So it’s March 25, 2009. Time to put up those impressions that some of you have been waiting for, eh?

More after the jump.

Disclaimer:
I didn’t get a chance to look at my mileage or anything like that. I don’t think I would have been a good candidate for that anyway – my 2006’s mileage is currently less than 42 mpg (I blame winter gas). Additionally, my views are those from a gadget enthusiast and not so much from a mileage or environmental enthusiast. Basically, to me the Prius is a cool car with lots of toys – the mileage and (relative) environmental-friendliness are side perks.

Background:
The model I drove was the one with the solar/moon roof. Having never owned a vehicle with a moon roof, I must say it’s pretty neat but certainly not something to choose over the Advanced Technology package. I didn’t get to see the solar-powered fan system in action (I hear it only works automatically at a certain temperature difference between the inside and outside, and only when the vehicle is off.) Tony, the Toyota guy in my car, asked if I would actually find use for the system. I told him that summers in the central valley (Davis, CA) are a killer, especially in a car with so many large windows. I’ve had things melt in there. I hear iPods don’t do so well in the greenhouse, either. Tony agreed, saying that in Sacramento it would be useful, but maybe not so much in the Bay Area.

Driving Impressions:
Upon driving, the first thing I noticed was that all of the controls were a lot tighter and stiffer, in a good way. The steering wheel felt more solid and sturdy, the gear selector didn’t snap back with a loud click, the gas and brake pedals didn’t feel like passive spring-loaded levers and had more resistance/feedback when pressed, and the parking brake travel was shorter resulting in more resistance sooner.

The seats were comfortable and leather (not a big fan of leather, but these were okay). Telescopic steering was a nice feature, which let me sit further back and still have the steering within reach. This addressed my concern for my knees hitting the dashboard in my 2006 if I were ever to get into an accident. The point is moot though, as the new model has a drive-side knee airbag for that very purpose. Didn’t need to try the lumbar support or height adjustment – they were just fine (maybe I should thank the driver before me) but for the record, I don’t have issues with the seats on my 2006.

The controls are well laid out, all within reach of the driver, although the modes buttons are a little awkward being on the other side of the gear selector. I like how the navigation screen no longer bulges above the dashboard, although the plethora of control buttons isn’t as appealing. I kind of liked it better when we had screen controls with the buttons being screen selectors. Also, touch tracer is pretty cool, but I dislike having to hold down buttons to navigate menus for settings. It detracts from the whole “you no longer have to take your eyes too far off the road to do something” mantra. In the 2006, turning off MFD involves a button press and a screen tap. In the new model, turning off the MID involves using the touch tracer to find the settings menu, pressing and holding a couple times to select “screen off,” then holding to actually turn it off. Not a big deal, except that the menu navigating can vary depending on what display mode the MID is already in. On the plus side, the NAV screen is still turned off using the Display button and screen tap method. It’s not all bad though – it takes time to get used to new things. Although it was a little sad to see a base model without the nice screen and a green LCD in its place – I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to that.

On the road, I found that the rear-view mirror blocked my view of cross-traffic to my right, just like it does in the current model. Not having the time to flip it upside-down (I don’t think Tony would have liked it anyway) I left it alone. Rear visibility is about the same – no problems – with the center bar across the middle. For the record, I’m 5’10”.

As for regular acceleration, it felt about the same as the current model, but a bit quieter (less engine noise, no noticeable whine of the electric motor). Additionally, it might have just been my imagination, but Toyota must have tweaked the aerodynamics of the sides of the car, too, because with all four windows down and the roof open, cabin noise was still decently low (at least for the front seats) at 35 mph. On my 2006, 35 mph with the windows down means raising voices in order to have a conversation. Putting the car into Power mode was something else. Taking off from a stop sign, I heard and felt the engine come on sooner. I could tell we were going faster, sooner, too. Although not a problem in my current car, merging onto the freeway will definitely be easier in this mode for the new model. (I had the gas pedal down about 2/3 of the way on that satisfactory straight-away. I might have had to floor it in my 2006 for the same effect.)

I wish I could have taken it out for a spin on the freeway to get an impression of high speed driving, but that was out of the scope of the event.

Other Impressions:
Inside the building there were two parked cars for attendees to play around with. This is where I got to do most of the button pressing, lever pulling, and knob twisting.

Remember that moon roof? The one with the solar panels? Here it is again.

It’s pretty cool, and instead of just being a cutout of glass that traditional moon roofs are, it consists of a giant glass panel stretching across the entire width of the car, just like in the Scion tC (“all glass roof!”). Here’s a video of it in action.

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There are three stops when opening (cracking for air flow, 2/3 open, completely open) and two when closing (1/3 open, completely closed).

The solar panel array embedded behind the moon roof generates 59W that can be used to run an independent ventilation fan to help cool the car off while parked on a hot sunny day.

Off of the top of my head, two things that I didn’t like were the fact that there still isn’t an interior trunk release by the driver (despite the fact that it’s an electronic latch!!!) and that the new glove compartments feel like they’re made of especially cheap plastic. Hopefully they’ll put the layer of fur on it to mask this mistake like they did in the earlier model.

I’d post other stuff like technical details, but by now you can probably find them on a bunch of other sites (there’s one linked at the end of this post).

Final Thoughts:
All in all, the new Prius has a bunch of small improvements in every category, which add up to a great new car. Maybe not new enough to justify getting one if you already have a current model, but definitely enough to recommend to new buyers or those with a Classic, despite the increased cost. Of course, that’s only my gadget-infused opinion – if I were in the market for a new Prius, I would get the one with the most new technology and doohickeys. That said, I wouldn’t turn down a third gen if it came with the moon roof instead of the Advanced Technology package, but I would if it had neither. Ultimately, Toyota should offer a model with everything on it, including the plug-in option later down the line. The car already gets great mileage, and from what I hear from other bloggers, way higher than 50 mpg. I really don’t think that the gadget nerds would mind the hit from the added weight of the extra features. I know I wouldn’t.

For an in-depth review of the 2010 Prius, I recommend checking out this forum post.

Check out some of the other pictures that Becky took from the event in the gallery.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 25th, 2009 at 12:02 pm .
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