Toyota's Prius family is growing. The Prius V is
bigger in every key dimension than the stock Prius, and the company just
unveiled the smallest Prius ever, the Prius C, which will cost less
than $20K and get more than 50 mpg. We haven't yet driven the Prius C,
but I'm going go out on a limb and project that Toyota will have done a
better job of shrinking its ultrasuccessful Prius formula than it has in
enlarging it.
Why?
Because although the Prius V is appreciably bigger than the stock Prius,
with a huge amount of rear-seat room and a substantial cargo area, its
size is a definite liability in terms of NVH: noise, vibration, and
harshness. The enlarged cabin is, quite simply, an echo chamber for road
noise, tire noise, powertrain noise, wind noise, any noise. The point
of the bigger Prius is to be able to more comfortably haul people and
belongings, presumably over longer distances. This should be the Prius
that you want to take on a long road trip. But if you have to drive this
car more than 50 miles on the freeway, you'll be turning up the volume
on the excellent, optional JBL stereo to maintain your sanity.
In the August 2011 issue of Automobile
Magazine, I reported that the new Toyota Prius V "has a very comfortable
freeway ride." That was true last May on the smooth pavement of the
freeways near Half Moon Bay, California, but it sure wasn't true in
January 2012, when I drove our Prius V tester in the Ann Arbor and
Detroit vicinities. Here on the pockmarked roads of Michigan, the Prius V
transmitted every bump, pothole, expansion strip, or dimple in the
pavement to the bums of every passenger.
Other complaints include:
- Every time I come to a stop, I have to think for a minute, now, how do I put this car in park? There are two buttons, one on top of each other, above the gearshift selector. They both begin with the letter P. One is for Park, immediately above the gearshifter, and another is the power button, which you have to push after hitting Park. I suppose you'd get used to this over time, but, really, why isn't the Park function part of the gearshift selector?
- The heated-seat buttons are practically hidden and have only one setting.
Complaints aside, here's what I like:
- Very good high-beam headlamps
- Superb visibility out the huge windshield and side windows
- Pretty decent snow traction getting up my steep driveway
- Car actually handles well, with little body roll
- Good navigation system and back-up camera
- Excellent interior room
As
for fuel economy, over 214 miles, about half freeway, half two-lane and
city streets, the trip computer said I achieved 33 mpg.
