Well they have the v now. It has the rear legroom and cargo capacity. They need to make the v lighter or get a bit more oomph out of it. Maybe target 45-48mpg
The big difference between the Gen 2 and the Gen 3 seating is that the front seats in the Gen 2 did not slide back far enough for people with long legs to drive for any distance in reasonable comfort. This was a design error as there was a ton of unused legroom in the back seat but no way to use it. It is why the Gen 2 is not a viable car for people like me (6 ft 2" and long legs for my height) The Gen 3 permits the front seats to slide further back enabling the car to accommodate people with long legs in both front and back seats simultaneously. Overall space may not be very different but the seating can be set up to work for more people. So far as I'm aware, no rear leg space was lost in the Gen 3 as you always have the option to move the front seats forward to the Gen 2 position. The published measurements do not tell the whole story. The best way to check overall legroom is for a person with long legs to set the front seat in the most forward position that would be comfortable for a long distance drive then get in the seat behind it and see if legroom is sufficient for them to sit in the back for a long distance drive. When I was looking for a car in 2009, the Gen 3, the Camry and the Accord passed, the Gen 2, the Corolla and the Civic failed. As for the Gen 4, I won't know for sure until I have a chance to try it.
Do you mean the previous v? because that actually had less rear legroom than the previous regular Prius. It was enough of a difference to mean my rear facing child car seat would fit in the regular Prius but not the v. Cargo space in the v was enormous though. I imagine this is the result of the design that allowed for a third row in some markets. To put in the third row, they had to compromise on the legroom of the second row, but it made the cargo space behind the second row huge. Here is my post on the subject, and Toyota's own front+rear legroom specs support my assertion: Ironically, Prius is better than Prius v for large rear-facing child car seats. | PriusChat
Can someone take a picture similar to this one but with the foam in the down position? I mean on one of the models that does have the spare, just lift up the carpet and take a picture of the entire trunk area under that carpet. I tried to look at it yesterday when I went for a test drive but the one version they had with the spare was locked and they couldn't find the key.
One posted here. Looks like there's a little space for a "warning reflector" (according to the owners manual) which could possibly be used to store some small stuff like, maybe a blanket or small tool box.
One thing I don't like, in my old Priuses, there was a secret compartment near where the spare was. This allowed me to put an air compressor, jumper cables, tie downs and twine. And on big trips, I could fit quite a few xmas presentes down there. The new Prius has replaced the compartment with Foam/cut outs. Boo.
looks like a waffle maker. I can see the scissor jack has the same piece of cr@p single eyelet linkage. What's a lot better is a bent plate in a U-shape, with a hole in both outstanding legs: much more stable when turning. Toyota seems to ivory-tower-design with a lot of things like this.
I agree but perhaps they had to do that to meet crash test standards. I can't see any reason they would have to put foam inside the spare though except to support the floor which I'm pretty sure could have been done while leaving a large storage space.
Besides the energy absorbing qualities of the foam, it is also helpful in reducing road noise. The gen 4 is quieter and that may be part of the reason. A lot of noise comes from the rear area in a hatchback.
I wish that they would have left off that foam dip that goes into the spare so that we could use that space for storage. Our old 2006 Prius has a nice storage pan under the sub-floor. We live in earthquake country and need a space for emergency water, food, and backpack. We just got our car yesterday. I hope someone has some ideas.
