The first truly likable Toyota Prius

By Christopher A. Sawyer
The Virtual Driver

(March 13, 2016) I have never been a fan of the Prius, or of the sanctimony of some who choose to drive this vehicle. Their, “I’m saving the planet, what are you doing?,” attitude is enough to make any rational human being never want to drive the Japanese eco-mobile for fear of being caught in the Smug Cloud. But my dislike extended beyond the image.


As a vehicle, the previous generations of Prius were about as lively and appealing as a cold, dead fish. Hard plastics filled the interior, the controls didn’t feel like they were attached to anything mechanical, and the handling was on par with what you might expect from an autonomous vehicle.



In fact, the sheer lack of engagement between car and passengers should a prototype for those developing the next generation of driverless car. And though it wasn’t wrapped in bodywork looked like it belonged on the set of Woody Allen’s Sleeper, miniaturized it would have fit in well with the erasers in a grade schooler’s pencil case. Though never overtly heterosexual looking, the Prius was decidedly metrosexual, and so inoffensive as to be the dictionary definition of “bland”. Oh, and its personality was so old that it wouldn’t have been surprising if the car came with a complimentary AARP membership and a bottle of Metamucil.

When it decided to build the fourth generation Prius on the company’s Toyota New Global Architecture (TNGA) platform, someone somewhere within the giant Japanese automaker decided that, no matter how popular the Prius was with hyper milers and eco fellow travelers, it needed to break out of its straight jacket-like mold. The new Prius is 0.79 in. lower, but — more importantly — the roof peak has been pushed forward nearly seven inches. The hood is nearly three inches lower, the rear deck is just over two inches lower, and the passengers sit nearly 2.5 in. lower.

Yet, the front seat passengers have more headroom, the rear seaters lose nothing directly overhead and gain a slight bit behind their heads, and the whole interior feels larger, lighter and much more refined. That’s quite an accomplishment considering that the car sits on the same 106.3-in. wheelbase as before.

And while the basic layout of the controls will be familiar to previous generation Prius owners, the overall look is fresher, cleaner and more J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek than Gene Roddenberry’s. Gone are the hard tatami paper-like plastics covering the instrument panel, replaced by a soft-feel covering with a tight, technical grain. The two-tone color combination throughout worked well with the optional ($395) “Blizzard Pearl” exterior paint, and the cloth seats (monochrome leather-like SofTex is available on upper level models) are well integrated with their slashes of gray against a cream and off-white base. Less successful are the white bezels around the steering wheel switches and gearshift. They look like something out of Apple’s design past.

Though Toyota claims the fourth generation Prius’s 0.24 drag coefficient is lower than before, the designers threw out the “so smooth it’s boring” body panels in favor of heavily chiseled panels that direct the air around the car. This is topped by slightly over-the-top head and taillights that flow downward into their respective fascias like the runny mascara of an Alice Cooper stage show. It’s not to everyone’s taste, but it makes the Prius much more distinctive without veering into ugliness.

But enough about style, what about how it works on the road? Has the Prius moved from anodyne science experiment to real automobile? In a word, yes. Whereas the previous Prius made you wish it had autonomous capability so that you didn’t have to drive it, the new car actually feels like it’s connected to the road. There is actual feel through the steering. Software changes have improved acceleration feel.

Changes to the regenerative braking system soften the hand-off from the electric motor/generator to the brakes. In addition, the structure is much stiffer, with torsional rigidity up 60%, and the MacPherson struts up front work well with the new double wishbone independent rear suspension. It’s not a sports or touring car (the Prius is still too softly suspended at critical points along the damper and spring curves for that), but one that gives every indication it would prefer a set of higher performance tires and a dialing out of some of the at-limit understeer in order to take advantage of the new chassis.

And that’s with the Prius Two Eco and its 195/65R-15 low rolling resistance tires, not the Prius Three or Prius Four Touring models that are fitted with 215/45R-17 rubber on more handsome wheels.

The Eco model is fitted with these tires because its reason for being is fuel economy. Rated at 58 city/53 highway by the EPA (the rest of the lineup carries a 54/50 mileage rating), the Prius Two Eco has the potential to be the highest mileage hybrid in the real world. And while the EPA says the Prius gets its best mileage in town where it can spend a greater part of the ride in electric drive mode (under 25 mph), the reality is somewhat different.

The reason for the discrepancy is two-fold: 1) hybrids perform better on the EPA dynos that most any other drive configuration, and 2) the Prius drives so much more like a conventional car that you can find yourself accelerating through EV mode, into full hybrid and with a greater percentage of gasoline engine use. Slow your responses to the point where you keep ahead of the traffic behind without sprinting away from it, and you will find that the powertrain delivers a real world 54 mpg combined, with that number rising slightly at lower around-town, stop-and-go speeds. Keeping up with Michigan traffic on the freeway — which adds at least 10 mph to the posted speed limit — drops highway mileage to just under 50 mpg.

Toyota has made great strides with the fourth generation Prius, turning it from a milquetoast science experiment for the terminally sanctimonious, into a much more analog — and, therefore, human — hybrid sedan.

The styling may be a bit overdone, but it no longer looks or drives like the boring, lifeless car that follows along should the more fragile and exciting vehicles in a Top Gear challenge break en route. That in and of itself is a reason to rejoice. However, there are a few flaws. The rush of air around the A-pillars and side mirrors can get a bit loud at highway speeds. For some unfathomable reason, Toyota retained the annoying high-pitched chime that sounds continuously when the car is shifted into reverse.

Give me a single chirp with the shift and — if you must — channel the remaining beeps outside the cabin to those who might actually be in danger of a 3,000 lb. car reversing silently under near-silent electric power. Finally, it is amazingly easy to press the button that puts the car in Park and start to walk away before realizing that you must also turn off the main power switch. Very annoying. And yet, the overall experience is one of composure, comportment and — yes — fun.

Congratulations Toyota on building the first Prius I’ve ever liked.

The Virtual Driver