The Prius c is Official: > 50 MPG City, 1.5-liter Engine, Pretty Colors

The two in the center are open and you saw them, the other two I think are closed and are on the sides of the dash near the door.

You might have mistaken them for speakers or just ornamental circles.

 

yes first thought they were speakers, now i see you can push them in to open/close, thanks

 

(click to enlarge)

I have declining hopes that the C will be available in Barcelona Red.

 

Never mind all that! What's the 0-60 time? If it's less than 8 seconds I'm in.

 

amidst all the technical talk, anyone else noticed the Upcoming Vehicles link on toyota.com shows the pre-production C? http://www.toyota.com/upcoming-vehicles/priusc/

 

i love the style and color

hate the interior. just SCREAMS cheapness. granted, maybe i could live with it if the car actually costs $15-16k, but I find that very hard to believe.

once we're at/near the $20k barrier, you might as well pony up the extra money for a "real" prius with a much nicer interior and probably better overall MPG.

(also, ditto on the horrible steering wheel)

 

and after news the small yaris hyrbrid would only be for the EU and not for the US and i robbed that in your noses i am the one that now is not happy this C is not for the EU.. it a lot better looking


but the steering whele of the yaris and auris here in the EU is a lot better looking.
and i hope the MPG will be great.. greater then the prius

 

I doubt less than 8. But maybe less than 9 seconds?

I believe the current Gen III Prius 0 to 60 is 9.8 seconds. So I seems possible that the C might be a "little" faster - given it's likely lighter weight. But with only a 1.5L engine (vs. the 1.8L on the Gen III), I can't believe that the C would be 20% faster (i.e,. sub 8 sec).

 

While you're giving away $3k, can I have some?

The c looks like it will have better rear visibility, handle differently, have better EPA city mpg and, being much lighter and having a smaller engine, be better for drivers who want to drive efficiently.

 

haha, it's not a question of having money to give away, but rather "if i'm already spending X, what's another Y?" If I'm spending $1k on a laptop, spending an extra $1k to get a slightly bigger screen might not be worth it. If I'm spending $20k on a car, spending another $3k to get a much roomier vehicle with significantly better interior creature comforts seems worth it. To me, anyway.

">50 city mpg" sounds an awful lot like 51 mpg to me personally. Which is what the Prius liftback gets. Even if it's 55 mpg (which is EXTREMELY optimistic), and all your miles are city miles (really?), and you drive 12k miles/yr, you'll end up saving a whopping 17 gallons of gas per year. lol. Yeah, I'm going to get real excited about that.

Imho, Prius' "bad rear visibility" is an overblown issue. And there are some cars out there (not SUVs) that have much, much worse visibility.

 

also, just looked at the press photos again. i would HIGHLY doubt that this car will have better visibility compared to the liftback: the rear window is very very short.

 

There are some that want smaller, so for the market the question really is how much better/worse the interior ends up being. I don't think anyone has really had a chance to sit in the car, and pictures don't tell that much. My gen III prius looks cheap and plasticy in the interior, and I'm sure if its similar in the C people wanting better will look non-prius, those not may be fine with the C.

This is why with other cars getting 28/40 seems close enough for many driving mainly highway to the prius's 51/48 especially if that other figure is more fun to drive and less expensive. My guess on the prius c is 56/47 and if it comes here and is cheaper it will take some prii and econobox sales away.

 

I have a 2010 Prius II. It has 1-door SKS, cruise, climate control, 2 cup holders and a stereo with an aux port and that's all we need. The interior is basic and the dashboard creaks and rattles in winter. That's what I expect from the base+1 c.

For people who need to seat 2 what exactly would they be giving up with the c?

A good mattress. A good office chair and desk. Comfortable shoes. An electric bicycle. Money off the home equity loan. Money into a retirement fund. New (working) garage doors.

I can see a lot of better uses for $3k.

Can I have that $57 you don't want? Just set up a standing order.

We'd drive 15k miles per year, I'd expect. Depends on the real-world city and highway mileage though. We're mostly 45-55mph. With lots of miles at 45mph to 55mph I think that with the reduced weight the 1.5L engine will handle it, although the hills make things unpredictable.

I agree that 51mpg city and mid 40s highway rating is quite possible. But that's just the EPA rating. I'm concerned about real-world mileage and the EPA ratings have a lot of bad driving in them. A smaller engine and lighter weight means potentially better mileage. A hypermiler can do better in a Gen 2 Prius than a Gen 3, for example. The c is going to take that the Gen 2-sized engine, add years of engineering improvements and put it all in a lighter body. Even the reduced battery and motor shouldn't affect the potential because best mileage comes when you keep EV demand low. The main limitation would be high-speed driving where the aerodynamics come into play.

If there's a potential opportunity to reduce gasoline consumption by another few percentage points in a way that also send $3k less money out of the country on the car purchase, I really don't want to see it dismissed.

Direct rear visibility is an issue that depends on driver height. It's not much direct rear visibility for me (although due to the fact I care about fuel economy but like to be courteous it's annoying not being able to see the turn signals of cars behind me) but rear side visibility. Part is modern, thick pillars. I can assure you that our 2008 Civic has much better visibility.

The Prius also poor front side visibility but I expect that will be the same in the c.

 

Meh, the current Prius is > 50 city. This is not news, other than the pics in the first post which are not bad, there is no substance unfortunately from Toyota on this.

 

just out of curiosity...what else has changed since you started driving?

people resist new things. that is normal we are not comfortable with not knowing what is going to happen next. we always base our fears on past experiences. you say you have changed a tire? when is the last time?

i have paid bills by mail. done it thousands of times. but the last time i paid a single bill by mail was probably 5-6 years ago if not longer. millions of people in this country have probably paid a bill by mail within the last 30 days. they are not comfortable with change.

as for you; a spare tire is really a comfort thing. if you want one, you can get one. i have a Leaf. it does not have a spare. it does have a "fix a flat in a can" thingy. so i guess in a pinch it would work. now, that wont work for catastrophic failure and a few Leafs have had that and had to be towed.

now, is it the Leaf's limited range means it will never be "out in the middle of nowhere?" because funny thing about that.

decades ago, i have been stranded due to a mechanically inept car, sometimes right in the middle of town. i have to say in those times, the feeling of isolation was pretty strong especially late at night. but again, that was decades ago.

i now have a cellphone. (your desert analogy... i equate that to my cellphone not a tire) roadside provided by my insurance company at no extra cost (so they say!@!) so i dont feel isolated any more. i am comfortable. but then again, our comfort level is our personal choice.

so, when was the last time you changed a tire away from home?

 

I may be just shy of turning 30, but I have had to change a tire all of 1 time since I started driving at 16. It was because I nicked a curb, and it gashed the sidewall. Every other time, it was a slow leak and I either pumped the tire up and headed to the tire shop, or used the "fix a flat" can and headed into the tire shop at my convenience. I always considered that stuff a temporary fix, to help you get to the shop when you have time, sooner than later. Most people my age or younger, don't seem to even know how to change a tire, or have trouble figuring out how to jack up the car with the little scissor jack to do it. They'd call mom/dad or a tow truck/AAA/roadside.

I know how to change a tire, but odds are likely that either the spare is flat when I need it, or I would just get the car towed.

 

oh i have had slow leaks DOZENS of times including my 06 Pri that i had to take in to get tire patched 3 times. (we had new construction around the corner from us. pretty sure that was the source of the nails we kept picking up...around here, hybrids are accepted so not likely to be vandals)

i do carry a 12 volt compressor/impact wrench/jump box setup thingy with me. i bought it because it has 2 12 volt chargers and it was handy for keeping my cellphone running while camping but have used the compressor on the road a few times.

as far as my previous post; it is not to berate your decision to get a spare. its simply answering your question as to why its not included. simple answer. most people do not need it or want to pay for it.

now, i have lived in some areas where i would carry one along with water, food, coats, blankets, etc. i am lucky enough that all i need now is just a cell

besides, my SO would not change the tire even if there was a dozen spares to chose from anyway.

 

Alright, I know I'm being nit-picky. I also know this is the type of thing that usually only ends up bothering me.

But reading Toyota's own press release I'm surprised they chose this language.

"(The Prius c offers) a high degree of convenience features and premium in-car electronics, uncommon in a five-door configuration, creating a less compromised compact-car experience. "

It's the "less compromised compact-car experience" part that bothers me. While it may be a totally honest statement, it's not a good one from a promotion or advertising P.O.V..

When you say it's a "less compromised experience" your still saying it IS a compromised experience.

As a compact car owner, I can say without hesitation that for many compact car owners, we don't perceive the compact car "experience" as being a "compromise" at all. There are benefits and drawbacks, just like ownership and useage with any vehicle.

So why use language that defines it as "less a compromise"?

Wouldn't it be better to say " The Prius c offers a high degree of convenience features and premium in-car electronics, uncommon in a five-door configuration."--and just leave it at that?

It's was a poor choice of language to use in a press release.

Okay, I know I'm being anal...but it's what I do....

 

first rule of italian driving........skip to 1:28