The moonrook with solar package is basically a series of solar cells on the roof, just behind the moonroof itself. The solar cells will power the cabin fan to keep the car's interior cool during sunny days. It really makes adifference too, as on a warm day, the car does not get too hot inside, thus helps to protect the interior by keeping the temperature down. Its a pretty cool feature too!
So not really much point it coming up in the c threads all the time, unless it's a thread about things that people want to see in future versions of the c.
The problem is that some people just click new updates in the forum. They don't see what forum they are in and they comment their experience... which is normally fine, but in this case it just confuses things.
Oops...I clicked an alert and did not realize that it was in the Prius c forum. Sorry for confusion. Also, it will be interesting if a solar package comes out for the c in the near future.
It's a pricey option to put into a car that's supposed to be the affordable hybrid. I guess it depends where the market (and you, the owners) takes the c in the future and where Toyota sees they can grab market share by offering different options. Do they go the "usual" route and start offering "regular" amenities such as auto-dimming mirror, lumbar (power or manual) support, automatic headlights and so forth? Or do they go the high tech route and start offering items that aren't usually found in this segment and "ignore" the other items listed above?
I guess in Australia they've kept it simple with having a base model and an i-tech. On the regular Prius liftback both models have always been relatively high-end, with the i-Tech always being Toyota Australia's showcase car with all the bells and whistles. The c is certainly an easier entry into Prius here but it's not budget. While the c i-Tech will almost certainly never step on the liftback's toes, the c i-Tech gets its fair share. To me things like HUD and radar cruise control are the sorts of things I would see as the liftback's pride of place comfort features until they become more commonplace, but in our climate the solar roof just makes so much sense to be part of the c i-Tech package as well.
Effing love it! I grew up with sun/moon roofs so I don't get cars now that don't have them. I would rather have had the option of adding it to a cheaper package (I'm still not too fond of the "entertainment system" in the C III). My biggest and only concern with it is that as someone who has used openable roofs all his life, I am puzzled as to why they went with two buttons instead of one ... you have a button on the left that pushed forward closes the roof, and pushed backward opens it .... then another button that pushed forward closes it, pushed backward tilts it up ... I have never seen this split up before as the more logical choice would seem to combine these into one button. I also wish it was bigger, my parents have a Hyundai Santa Fe which has the moonroof that goes pretty much the length of the vehicle, that would be nice to see in future hybrids.
Yeah, coming from a Gen 5 Camry (2002-2006) which had a single rocker button "Tilt Up/Close on one end and Tilt Down/Open on the other end", it seems odd that all new Toyota vehicles (at least all the ones I've seen) went to a 2-switch set up. (Gen 3 Prius excepted since the button just says "open/close" as the moonroof tilts, then slides over the roof unlike all other Toyotas that slide in between the roof and the headliner).
I thought the same...but it seems that there are two positions: one that is default for the "one touch" control; then, if you hit it again, it will go up/back a bit further...can anyone confirm the same phenom?
I didn't care about the moonroof when buying our Technology package (which comes with moonroof no choice in Canada) but I use it all the time; especially the tilt option. It really does do a quick initial venting of heat and I find myself using a/c far less than I used to – and with it wide open and just the right temperature I do really love it now. Who knew?