Poll for your reaction of the Gen 4 - so far.

I just watched a walk around video. I'll repeat that the looks of the car aren't that important to me but I do like the front end. Now that I've gotten a better look at the tail lights they are stranger than I thought they were and I don't care for them.

For now I'll knock my poll vote down from neutral to not pleased, recognizing that there is still a lot to come.

 

I'll keep my low mileage 2012 level 5.

 

Its multi purpose. It impedes vision, makes the car less attractive to look at and makes it less enjoyable to sit in.

 

I also initially assumed that higher belt lines might be being driven by tougher side impact standards but if that was the only solution available the belt line would be just as high in the front as in the back.

I think that the higher and sloped belt lines that are common today are just form following fashion to the detriment of function. They would lead me to buy a car without these characteristics if it was available and all else was anywhere near equal.

 

Don't follow your own advice very well, do you?

 

It seems the poll results are more negative than positive at this date.

I don't understand Toyota's marketing logic. They did a drive-by introduction in Las Vegas with no details, they didn't even open the doors and rear hatch of the car. This left the 2016 Prius open to all sorts of scrutiny on just the visible details of the car.

If Toyota had done a full introduction, with all of the specs, we would hopefully be talking about all of the neat features and options. Instead we end up talking about tail light designs and the bump between the cargo area and the folded down rear seats.

They did the same thing with the Rav4 Hybrid by simply announcing that there will be one. That leaves many months of a dead period where any initial excitement is long past and now I have little interest in the car.

Toyota ignored their loyal base of buyers over the past 10 years by skimping on the details of the car. Rather than giving us a ton of features and specs, which might lead to us touting how great the car is, they left us empty handed and feeling cheated.

Eventually we will get all of the details on the redesign of the synergy drive, the ICE, suspension, mpg, heads up display, and much much more. But those details would have meant so much more if Toyota had really done a big splash and filled us with all of those details to drool over while we wait for our cars to be delivered.

It just doesn't make sense.

 

Toyota design team trying to make their cars look "different" but this is not making their design "attractive and pleasant" and better.
The design concept seems highly influenced by the video games - sci-fi film character designs: unnatural sharp edgy and pointy body designs. This might be a generational thing but personally I didn't like it.

For real life objects like cars, the basic principal is "The design should help for a better usability while pleasing eyes and interacting with your senses"

for example:

1- Front and rear visibility is getting worse. It seems side windows getting smaller and two pieces but no glass between the A pillar and the front door.
2- rear spoiler should be thinner. The high level rear light and the rear wiper motor should hide inside the spoiler/frame not like an add-on on top of them.
3- The priorities might be different for different part of the word/users: I don't now the efficiency gain by lowering the top line and boot for a mainly (90%) inner city, rush hour user (where the avarage speed less than 20 mph and stops every two minutes) but a two inch bigger/higher boot means a lot.
4- the gear stick, "P" park button and drive mode switches should be just under your hand (or better on the string wheel column). For long motorway journeys, no problems but very often you stop at traffic lights and you use the gear and "P" every time and on the pics it seems you cant reach them without moving forward.
5- The middle heater/air grills should be on a lower level, not at the top of the dashboard. Even on 3rd gen It was not possible to have an comfortable "indirect" blow even you angle them down or top.
6- wireless charging is a good feature but should be like a drawer which hides the phone as well as making the area usable for storage to put other things as well.
7- start/stop button should be on the door side. How many times I sit back or lean inside awkwardly to stop my car after stepping out on "P".
8- kitchen sink look-like white shiny plastic is destructive on dashboard and steering wheel.
...
to be continued..

 

You know how many times I've used my Prius under 20mph in the inner city during rush hour? Not once in 11 years. My drive to work is mostly speeds of 35-55mph, and most of my around-town driving is 40-45mph. When we go on short trips to see family and in-state vacations, speeds are 55-75mph.

 

1. That seems to be the trend with many models. Rearview cameras are a great idea, but they and lane assist systems can let designers overlook visibility.
2. The spoiler has always been a functional piece on the Prius. Changes to what we see can affect aerodynamics.
3. North America is the second largest Prius market. The gen3 was designed with that in mind and in regards to the fact that we do more highway driving than other markets. I wonder how long Japan will be the number one Prius market. The Aqua/Yaris hybrid/Prius c outsells the Prius there now, and it is designed more towards city driving.
4. True for manual/standard transmissions. The HSD operates like a CVT though, and one without the pretenses of separate gears. I and people I have driven with just use the brakes at stop lights. Having the shifter closer to use B would be nice, but its use won't be needed on every drive for most.
5. I admit they look weird because they are mounted above the dash, but I think it's due to the latter's being lower than normal. They are about where I've seen them on most cars. High and in the middle lets the vents blow conditioned air into the back seat better. Which is where the battery vent likely is located.
6. I agree on it being in a draw, and I think it is on the Avalon. I don't see it as a must have, and rather it be an option, but cost is a tiny impact on the base price.
7. Where was the old keyed ignitions located in the UK, on the right side of the steering column? I think these power buttons are put towards the middle in case of emergencies, to give access to passengers.
8. It's optional, and there is a photo floating around where the center and cup holders are typical matte black plastic with just a little white for accent.

 

The appearance doesn't have immediate appeal for me either. Too contrived. It does seem to look better in the video though and I'll wait till I see it at a dealership.

Toyota say that front and rear sight lines have improved. From the paired forward facing photos of the gen 3 and gen 4, this seems clearly correct for the front, particularly at the corners. Thus far I have not seen a rear facing view that helps me assess it but I'm hopeful that there is at least some improvement.

I'm not sure that the spoiler can be thinner unless the wiper motor is moved to the top of the door which would introduce other issues. If it is, it would no longer provide screening from the glare of headlights behind you.

Boot size is important to me too but I suspect (and hope) its become bigger rather than smaller.

Control location is important to me too but they can't all be in the perfect place and my priorities seem to be different. I want the best places reserved for the controls I'll use while the car is moving at speed in congested traffic. The first thing that comes to mind is the mode button. The gear stick and the EV button are less critical and reaching for the park button is not a big deal to me as its only used when the car is stopped and I only occasionally use it then.

Air distribution on the Gen 3 hasn't been ideal but my problem has not been the center vents (except when my wife has adjusted them). It's been drafts where the side vent air stream hits the B pillar.

Re the wireless charging area: I'd like a complete redesign of the center console tray. This was in my opinion one of the worst designed areas in the Gen 3 and unfortunately they have found a new way to continue this tradition. Unfortunately redesign is not likely to happen at this stage but at least the white is only in some trim levels.

Re the stop/start button I doubt they'll move it to a position the passenger can't reach. (can you imagine the court case). I suggest that you can largely solve your problem by always using the Stop button when you park instead of the Park button then the Stop button. It does the same thing with one less step and greatly reduces the likelihood of stepping out with the car still active.

 

I agree with you jdonalds. I posted quite a few times that Toyota's marketing strategy was puzzling, and each time someone would respond that it is just Toyota's way. Well, perhaps, but that doesn't make it right; or effective; or productive.
I was surprised to learn that the Vegas suspended car was perhaps not even a real car at all.
Personally, I am suspicious. I suspect some aspects of the car have not been completely resolved yet. I'd like to think there will be some reconsideration of the rear end prior to production and sales to the public. The sharp, pointed, projecting sheetmetal "rear bumper" will be dented and dinged by every car that parks behind and every time a driver backs up to a barrier. Then there is that large expanse of black nothingness below. Many cars, including the Avalon have a small blackened area, and that is useful when a model comes with either single or dual exhaust. On the Kia, the black area projects further than the sheetmetal, and appears to have some bumper function. But on the G4, it looks like they could not think of anything else to do with the area. It really emphasizes the height of the rear visually.

It will be interesting to compare the Vegas show car with the German show car.

 

Could you expand on this? Because what you posted is bordering on insanity. I'd like to know where this deviation from reality is coming from.

The suspended car DROVE ON THE STAGE. I sat in it. It is production sheetmetal. What few details left to iron out will be the usual TMS beancounters absolutely destroying the options available in North America, all to save a few pennies per car (beating a dead horse - 2G driver's height adjustable seat, anyone?)

EDIT: Yes, it has been pointed out to me that the suspended car was not the car that drove on stage. It was probably an earlier external shell model. (Tony evidently got pics of the model within the LED circular screen. By the time I looked inside it later, though, it was empty) However, that does not change the fact that the red car on stage drove to the spot on the turntable, and the Experts were around when they were getting ready to drive it back off. And the silver and black models were also able to be powered up (but not driven - some fuses "might" have been removed to negate that).

The physical shape is pretty much locked in. You are NOT going to see even minor retooling at this point, as it will involve multi-million dollar press molds. Or multi-tens/hundreds of thousands injection molds.

What isn't locked in (that we know of) is the details of each package that we see in North America, and what others see elsewhere. Personally, I think outside of NA is probably pretty locked in by now, and IF there is anything left to negotiate for NA, it is down to the typical arguing over pennies per car and hundredths of a mpg for EPA, that always keeps the really cool packages out of NA. I would like to be pleasantly surprised on that, but I'm not holding my breath.

 

Somebody who hated the new Design went to the IAA yesterday and has now completely changed his mind !
Lighting in Las Vegas was terrible.just like the whole 5 minute show !
It made the red Prius look washed out on pictures and video !
I have seen images of the gen.4 in Frankfurt and now even the white center console doesn't look so bad as I thought it did .

 

Vegas reveal called the 4th gen Prius sleek and stylish, no compromise on interior room, even higher MPGs and more 'fun to drive'.
Seems to me those 4 items are important and not easy at all to remedy in a car those sorely lacks those traits.

.... single glove boxes, shifter (perceived to be) in wrong position, a (subjectively) awkward crease in the rear, etc, etc .... IMO those things don't matter so much: You work around them, get used to them, etc .... at least you have a car with a more modern, sleek design, contemporary interior and nicer feel on the road, like 4th gen Prius.

If you enjoy your 3rd gen Prius more than the 4th gen next year, or your 2nd gen more, great, but I think you will be in the minority, by far. I don't believe for one second that Toyota is making the Prius worse and worse. There is no credible case for that, never has been. I expect major auto news sources to agree this 4th gen Prius is a big improvement, including Consumer Reports.

 

You've got to be kidding me. Having a "modern, sleek design" with a "contemporary interior" is preferable to having a car that actually carries your stuff? What good is a "nicer feel on the road" if the stuff you needed to take with you is left in your garage or stolen out of your trunk?

 

See post 53 here:

2016 Prius Eco | Page 3 | PriusChat

 

I wasn't in Vegas, but others have written that the suspended car was not the one that drove on stage. I have no idea.

But I do know that the suspended cars underside is shrouded. There are other pictures of the Prius underside that show the tail pipe, muffler, suspension and body components. They are clearly not the same car. I presumed, possibly in error, that those pictures were taken in Vegas.

BTW, I don't appreciate your comment re sanity. There is no call for such a comment.

 

I feel that the new car is very exciting.

For me, three areas of concern with the third generation were: road noise, handling and limited color options.. Those seem to be major improvements in the 4th gen and we are in the early stages of the car's introduction with many more details yet to be revealed. I am very tired of driving in cars where road noise intrudes and reports of large amounts of sound deadening material below the rear deck make me happy.

The styling of the new car is edgy. The rear end will take some getting used to, but overall I like it. They obviously weren't playing it safe. The interior (with the exception of the white accents). Looks very nice.

I am sure as more of the engineering details become public, my appreciation of the car will grow. I like the fact that Toyota doesn't tell all at first introduction. It leaves me curious and excited to know more. I am sure that engineering details could fill books. They were obviously very serious in the redesign of the car.

 

IT looks like a SPLASHY,FLASHY Lexus design, WHICH I DO NOT LIKE! I expected much more. This is of course only my humble personal opinion which I realize is of little importance to anyone else.