What percentage of Prius drivers actually think about the driving experience?

I've tried all sorts of height adjustments in mine.

You are right though, the height adjuster adjusts the back of the seat cushion height more than the front, which means it changes the cushion tilt. I don't like this 'approach', because for me, it leaves the front of the cushion forcing my knees up too high and too much thigh pressure (support).

I don't know what cars with manual seats and height adjust use a fixed cushion tilt, and which are variable, but I know both the Accord and Civic manual driver's seats remain at nearly constant tilt all through the height range. Those seats do move somewhat forward and aft throught the height range.

Any good power adjustable seat has tilt adjust for the whole seat.

 

That's fine, call it a midsize, but I'll bet just about all on the street looking at Prius liftback will call it a small car or like a compact car.

 

It's not just me being arbitrary. The Gen 3 Prius IS a Mid-Size vehicle as classified by the EPA.

And I just had a "small car" or compact in a Honda Fit...and trust me...The Prius is much roomier. I don't really care what people on the street or "looking at it" might think. I know what it is.

 

somewhat agree on this. Like most compact cars I test drove, mazda 3, ford focus, lexus ct200h, honda civic, and the prius liftback i was unimpressed with the lack of headroom in the rear seats. Could care less what size class its in, if it doesn't fit it doesn't fit. Leg room was fine. Now i'm only 5'10 but sitting in the back seat of the prius liftback and all these other cars and not being able to sit upright, slouching, leaning forward so my head clears the ceiling was unacceptable. I regularily carry "adults" of normal height in my car with me. My v is called a midsize car as well, but the head room is very generous, no slouching required. Just shows you have to try before you buy, size class means very little.
I had a honda fit previously as well and i believe it is classified as a subcompact or "small wagon". Headroom was better than any compact car for front and rear passengers. it was definetly lacking in width and leg room though. 4 adults in that car was pretty cozy.

 

I had a Honda fit...and it was amazing with the versatility in the space you could create, with the flat load floor, and the fold up magic seats.

But IMO it was no where as near as spacious as The Prius. With The Honda Fit, and it's tall upright stance, and HUGE windshield, Honda created an amazing optical illusion. I contend The Honda Fit looks and feels roomier that it actually is, and this is based on how the dash is laid out in perspective, and all the light let in by the enormous windshield.

In the drivers seat of a Honda Fit I never felt cramped or lacking for room. But IMO you can easily tell the difference between The Honda Fit as a Compact...and The Prius as a Mid-Size.

I kept my custom made Sunshield for the Honda Fit, in hopes I could use it in my Prius. I ended up buying a custom Sunshield for the Prius. I can tell you The Fit windshield is bigger than The Prius. All that surrounding glass and visibility give The Honda Fit a real nice feeling of space and openess. But it's somewhat just illusion.

 

Of course everyone has thought about it. Most presumably were happy to exchange sports-car driving dynamics for 50 MPG.

Personally, I've never had a sporty car, but prior to the Prius I've owned exclusively manual transmission vehicles, even my minivan-ish Mazda5, because I enjoyed being more involved in the driving "experience". I'll freely admit that the 5 is more fun to drive than the Prius, but guess what? - when I'm going somewhere and don't need the larger cargo or (nominal) 6-passenger capacity of the 5, I'll take the Prius every time. Now, as someone else said earlier, I enjoy being more involved in the high-MPG experience.

The Prius is actually more comfortable for me to drive than the 5, despite being a smaller car, as it has considerably more legroom in front and I don't have the issues with the seats that so many complain of.

 

I agree. The Accord looks like a normal car and for that reason alone I think that people who would never want to drive a Prius, could go fot the Accord since it only gets 3 mpg less combined. Honda might give toyota a run for their money.
When the next gen Prius comes out, I'm sure it will trump this new Accord.

 

Doesn't Honda Fit go up against a Toyota Yaris which would be Toyota's sub-compact car??

Isn't a Fit a sub-compact?

Civic is compact

Accord is commonly known as a midsize sedan, like a Camry, Altima, etc...

Full size sedan would be an Avalon, right?

 

How about we say the Prius liftback is a 'tweener' in size ...

somewhere between a compact -Civic, Corolla, etc...

and all the commonly known midsize sedans - Camry, Accord, blah, blah

Isn't Prius just a bit over the lower limit if midsize interior room?

 

I wouldn't use the term "Go Up Against"...but yes I believe the Honda Fit is classified as a Sub-Compact. In many ways it's very similar in size and even layout to The Prius c.

I would give Honda designers a lot of kudos for designing a Sub-Compact that really feels uncompromisingly roomy.

These EPA size classifications are not random or arbitrary. You can look them up for Accord, Prius, Fit whatever vehicle.

The Prius just makes the definition of Mid-Size.
While The Accord Sedan is still classified Mid-Size but "just falls short" of being classified now as a full size.

The trend seems to be for popular automobiles to increase in size with every generation.

 

That's not such a bad thing. To really fit 5 (typical American) adults in a car, a Camry / Accord size car is best. Prius is awfully tight for 5 adults.

Back seats in Camry and Accord are pretty roomy, but not overdone. Lot of Americans are big, tall, wide

All new Accord shrunk in size and weight from last generation

40+ MPG midsize hybrid sedans with trunk are a good thing. Over time its best they shrink battery sizes and cost so more will buy them. Some are already saying they won't consider Accord Hybrid because of no folding rear seat. It's a start though.

 

well that's a big complaint for us with the hycam, but at least the trunk got a little bigger on the 2nd gen. funny how we never thought about folding rear seats until somebody invented them.

 

Doesn't change my statement's validity at all. -The trend is for automobiles to increase in size.

In regards to the Accord:

" It debuted in 1976 as a compact hatchback, though this style only lasted through 1981, as the line-up was expanded to include a sedan, coupé, and wagon. By the Accord's sixth generation in the 1990s, it evolved into an intermediate vehicle, with one basic platform but with different bodies and proportions to increase its competitiveness against its rivals in different international markets. For the eighth generation of the Accord released for the North America market in 2008, Honda had again chosen to move the model further up-scale and increase its size.[3] This pushed the Accord sedan from the upper limit of what the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines as a mid-size car to just above the lower limit of a full-size car,[4] with the coupe still rated as a mid-size car. The current ninth generation Accord for the North America market is again classified as a mid-size car, falls just short of full-size car classification with the combined interior space of 119 square feet (11.1 m3).

 

So, there are all sorts of sizes to choose from like little tiny C$%p box smart cars, Yaris, etc... to behemoth SUVs.

Accord , Camry and Fusion are very nice size family cars, obviously. They sell VERY well.

 

Love Hondas. Was hoping to get another one after selling my Fit. But sticking to my "one car" philosopy it needed to be as versatile as possible, thus had to be a wagon, and other than the fit, or moving up to an SUV(bleh) Honda had a rather bland selection of automobiles at the time(1 year ago).
I've seen some old school accord wagons and civics. Wish they would bring those back, obviously in their upgraded, larger form factor. Accord crosstour doesn't count.
If they made a wagon version of the new accord hybrid i'd be trading in my v tomorrow. Sorry Toyota

 

After driving above mentioned C$%p size cars all my life, geo metro, even an old school 86 honda accord with 2x4s(yes wooden ones) in the rocker panels to hold it together, and now moving up to the prius v which is perhaps on the small size in the midsize category i can't see any reason to ever go back to driving a small car. An accord or camry gets the same or better MPG than civic or corolla(ICE powered). Ok the smaller cars might have a slight edge in the city owing to weight advantage. Other than the extra cost up front you simply get more car for your money IMO. And with self parking, backup cameras, lane departure warning systems, the argument that small cars are easier to drive in the city is thrown out the window.
Going back to the OP's topic though, as far as sporty cars, small cars have a different kind of fun factor to large powerful cars so i suppose there will always be a market for small cars for the "go kart" like experience.

 

I used to be so bent on having a hatchback or liftback to be able to both put all my drums in cases in the back or road bicycle (my hardware case weighs maybe 90 lbs loaded with stands). But I can put that hardware case in a midsize sedan trunk crossways, bass drum in back seat, etc..... and can use a bike rack on a trunk or tow hitch.
For someone who absolutely needs the hatch / fold down rear seats, gotta get what ya need.

4 months ago, did short test drive a 2012 Accord EX sedan with 40k miles on it and it felt awfully good to drive. Zippy, good braking and the steering was great. 2 months ago test drove an '13 Accord Sport sedan and that felt really nice too. Bit noisy on highway with 235 tires, but really nice overall.

 

On the highway, my Prius just doesn't have that X factor of feeling really good partly because it feels a little disconnected from the road. The steering feels a bit disconnected from the driving too, perhaps because there's no mechanical link.

Maybe the disconnected sort of floaty feeling is because of the torsion beam rear suspension, but that's just guess. I've noticed the midsize sedans (even Camry) with their multi-link rear suspensions feel more connected to the road.

It's ok and certainly not awful by any means, but it needs a total refresh soon. Hopefully that 'new global architecture' 4th gen chassis will finally give it a better rep with C&D, etc...

 

To me the 'disconnection' the Prius suffers from doesn't feel to have anything to do with the suspension design, but is all about the steering. The electric power steering has been designed/tuned with absolutely no steering feel left for the driver. In a car with good steering, as you turn the wheel the load increases in proportion to how far the wheels are turned, weighting up the steering wheel the more input you give. That feel is what allows for precise driving.

In the Prius the weight barely changes at all when steering, so it's impossible to tell what angle the wheels are at.

The electric boost is inactive when cruising straight down the road, which explains why the feel is 'ok' under those circumstances.