Prime vs. Hyundai Ioniq

That doesn't tell us anything about the actual drive.

What didn't you like ?

 

The car felt like a cheap economy car in every way. Imagine renting a $29/day car from Avis. That's how it felt and looked. The Prius feels more substantial on the road and has a better interior design. I wish I could put into words what I didn't like about it, but it was one of those times where immediately after starting to drive it, I knew I didn't like it. I make fast decisions about cars and buy on average a car a year. Current cars I like and would buy- BMW M6, a Corvette Z06. My daily driver is a '07 Prius for work, a '16 WRX when I'm not commuting, and a '16 Z51 3LT vette and a '10 R/T Challenger. Those are cars I like and my standards are high. I'm a car enthusiast. The Prius is out of necessity. I didn't love the Prime, but it was superior in every way to the Ioniq. I wish they didn't have the cheap leather in the Prime. The seats and parts you are in contact are inferior to the old leather Prius interiors. I would get a Tesla, but we travel often and need a gas engine and the reliability of a Toyota. The Prime is something closer to what I'm willing to drive. I won't drive the Ioniq.

 

OK, just checking here...

When I first test drove the prime, I found it to be rather similar to my older prii...Then I realized that the dealer (and I checked more than one in the area) doesn't charge the prime so it was just operating in HV mode. When I mentioned this to the sales person, sadly, they didn't seem to get it.

Since owning the prime, it has become clear that the car drives a bit differently in EV vs. HV mode and I really prefer EV...
Just something to look out for when test driving these cars.

 

yep the upper trims have leather faced heated and cooled seats, not only is there 2 x 12v sockets at the front there is also another and a 2amp USB charge port in the arm rest

can you be a more specific about why you weren't impressed? what felt cheap the hard plastics? they are one of the common complaints

 

my dealer has just got a plugin and has said it is totally different to drive compared to the hybrid, I will see hopefully Saturday as I should get the plugin as a loan while mine is serviced
the guys who have the full EV love them and few that have the plugin love the way it drives in EV mode, I would think the prime is similar in that respect compared to the hybrid prius

 

Cooled seats are great. My vette has them and locks itself after you walk away, those are my two favorite features.

The base Ioniq looks cheap. Maybe the higher trims are better, I wouldn't know. Also, there are no rebates from Hyundai or from the government (even if there were rebates, I wouldn't get one regardless of the price).

Here's the interior seat:
http://www.canadianautoreview.ca/images/car_photos/2017-hyundai-ioniq/normal/ioniq-electric-center-console.jpg

 

love the center console! but you lose a little storage, mostly junk in mine. what's in front of it? doesn't look cheap at all. very attractive, i would say, at least from a picture.

 

the "blue" trim level has been stripped down and some would say built to a price / EPA figure specifically to take on the prius on EPA figures and price, but I think in some respects the prius wins on the spec, real world we are seeing the ioniq is pretty even in the real world mpg on fuelly

but it does seem fairly popular, the SEL trim level with the tech pack also seems popular for those that want all the tech

 

I’m a car guy as well, and I simply couldn’t get past how dead the Ioniq’s steering felt. It’s downright dangerous to have such little feedback going to the driver.

 

this is where we get into subjective feeling for the car, the feeling of the steering varies with if you are in eco or sport mode, as sport mode has less assistance, it also depends if you have LKAS (not available in US) set to normal or active, as LKAS makes steering inputs for you so you feel it as resistance or pulling on the steering, it does affect your feel for the road, but you can turn it off back to normal lane departure warning

there are so many setting that affect the weight and feeling / feedback of the steering, I have pushed mine to the limit of grip in some different weather conditions purely to find the limits in a controlled way and I found no issues with feedback and being able to sense the point of grip being lost

 

You need to buy what you like. These are similar cars.

+1 for the Hyundai though, lifetime warranty for the traction battery. We just spent $3200 for a new battery at Toyota.

I would still be concerned about reliability, since Toyota has the edge here, but at least you aren't dealing with a Chevy (based on owning three Camaros and two Vettes, I'm not impressed with Chevy quality).

 

From what I remember about the car, please correct me if I’m wrong, you have to be in sport mode with the twitchy throttle mapping and red gauge cluster for more steering feedback. I think that’s a big trade off.

 

yep, in the sport mode you get most feedback, but the gas pedal mapping is altered to make the pedal travel more like a normal non hybrid

in ECO mode you get more steering assistance which does dull the feeling a little and longer gas pedal travel which make it easier to drive economically with a light right foot

but at the end of the day most buyers wont be exploring the limits of grip etc on a day to day manner, most buy a hybrid to drive economically with the sport mode thrown in for a little bit of fun now and again, but a number have also noted that sport mode is useful for junctions and roundabouts where it makes it a little quicker to find first and take off, this is something we are hoping will be fixed in a firmware update to the transmission, in ECO mode you can surprise it and the DCT transmission can take a second or two to sort its cogs out and do what you ask with your right foot

like everything it is learning how it works and any work arounds for limitations until the software is fixed

at the end of the day if that trade off is too much then pass on the Ioniq and either look at other makes or stick with the prius, the decision is yours and you have to be comfortable with which ever car you buy

 

I'd feel like Captain Kirk in that car!

 

The Gen-1 Prius had the same dead feel. The best I could do were larger diameter tires whose centrifugal force suppressed the tendency to wander with no feedback.

Bob Wilson

 

The gen 1 was a totally different beast. Good pioneering car with electric hydro steering. My friend’s family has had one since 2001 and I finally got to drive it. Wow! If you think the gen 2 on has poor acceleration just try one of those! Night and day.

 

You cannot get something for nothing - although the larger diameter motor could give it more torque for a given RPM more input power would be needed.

If the input power is constrained then the motor will have to rotate at lower RPM.

To mate that lower RPM with the road wheels the gearbox ratio will have to be reduced so the torque at the road wheels will be the same as before!
...

Regeneration in the Prius is not limited by the motors - MG2 is rated at 53kW. The battery is the limitation, it can't accept more than ~25kW and depending upon the SOC maybe less than that.

kevin

 

the Ioniq is pure electric steering assistance

 

The Ioniq has roughly twice the battery capacity of the Prius. Input power shouldn't be an issue in most cases.

I'd be surprised if the latest Prius doesn't have it too.

 

The Prius has had EPS since gen 2 and was one of the first cars to mass produce electric assisted steering.