Hybrid Long-term Test Wrap-up: 2006 Toyota Prius

Ottawa, Ontario - When the 2006 Toyota Prius arrived in January, reactions from family members were mixed. "What a strange looking car, I hate the colour," said my wife. "What a cool car. I love the colour," said my daughter.

My wife's initial reaction concurred with the views of many people we encountered during the four months we drove the gasoline electric hybrid - many people thought the Prius' distinctive triangular shape to be odd and the "silver pine mica" colour was definitely love it our hate it - but her opinion changed the first time we filled up - 487 kilometres later and a full week after picking up the car. Litres: 35.6. Cost: $30.48. Fuel consumption: 7.3 litres per 100 kilometres.

Now 7.3 L/100 km is no where near the Natural Resources Canada rating for the Prius in city driving, an unrealistically low 4.0 L/100 km, but the weather in early January was cold. We had expected better, but we weren't all that disappointed. 7.3 L/100 km was, after all, a lot better than the SUV we had driven a few weeks earlier, that had averaged an astounding 16.8 L/100 km in combined city and highway driving.

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