What I don't like about the 2016 Prius

I feel my way to the buttons. I don't take my eyes off the road, lol. For the multi-button press you will actually have more of a likely chance to take your eyes off the road to look at the center console to see what mode you're in. Versus one-button press, I know if I press the right one, I know I'm in that mode...

 

The 3rd gen emergency spare is the same (afaik), doesn't change if your OEM rims are 17". That's our situation. We also use 15" snow tires.

 

interesting. so you can roll with one 15 and 3 17's?

 

Outside is meh to me, I don't think it's bad. It just doesn't knock my socks off or impress me. What is impressive is seeing it next to a Gen III and the Gen III looks more aged for sure...so interesting about that...

I don't like the white accents either.

I'll be super disappointed if they got rid of the top glove box. What kind of progress is that?

I'm all about practicality as well. Having a Gen III I will *not* switch to a Gen IV. Now...having a Gen I PiP...I'm eagerly awating Gen II PiP based on practicality, ie, better mpg and more EV.

But honestly - I can get 55 mpg on my Gen III already, it's rare, but I do get it.

Count me in on a test drive though, I want to see to believe......

Hopefully it doesn't end up as my test drive with the PiP where I thought "Wow...this is exactly the same, maybe a little slower". I got the PiP because we needed the second car and we indeed have solar panels now.

All those EV owners I feel sorry for. Whereas projected savings was around $400 a year in gas, I think now driving a Tesla will cost you an extra $10-$50 a year if you don't have solar. In fact, it looks like Tesla took out that calculator now....

 

Hey, a dial would be nice. ECO, Normal, PWR, going left to right.

Personally I leave it in Normal, all the time. But for any control, a dial (or slider) is better, then indictinct, flush mount buttons that require you glance down, and bringing up the rear:

a &*$#@@* touch screen.

 

i wasn't gonna switch from my '08 to a gen III either. but i was getting closer each day, when the pip came along.

 

What does "Normal" mode do, I never understood that and the Sales Reps were never able to really tell me :O

 

Yeah, the OD's of 15" and 17" are very similar, 17" slightly less actually.

 

interesting. tyre sidewall height?

 

ECO mode has a lot of gas pedal travel, PWR mode a lot less, and leaving both off is (just dubbed by owners) normal, with pedal travel somewhere between the two extremes.

Merged

Would be roughly 1" less for the 17". And you hear about going over every speed bump.

 

Here's my take:

Initial (negative?) impressions based on photos and videos will probably change once people can actually see, touch and sit in the car. My first impression from the photos was meh, but that has changed with the subsequence videos. I get that some think the new design caters too much to the younger crowd, but my take is that at almost 69, exterior looks aren't as important as interior comfort. If the design sells to Millennials, great! If my grandsons thinks granddad has a cooler car, great!

-- I dislike the steering wheel, I also use 6:00 to rest my hands on long drives.
-- Can't get excited about specific exterior treatments, like fog lights and turn signal mirrors, until I see the options list for different trim levels.
-- Exterior design looks better in the videos and later still shots than the leaked photos, need to see more color options.
-- I like the new 17" wheels, especially if the inserts come in different colors, but I want to see the standard 15" wheels.
-- Initially, I dislike the lowered cargo bay because it does away with hidden storage, so I'll have to see it for myself.
-- I like the rear power outlet, but will miss the outlet below the dash. I use a splitter down there for my Garmin cable and phone chargers and that way they are out of the way. Now they'll have to sit on the console in front off our cups. I like that the outlets are out of the console, I just wish they had been positioned in front of the wireless pad rather than behind the cupholders.
-- Not sure about the cupholders. I have trouble in some cars getting to my cup ( I have to drink a lot of fluids) and while the flying buttress is a rather poor closed-in design in our '14, the cupholder is easy for me to access. I rest only my elbow on the console, not my arm, so the cups are not in my way.
-- Will miss the split glove box and I'm not sure about the "tray" above the glove box.
-- Not a fan of the radio/nav display design at all. It looks huge and clunky, but might not be so bad in person and probably is somewhat different in other trim packages.
-- I happen to be a fan of the multifunction display being in the middle of the dash. With the smaller steering wheels and adjustability in today's cars, there just isn't enough room to position speedometers, etc., in front of the driver. I had problems seeing the speedometer in my '99 van and my grandson's '14 Mustang when the wheels were adjusted for driving comfort.
-- Being 6'1", I'm a little concerned about the lowering of the driver's seat and legroom, so that's something else I'll have to see in person.
-- While I have no trouble lowering the rear seats with one hand, the new release design is a welcome change and matches what I've seen in other cars.
-- I like the new seats, but I have Softex seats now that I like, so I'll have to see if there is any difference in comfort.

 

Whoa, I don't like that either.

 

Oh I didn't catch that. That is a setback. As was said now my GPS power cable will have to lay across the cup holders. Not good.

I won't ever spring for a car built in GPS. First every time I've used one in a rental car they don't work as well as the Garmin unit I brought along. Second I get lifetime map updates from Garmin, or on-line maps on my phone. The last time I checked the car GPS maps are expensive to update. Perhaps that has changed though.

 

I bought my Prius v (lowercase v for the Prius v wagon) because of one reason....I got tired of making the gas companies rich. However, it is disappointing to see that the new Prius has not addressed the one major flaw of its predecessors..... Creature comforts. I am a paraplegic who uses a rigid frame, non foldable wheelchair and the Prius is the one car that could accommodate it and still give me up to 50 mpg. I am willing to pay for certain features but am unable to get them. Real leather seating, operating sunroof, power drivers seat, power hatch and an instrument panel in front of the driver where is is meant to be. The fact that Toyota refused to address these with the 2016 Prius most likely means they won't offer it in the soon to be redesigned v. Too bad Toyota missed the boat again.

 

My spare is a 135/80-16 I assume that is standard for Gen 3.

 

I actually use both (and my cell) because I like the integrated audio the Prius nav system offers. I use the Nuvi (and cell) to find things when on the road, then enter the address using voice commands and let the Prius get us to them. Otherwise I pre-enter destinations from Google Maps, etc., and use the Prius. I may never update the DVD unless they really lower the price. I am interested in what changes they've made to the system though. FWIW, I bought the Four for the other things it offered, but the Prius nav has gotten me around the country. Our last trip to Georgia was almost all Prius because we didn't have any last minute things to search for. YMMV

 

This is good news, the chunky rear is the most critical...