Featured Hyundai IONIQ - Prius competitor?

Agree. PRIUS hasn't been a good seller overall - though annihilated the Honda's attempts at hybrids here. There just hasn't been any encouragement - they spiked a bit 5 or 6 yrs ago when fuel prices spiked. I'm expecting they might go up again now that fuel has started skyrocketing again.

IONIQ will finally give PRIUS some competition, and will come with Hyundai's much better warranty. Hyundai has been on a roll here, with just about every model they're selling doing really well. It will be interesting to see if they manage to have enough stocks of IONIQ - which was TOYOTA's dealer's whinge when Gen 4 came out, quoting 3+ months to get one in the colour we wanted etc.

And yes, the foot-operated brake, and not having knobs or buttons on the radio etc are downsides.

On the other foot - there is rarely a road test where the journalist makes comment about DCT's hesitancy - unless it's a performance test where they seem to excel, but in tight city traffic, parking etc they're horrid compared with PRIUS's e-CVT.

 

Yes, pathetic - to even hint that it's a test or a comparison was crazy. They didn't publish my comments on their webpage - but I put them on FaceBook.

 

I can't see anything in the article to confirm where they tested the Ioniq (UK or AU) or over what distance / time

I agree there is a lot of detail missing from the article

it does say with regards to warranty

so it is presumed the AU warranty will be the same as UK so they give the details to provide an indication of the likely warranty for comparison

the DCT is good in close traffic, as although a dry clutch variant it uses the electric motor to pull away so avoiding the judder normally associated with this type of transmission

personally I prefer the DCT drives over the e-CVT, I suspect you are the opposite

 

there are some hesitancy on rare occasions but I rarely see it with mine, I drive a lot in rush hour traffic, and stop start traffic on our M25 ( referred to locally as the circular car park for good reason) and find no issues with the DCT at low speed / stop start traffic

the use of the electric motor and the way it has been integrated into the drive train removes many of the normal DCT issues in this type of traffic

 

So you've got an IONIQ? That means there's hope - driven a few VW group cars with DCT and they've been quite poor, almost scary with the way they'd hesitate then suddenly lunge.

I'm waiting for the IONIQ Plug-In when (if) it arrives. My normal driving would work well with a Plug-In, and none were available when I bought 2 yrs ago except in the prestige car ranks (Merc/BMW/AUDI).

 

@alanclarkeau

if you want more info you are welcome to visit us on the dark side ( ioniqforum.com ) and ask more detailed questions about the hybrid and plugin to avoid taking this thread to far off topic

we have a few members in NZ who can give you localish info as well as the rest of us around the word

at the end of the day you can gather all the info, but it is the actual sitting in the car and the test drive which are the real deciders

 

I sat in a prototype at CES a few years ago and absolutely loved it. They're really gorgeous too, especially in blue. Still haven't driven one though. They're supposed to call me when a PHEV available to test drive.

 

You mentioned "available" and "SEL trim." Does that mean these safety features are not standard and may require an extra cost?

Bob Wilson

 

By the time we get IONIQ here, it should be the 2019 equivalent - Hyundai seems to be on the ball quite well with equipment levels. Most of the cars they sell here have been "sorted" by local technicians to ensure they work well on our roads (poor generally) as well.

 

Currently, you have to buy a package to get them on the SEL. Sounds like they made them standard for the trim.

 

I am thinking about the Ioniq, but this review from Edmunds.com seems devastating. The visibility is criticized, and Edmunds' reviewers are very negative about the transmission. Any comments?
2018 Hyundai Ioniq Hybrid Review & Ratings | Edmunds

 

I didn't think their visibility critique was that bad.
The transmission comments could come down to driver preference. Something you just have to test drive.

Sounds like Hyundai is still smoothing out their blended friction and regen braking.

 

I'll admit..the unproven transmission is one thing that has turned me off to the Ioniq. It also requires much more maintenance than the Toyota HSD.

 

Maybe the 2019 will be better. I am sensitive to visibility issues, in part because my vision, while good enough to drive, is not great. And I have to say one thing that bothers me about my current Prius 3rd generation is that the pillars along the windsheld sometimes block cars that are about to cross in front of me.

I'm not wild about the CVT in my Prius -- it can get awfully noisy -- but it seems to function fine. If I slow the car down and then accelerate -- say I am coming to a red light and it turns green -- the car responds well.

Thanks for reminding me of the blended friction/regen braking issue. It seems to me this was also an issue initially with the 3rd Prius generation. I'm a nut about brakes, too; there's a lot of traffic on these New Jersey roads.

I really don't want to buy another Toyota product because my 2010 Prius is burning oil at a rate of a quart every 1500 miles or so, and more quickly if I'm doing exclusively highway driving. This problem started to occur short of 90,000 miles, and I think a car shouldn't do that. But I don't want to jump from the frying pan into the fire. Probably I will compromise by driving the Prius as long as I can, but I don't want to have to worry about oil consumption on a cross-country trip.

 

Haven't driven IONIQ - but my impressions of a certain German car's DualClutch gearbox was that it was terrible - hesitated before moving, then lunged suddenly. I tried it in a tight carpark area as well as some 3-point turns in a narrow street. And in some heavy traffic it did the same thing. I'm certain that if I'd given it to my wife to drive, she'd hand the keys back. It was quite good once underway though.

Next car I test-drove was a PRIUS on the same type of environment. Apart from the stupid "handbrake", I was immediately at home. The PRIUS Hybrid Synergy drive is so smooth - yes, the ICE can get a bit noisy at times if pushing hard, and, the REGEN braking I reckon is, under most circumstances, very close to hydraulic braking - bearing in mind that no 2 car model's brake feel is alike anyway. I came from a manual Diesel which had good engine braking, so REGEN braking was just a little more of the same.

 

Use of the electric motor at low speeds is suppose to eliminate that negative behavior of a DCT.

As for the DSG, I read when it first arrived that it is less jolting if driven with manual shifting.

 

Nothing inherently wrong with a DCT. All depends on the tuning. A Porsche will be different from an Ioniq which will be different from a ....

I even know of one which normally starts in second gear (of 7). First is too much of a stump puller. Faster than a manual to 100 too.

 

I'm used to cars with a hand-operated parking brake. The Prius's foot-operated brake was quite a surprise to me, and 100,000 miles in, I'm still not used to it. What bothers you so much about the hand-operated parking break. or are you talking about something else?

BTW, I'd go insane with a car that "hesitated before moving, then lunged suddenly."

 

No - I hate that they've put the "handbrake" on the floor - stupid, crazy, idiotic, just not logical. The "stupid handbrake on the floor" was the only thing which made test-driving PRIUS awkward.