Four wheel drive??

AWD is coming because I asked for it.

 

Agree totally. AWD will add a whole new customer base to Prius especially if they don't sacrifice other good traits and price.

 

Well, an AWD Prius might start off selling like hotcakes, but after one winter with the low ground clearance allowing the ice and snow on the road to tear out all underbody plastic, I don't think the enthusiasm would continue. I suspect the new Hybrid RAV4 will suffer from the same problem. Most car manufacturers have to lower their vehicles to improve mileage, and they have to improve mileage by Govt. mandate.

Invest in the company making the underbody plastic bits!

 

AWD means different things to different people. Compared to Gen 3, if Gen 4 gets AWD that will give an edge in wet cold weather handling on frozen and icy roads. Whether it has the ground clearance to go on deep snow is another issue.

 

Maybe. Often I have thought that 4WD/AWD really isn't a good thing for most average drivers.......when it starts to snow or ice over and the 4WD SUVs are the first ones to run off the road into the ditch..........because they can go faster but stopping really isn't any better.
OVERCONFIDENT.

 

Even as much snow as we get from lake effect here, the roads are usually plowed. Not always clear, usually slush or ice is still on the road and this past winter a lot of incomplete thawing, but mostly plowed by the time I go to work. The AWD will help with ice and slush, particularly with uphill climbs and frozen over intersections. Since the cutoff speed for the rumored AWD is 35mph it won't be an issue with using it for higher speed driving. It'll help with low speed control more than anything.

 

Nice work bro!

 

there are detailed threads here, and independent testing videos.