Summary of proposed improvements for future versions of Prius

Toyota seems to have taken ownership of the "ugly bat" and used it tremendously when it created the 2010 Prius. I really can't think of anything I like about it.

Whoever designed the mess didn't think one bit about how Prius owners would actually look at the data/radio/everything and seemed to be someone who flunked the usability/ergonomics in design school.

As for the Camry and other cars with all the "aluminum/chrome" in the interiors, it would be hard to make the cars any uglier.

I drive a 2007 Prius. I don't mind change. If we didn't have change we never would have made it to living in caves let alone in houses. We'd never have learned to ride horses or have wagons or motorcycles (!!!) or cars.

Change can be good. Change that is not ugly and change that is made with the drive in mind where style is good except when usability is trashed. I'll wait for a "do over" or "a Bobby in the shower scene from Dallas when the last year didn't happen" type of thing.

Sorry I don't have anything positive to say. I really am.

 

I vote against moving the brake pedal 1" to the left ... it is more awkward to hold a brake with your right foot that is too much to the left.

If brake pedal is too close to gas pedal, that is an issue, but I have not found that the case in the Gen3 Prius.

 

The driver door armrest is noticeably too low.

So, make the driver door armrest feel even with center console armrest.

 

The 2010 Prius interior does not feel ergonomically enticing to me - it feels functional, but these things below don't feel right to me -

1) The seat height adjuster action. The Honda mechanical seat height adjuster seem more correct to me. The honda mechanism leaves the seat bottom tilt at the same angle while diagonally moving the seat down and back.

a) I believe the Toyota adjuster mostly moves the back of seat bottom down while leaving front of seat at same height. This lower one's butt, but does not allow knees to come down lower.

2) The Prius steering wheel does not feel too well placed in relation to the seat.

3) I'm not a very big fan of the floating bridge console.

 

Two more obvious suggestions:
1) Fiberglass body panels to reduce car weight to perhaps 2500 lbs and get us an extra 10 mpg. A 3400 lb Prius is crazy.
2) A real LEVER emergency brake like Japanese or German automakers use, not the parking brake pedal that US automakers install that is impossible to use in an emergency.

Did this important suggestion make the compiled list: door armrests and center armrests should be the same height. Toyota needs ergonometric specialists on their design teams!

 

2010 Prius does not weigh in a 3,400 lbs, IIRC, it is very close to 3,050 lbs curb weight.

 

Note to Toyota -

Consider implementing the mechanical driver's seat height aduster type found in VW GTI's, Jettas and/or Honda Civics. I believe the diagonal down and back motion is better than the tilting action in the 2010 Prius and Corollas.

Also, go with a more traditional dash / interior design as found in Civics, Accords, Jettas, even the upcoming Lexus CT200h.

Fix the too low driver's door armrest soon as possible. It would be very tacky to leave it flawed unitl 2016.

 

Change the valve stem so that it's not so easy to drop a valve stem cap down into the wheel, wedged inside plastic wheel cover. This happens on the 15" wheel.

I've lost 2 or 3 valve stem caps on rental cars. It's hard to hold the valve stem cap because the wheel cover cutout is a bit small. The cap then falls into the wheel cover and cannot be retrieved unless removing wheel cover.

A little thing, but that's what I've found.

 

Toyota.com lists 3,042 lbs. It's actually a pretty low weight considering what you get. The structure of the car is built from high-tensile steel, which has a greater strength for the same weight, so components can be made lighter for the same strength. The non-structural parts of the doors are thinner than most similar cars (so have more flex), while the hood and hatch are made from aluminium to save weight.

They've done pretty well everything they can while staying within the parameters of standard pressed-steel unibody construction. To save more weight probably means going to aluminium alloy construction, which is significantly more expensive at present as it's generally used only for sports cars.

 

Note to Toyota -

I'm 6 feet 2 inches tall -

Please change to a Homelink type of rearview mirror that hangs no lower than the regular rearview mirror when pushed up to its maximum height.

If the Homelink control buttons were above the mirror, then bottom of mirror edge could be at same height as the regular mirror.

With Homelink buttons on the bottom, the mirror hangs too low and partially blocks my road-level line of sight - not a plus for safety or feeling comfortable while driving.

Give us tall people the chance to see the whole road ahead while enjoying 50 MPG's.

Thanks in advance.

 

No suggestion here - operator error.

I had previously said - 'Make the dash so it does not reflect the display onto the windshield at night'. Forget that.

The dash dimmer switch was above the notch, fully bright. Turned it down so display does not reflect off windshield.

Also, turning dimmer switch down put nav screen into nightime/black mode.

 

Program the car to start up in Power Mode if it's shut down in Power Mode, like it does in Eco mode.

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I prefer to drive in Power Mode, not because I want to speed around everywhere, just because I prefer more response from less gas pedal input. I can get the car to accelerate gently in Power Mode.

I think it would be a hassle to need to select everytime you power up the car - stop at the store for a minute, go to leave, power up, put in gear, darn, it's not in X mode, gotta select it again, and again, every time.

Let the driver control the car. Don't let the car do it's own thing too much.

Power Mode doesn't mean you will get worse fuel economy per se. It just means the gas pedal is most sensitive ( most response for given pedal depression).

Actually, 2010 Prius in Power Mode makes the car respond more like a regular Honda Civic which is not a bad thing.

 

Was driving with sunroof open yesterday, sun was shining on the HVAC control and the reflection was shining up in my eyes
not a major problem but something they look at

 

duplicate post.

 

A "blind spot intervention" system something like Infiniti's to protect from collisions with an object in the Prius' blind spots.

 

For interior, an "official" place to leave the key for valet parking. (I currently use the drink holder.)

 

Wow, what a mind-boggling wish list here! It's all about cost vs luxury. Some add-ons should be made easier to do. For example, those owners who want to change-out the regular mirror for a HomeLink one. Or perhaps to add a center console lamp the comes on when the lid is opened (e.g. all pre-wired with knock-outs).
I don't know if it was mentioned here, but how about a switch that would allow the "beeping" sound during reverse to be heard behind the car? Now that's a good safety feature especially if there are kids around.

 

** Offer 16" alloy wheels as an option on the III and IV trims **

205/55-16" tires should look and perform great on the Prius.

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Wheel / tire combos

195/65-15" - Prius II

195/65-15" or 205/55-16 (option) on III and IV

215/45-17" - Prius V

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Note - I just called Toyota corporate to send this request to Toyota headquarters, hopefully to the right people.