Cannot Decide - please input your 2$

long reply coming ... i actually posted this in newbie forum - which i guess i could of or maybe should of posted as a reply here - so here it is ... the results from my latest test drive friday.

ok, this one surprised me. i'm currently shopping and homing on what to buy. definitly buying new - but having hard time deciding between 2012 prius 3 or 4 and the new v3 ... today i drove a v2 and a 3/4 no salesman with me... here's what happened and my findings.

this was my second drive, and i wanted to focus on seat comfort, road noise, and mileage.

3/4 first drive - left dealer, went a few blocks to a walmart stopped and reset trip computer - tweaked the radio, set a/c to auto - it was 88 today and played with the seat controls. pulled out hit a couple lights and headed out of town on a rural highway, ran in normal mode to attempt to get best average for real world numbers. drove about 15 miles passing one small town 45mph zone... turned around at the next one and headed back. running north south - set cruise at 60, total trip about 32 miles. consumption for tripa avg was something like 43mpg. give or take a few tenths. avg speed i think 36-38mph on display.

switched to a v2 they had... did same trip - only almost forgot to set trip to 0 so as i rolled up to first light, i hit reset. rolled out of town, same as before... to me...
at first instant mpg was showing 33, to 36... as i got out and hit cruise... it quickly jumped into the low 40s... got to turn around town - went around block entirely in ev.. hit the road again cruise back on at 60 same as before.. as i rolled back into town of dealership i was seeing 45mpg... this is at 30 miles driven.... then i got onto a more busy highway 4 lane - still 50-55 mph though. several stop lights and a couple miles up the road, turned around and headed back . got back to dealership -and the v topped out the trip average at 46.3 mpg for something like 38 miles.

i then climbed in the back seat of each to check comfort. etc. surprisingly i fit in both back seats. though std prius had more room to me, and was able to get feet under driver seat. v-toes were tight, and heels hit the step up when getting out. headroom definitely better...in v as well as space. though i do like the open tub in the cargo area of the 3/4 vs the styrofoam cubby's in the v.

knee rested on flying buttress of the 3/4 but it didnt seem over bearing...though long trip it might. v definitely gave feeling of more space there as having open area allowed to sag out the knee...

compared to current vehicle, left foot hit wheel well, had to more to right and roll ankle or slide foot back and set flat. this was on both models equally.

road noise was pleasantly quiet - on both, though maybe a little more mirror wind noise on 3/4. tire noise seemed similar.

as for handling, surprisingly, the v seemed flatter in the corners even though taller and heavier. i think someone said it has rear sway bar std. where 3/4 is an addon??

so the choice isnt getting any easier.
i can get a 3/4 with leather for 28147, a v3 for 27300, and a 3/3 for 25600. each is base with floor mats - no sunroofs, etc.

the 3/4 is most bang for buck - though the v would definitely be versatile. we have a mini van so space, not so important. i commute about 100 miles a day though 50 to and 50 from work... all state roads. speed 55-60. though we do have 3 kids, and v space behind seat would come in handy. ages 11, 7 , and 9 months. stroller, cooler, for a trip would not fit in gen3.

it's a tough decision - any thoughts would help - and i'm puzzled by the fuel mileage of the test drive. the only thing i can think of is that with the lower gear ratio, the v seemed to get up and go a bit quicker and that it didnt have to work as hard to maintain speed whereas the std pri with the taller ratio, accells a bit slower and needs to work a little harder to maintain???? winds were from the south at 10-15, first leg was north leg 2 was south.

thanks for all the input...