The Prius is finally ready to compete with the most popular cars in America
Written: Nov 25 '03 (Updated Oct 01 '04)
Product Rating:
Reliability:
Seat Comfort:
Build Quality
Roominess:
Pros: efficiency (foreign oil is ugly), low emissions, good acceleration, plenty of creature comforts, great price
Cons: It still runs on gasoline, and it shouldn't be used for towing.
The Bottom Line: Anyone buying a new vehicle should take a close look at the 2004 Prius. The Prius is an incredible value, and it could cut some drivers' gasoline bills by 60%.
Originally written 25 November, 2003
Last revised 01 October, 2004
RENTING A PRIUS
As soon as I found out that the Toyota Rent-A-Car program in my area had a 2004 Prius, I reserved it for a weekend.
The weekend special was $86.95 plus tax. The total was $90.75, and they never tried to badger me into buying duplication of insurance like one of the big rental chains did once. For an extra $24 per day, I could have gotten unlimited mileage rather than 200 miles per day. The daily rate is $34.95 and the weekly rate is $189.95. Then the mileage surcharge is either $2/day for 200 miles/day or $10/day for unlimited mileage. The Camry is the same rate. www.toyota.com has a listing of which dealerships participate in the Toyota Rent-A-Car (TRAC) program.
SPECIFICATIONS AND NOTES
The 2004 Prius is a mid-size sedan hatchback with EPA fuel economy estimates of 60 mpg in the city and 51 mpg on the highway. It is almost as big as a Camry (96 and 16.1 cubic feet of passenger and cargo space compared to the Camry’s 101.7 and 16.7), but it gets significantly better mileage. The Camry gets 23/33 mpg (city/highway), while the Prius gets 60/51 mpg. That means improvements of 160% and 55%. Toyota published the net power output of the engine and motor at 110 hp, but the car felt more powerful than that. The Prius might not keep up with the 157-hp Camry, but it could certainly come close. The MSRP is $19 995, so with destination charges and floor mats, it costs about $21 000. The price is the same as the previous model, but the 2004 has more standard features:
TRAC Traction Control
Anti-lock Braking System
3-Point seat belts for all five passengers
Side-Impact Door Beams
Child Restraint System (Latch)
Multi-Reflector Halogen Auto-off Headlamps
Solar Energy Absorbing Glass
Small Rear Spoiler
Auto Climate Control (heating and cooling)
6-speaker stereo system with AM/FM/CD player
Remote Keyless Entry with Engine Immobilizer
Cruise Control (very very big improvement over last year)
Digital Clock
Push Button Start
Tilt Steering Wheel with Radio, Cabin Temp, and front and rear Defrost/Defog controls (improvement over last year)
60/40 Split folding rear seat (very very big improvement over last year)
Power windows and locks with driver’s window auto-down and auto-up
Adjustable Front shoulder belts
The new body shape increases efficiency by reducing drag (wind resistance). The Coefficient of Drag (Cd) is .26, down from .29 in the previous model. By comparison, the smaller Honda Insight has a Cd of .25, and a Ford Taurus has a Cd of .30. The 1994 Taurus had a Cd of .32.
I also appreciated the new courtesy lights. The bottom of the front doors have hidden lights that light up the ground before the driver or passenger steps out of the car. It was a nice luxury-car feature. The controls on the steering wheel were also very handy. The touch-sensitive LCD display screen was easy to use. The headrests in the rear seat went high enough for me (I am 6'2"). I never felt crowded in the front or rear seats. The knee room in the back seats was impressive, too. This car is ready to compete with the most popular cars in America. Anyone buying a mid-sized sedan or compact car should take a close look at the Prius. It has the size and power of a mid-size, but it beats out most compact cars on fuel economy. The Honda Insight and Honda Civic Hybrid are the only cars that will be able to compete with the Prius’s fuel economy for the next two to four years.
The trunk area easily held two full sets of SCUBA gear without folding the seats down. I also managed to get my Goliath-sized mountain bike in without removing the front tire like I do for most cars. This is a bike with a 22” frame, 26” tires, and a big basket on the back of it for groceries and packages. After getting my bike in, I confidently say that any bike will fit in this car with ease...well, maybe not a custom-made bicycle for a 6ּ” basketball player...
THE NEW TECHNOLOGY
I will avoid too many technical details, because there are too many to mention. In short, the car has a full hybrid powertrain, regenerative braking and many other incredible features that make the car more efficient than any other car I know of. Toyota has done some truly amazing things to make this car put off less pollution while burning less fuel. Contrary to intuition, a car that burns more fuel does not necessarily put off more pollution. In fact, most new cars would get better fuel economy if they were allowed to pollute more.
The new key and shifter system were easy to use after a few minutes. It is very similar to the shift lever on a normal automatic transmission. The difference is that rather than having a key attached to the remote keyless entry control, the remote control itself is inserted partway into the dashboard. Once the key is inserted, the driver pushes the Power button while holding the brake down. Also, there is a Park button rather than a spot on the shifter.
The car reacts like a car with normal automatic transmission. At a stoplight, if the driver comes halfway off the brake, the car creeps forward. At cruising speed, if the driver comes off the accelerator, the car does not truly coast. It engages the regenerative braking system just a little. This mimics the way an automatic transmission slows a car in overdrive. I found that coming off the accelerator then pushing it down a little bit would usually let the car coast. Having always driven cars with manual transmission, I like being able to coast toward stoplights. I would like to see an option for a system that feels more like a manual transmission. There would probably be some technical issues, but it seems worthwhile.
FUEL ECONOMY AND PERFORMANCE
I did not drive far enough to fill it up more than once, so I have no fuel economy numbers that I would stand behind. These numbers are all from the Prius's computer. Computers usually lie about fuel economy. We should know in a few months if that is true of the computer on the 2004 Prius.
When I first picked the car up, I wanted to test its acceleration and handling, so I drove it as hard as I could. From every stop, I floored the accelerator and kept it floored up to 50 or 60 mph. I kept it up there until the last minute, and then slammed on the brakes. Out on Interstate 75 I took it up to 90 mph, and it felt just as stable as it did at 25 mph. The jump from 60 mph up to 80 mph could never keep up with a sports car, but it did surprisingly well. The engine had enough power to recharge the batteries while climbing uphill at 85 mph. It was a Florida hill, so the grade was probably only 1%. After about 50 miles of severe abuse, I had gotten 41 mpg.
Sunday was a long drive to a SCUBA dive site. With 325 pounds of people and 200 pounds of cargo, I felt no difference in acceleration or handling. Running from 25 mph up to 70 mph drained the battery pack down to two bars on the display (25%), but it quickly recharged while I cruised at 75 mph. We cruised at 70-75 mph with cruise control on for about 30 miles of gently rolling hills, and we averaged 50 mpg. The rest of the trip (about 160 miles) we cruised at 55-60 mph, and averaged 53 mpg. The computer provides fuel economy in five-minute segments. Our best segment was going through a town where traffic was stop-and-go up to about 35 mph. During those five minutes, we averaged 72 mpg.
Fuel Economy Summary:
41 mpg: Driving it as hard as possible, speeding and braking wildly.
50 mpg: Cruising at 70 mph on I-75
53 mpg: Cruising at 55-60 mph on smaller roads
I never drive around town for more than a few miles, so I never got a chance to see if the car would get 60 mpg in the city. I have no doubt that it would if driven properly.
A FINAL NOTE
I loved the Prius, and I will probably buy one eventually. I still worry about its negative side effects. Joe Environmentally-Conscious can buy a Prius and put off virtually no pollution while getting 50-60 mpg. Now he can live in the suburbs guilt-free. Contributing to suburban sprawl and crowding downtown areas with too much traffic are still very good reasons that people should stay in cities. I just hope people remember that.
Crash test ratings are not available yet (the car has only been on the road for about six weeks), but Toyota has commented that they are aiming for a quadruple five-star rating. I will update this review once that information becomes available.
Please let me know if you have any other questions: .sje333@earthlink.net.
-----UPDATE-----UPDATE-----UPDATE-----
05 MAY, 2004 UPDATE:
The 2004 Toyota Prius crash ratings are up. The 2004 Toyota Prius received a 5-star rating for driver protection in a head-on collision, and 4-star ratings in all other areas (passengers in head-on collisions and all occupants during side collisions. The results are slightly above the middle of the pack. The 2004 Prius is certainly a safe vehicle.
Side Note: The NHTSA classifies vehicles by weight, so they treat the Prius as a compact car. Most classification systems are based on passenger and cargo volume, which is more relevant to consumers. Based on volume, the Prius is a mid-sized sedan.
http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/NCAP/Cars/2971.html
On another topic, my wife bought a 2003 Honda Insight. It is a great car, but the Prius is several steps ahead.
-----END OF 05 MAY, 2004 UPDATE-----
15 JULY, 2004 UPDATE:
The Toyota Prius's European crash test score "equalled the highest score ever awarded in its class and ensured a maximum 5-star rating."
Also, I received a question from a reader about fuel. The Prius runs on regular unleaded gasoline (the low-grade 87-Octane stuff). No special fuel is required.
A SIDE NOTE:
Since I wrote this review, my wife bought a 2003 Honda Insight. We are extremely happy with it, but I never hesitate to admit that the second-generation Prius is a better car. Hopefully Honda will produce a second-generation Insight. They have a prototype that has an unheard-of Cd of 0.20, and is estimated to get 80 mpg.
-----END OF 15 JULY, 2004 UPDATE-----
01 OCTOBER, 2004 UPDATE:
More great news: Toyota's USA Prius sales target for calendar year 2005 is 100,000! This means that the wait time for a Prius should be nearly eliminated. I talked to one dealer who says he has two on the lot ready for sale, and I talked to another one who says the wait is more than 9 months. If you are looking for a Prius, call several dealers. You might have to be persistent. If they can sell you something else, they will.
http://www.evworld.com/view.cfm?section=communique&newsid=6641
-----END OF 01 OCTOBER, 2004 UPDATE-----
-----END OF UPDATES-----
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