonus, not a requirement). On the other token, I am pretty much sure that my iPhone, or the iPad will be more adequate for this purpose.

Btw, my fortwo is the '05 cdi Passion model with 88 clicks @odo and still runs like a champ for $35-40/month.

Take care.

 

Can I point out even though my profile says 2009, mine is a Gen 3 - I was one of the early buyers of Gen3 here in the UK as I got the car in September of that year. I am also well aware (through test driving) the refinements to suspension made to Gen 3 - 2012 onwards where it was slightly softened yet overall hight reduced marginally to maintain handling performance. And I have driven quite few european cars that excell at cornering etc and I can tell you the Prius Gen 3 is close but can do with some improvements.

 

I agree totally - better ride quality and a quiteter interior would be great.

The first two years after getting a brand new Gen 3, I had to spend my own time trying to track & fix various rattles, the car has been to the dealer several times to trace dashboard rattles - this should not have happened with a car like this.

 

It's good but could be better .....
That is a designers worst nightmare. It is also true for every product, situation, experience in life, from sex to Mama's home baked cookies. An image comes to mind .... remember pictures we have seen of an OSHA designed swing-set?

I suppose I'll just take myself out of the G4 market and keep my 2010. I have found nothing to complain about it ...... and it's paid for.

 

How about this, suspension hardware was outdated in 2009 when the gen III was introduced, and reflected mainly trade offs decided for the 1997 model. Since 1997 costs for better suspensions have dropped and there is no reason that the prius handles worse than many cars costing less. Multi-link is the obvious answer, but there have also been rumors of double wishbone. I would think toyota would have driven the ford focus and mazda three to see what people like about those suspensions better than the one in the prius. There are choices and trade-offs but the much higher cost of multi-link when the prius was first introduced is no longer there. You don't use the same cell phone you used 10 years ago do you, even though it was good enough back than?

The other complaints and reviews found that the 5 trim of the prius handles better than other models. Part of this has to do with a different steering rack and tuning of the electric power steering. There is no reason at all to not design the steering rack and power steering to be quicker and less boosted in the next generation. Reducing the boost is a matter of software and power steering motor. They claim to be improving the hybrid motors, I would think the power steering motor would be improved also.

One problem with handling are the tires, but I expect that they will again choose fuel economy over handling. Materials have improved though, and there are more choices. I would think that you would not have to upgrade other things in the car to get better handling tires, but toyota packaged leather, and upgraded stereo with better tires. This should be an unbundled option.

Other things that hurt handling - weight and high forward center of gravity are claimed to be improved in the next generation. With a multi-link suspension you can tune for these things better.

Probably a good idea

 

Mine doesn't. I've driven cars that handle well, and the 2004 Prius is noticeably deficient. I can deal with a complete lack of feedback from the steering wheel, as long as the car goes where it's pointed, but I much prefer gokarts to shopping carts.

 

The kind of stuff AG likes. Wonder why some Prius owners find out about "deficient handling"(a test drive) and interior quality(look before buying) years after?

 

I knew about it before I bought the car. I made a compromise for gas mileage because the better handling cars were not coming close. When the next gen prius comes out, those other cars will have had increased mileage. I don't see the point of toyota keeping bad handling for the sake of keeping it. Akio Toyoda is behind this move to attact younger buyers and improve handling.

Really no reason not to do some of these things, and I think Akio Toyoda is on the right track. The aqua(prius c) can stick to all the low price compromises, the prius liftback should improve where it can. Note even in the aqua toyota improved handling versus the prius liftback. They do know how to do it, its more a matter of devoting engineering resources to it, and adding a tiny bit of cost.

 

Better handling doesn't need to impact mileage. At least, not on the usual EPA test loop. I'm sure it does, in real world conditions, just because it's so much more fun to drive.

And no matter what the mileage, a car that handles so poorly as to be unsafe is no bargain.

 

I have 75,000 miles on my Prius, and never realized it was a slug.

 

Would you rather have people at toyota to never have driven other cars and think they can improve the handling of the prius? No one is saying that you have to agree, have you driven any well handling cars since you bought your prius?

I am sure toyota wants to improve market share, not just against other hybrids, but in the car market. That means people may actually test drive other cars. Why do you want it to stay the same?

 

The Prius has been in production since 1997 so the 2008 would only qualify as a "freshman" if it failed to make the grades year after year. You'd have to elaborate if that was your original point.

There's little excuse for the Prius' lack of handling, and let's not sugar coat it, the Prius is well known to be a poor handling car in nearly all reviews, kool-aid drinkers aside. And there's little excuse for the design neglect given Toyota's many years of automobile design experience unless the target market is the "unsophisticated" as you seem to be. No worries, my wife falls in that category so you're in good company.

 

The new Pruis has much competition these days and many are very refined and nice handling vehicles. We'll hold on off on purchasing the next vehicle until after the new model release.

 

Engineering is a game of trade-offs and understanding greatest common denominator.

Funny, I though even the most unsophisticated knew that by now.

 

Hi Hyo,

Is this your opinion of the Prius ? If so, some context would be helpful in terms of road conditions and speeds.

p.s.
I drive our G2 Prius and G3 vagon down curvy roads set to 35 mph speed limits at 50+ mph so long as the road condition and weather are accommodating. One time the car's VSC lit up and made me quite nervous. At the end of the trip I found a tyre almost flat. Thanks Prius!

 

OK. OK. I give up, and will shut up.

All I am looking for is news about the "4th Generation Coming in 2015."

 

It was intially. The car felt like it had a hinge in the middle, it wandered on the highway, and the steering felt dead. I drove it hard enough on the test drive to make the salesperson pretty nervous, so I knew some of the problems before I got it, but they were still disappointing. Overall, the good features outweigh the bad, so I certainly wouldn't discourage anyone from buying one. I've actually sold several.

My biggest complaint is with the stock tires, not the car. The original Goodyear Integrities are of such poor quality that I consider them unsafe. And, not to introduce controversy to a site that doesn't seem to tolerate it, I found the chassis brace made a huge improvement. Presto, a formerly active member here, made extensive chassis modifications and declared his modified Prius to be the best handling car he'd ever driven.

 

I'm not either. I'm even less sure that people who use the term mean the same thing.

And yet... I agree with the sentiment when I drive our Subaru, particularly when the car was younger. I don't know why I agree or what it means in a physical sense though LOL

Do I like my Subaru handling ? Very much, quite a bit more than the Prius
Do I want the Prius to adopt Subaru handling ? Depends on the trade-offs. In general I share your (Felt's) priorities.

 

Understood. But, you should know that many of the improvements over the years have come from suggestions by owners of previous versions. Some of us were even flown to Detroit, all expenses paid, to witness the unveiling of the 2010. Many of us had the chance to speak with the designer in person. He quite liked my suggestion for an improvement, and said he'd already thought of it, but was told it was too expensive to implement.

We share your interest in the 2015, but don't dismiss the 'old farts' just because they don't happen to drive the most recent model.