graywolf624
02-17-2007, 07:39 PM
What possibly could follow a 400 BHP GTO but a 2007 Toyota Prius. This week it was fairly icy and slushy so a performance car would not net a great review. Given the situation I decided either a luxury car or an economy car would be the best choice. Unfortunately there are no luxury dealers other then Porsche nearby, so an economy car won.
I walked onto the Toyota lot and the first thing that hits me, not a damn one of their current line interests me. Even the scions leave me cold. They have an old mr2 and a lexus is300 covered in snow which might be half interesting, but these are definitly not in test drivable condition. Right, I'm going to have to really fake interest if I want a test drive, especially after stepping out of a Mazda 6. Who would believe yours truly would buy a Prius? So I decided to claim I was shopping for a parent which of course worked like a charm.
So the first thing you notice in the Prius are all the gadgets. You could play with them forever. This is in sharp contrast to the GTO of the previous week. Unfortunately my salesmen was clueless. I asked him all sorts of questions, including feigning ignorance, and not once did I get an answer. So it ended up my job to play with these gadgets and figure them out. As a gadget geek I must say, that part of the test drive was certainly fun.
So I decided to be thorough so I started out inside the dealership looking at a floor model. My first question? How do I open the trunk? The first response I get is, I don't know. I look around and there is no trunk release inside the car. Another salesmen swings buy and tells me the car has to have the power on to open the trunk. The floor model has no power and cannot be started. Yet another salesmen walks by, reaches under the lip of the hatch and pulls a handle which opens the hatch. Here is a clue, salesmen should know the car they are selling.
Now before I preceed I must tell you, my perception of the Prius has always been a really small car. I was quite suprised to be greeted by a decent size trunk. It was at least the size of the gto and the rear seats folded down to provide quite a bit of room. So I guess I can't really complain about the cargo space.
From there I moved outside to an actual test driveable car. My first impression of sitting in the car is 'suprisingly roomy'. So I have to give a plus to Toyota for making alot of interior space in a small car. Meanwhile the dashboard is laid out in a very unique way. The speedo is a long way away from my face, up near the front windscreen. There goes the posibility of selling this car to pensioners, they wont be able to see the speedo. Then again, maybe thats a good thing. Maybe Toyota is doing its part to get half blind seniors off the road!
The model I was test driving was about mid spec, it did not have the nav system or leather seats. Still the seats feel quite comfortable even if they are manual. So right, time to actually start the car and drive. The moment I have been dreading. The car only has an emergency key for the drivers door, instead a transponder must be in the car to start. There is a transponder holder next to the wheel but the dealer just drops the item into the cupholder.
I reached up at this point and hit the power on button... Nothing happens. Well, rather the dashboard shows the mileage and the battery charge while the center screen launches into a Toyota title screen but there is no noise from the engine. After the nag screen a graph of the car with where the power is comming from appears. This screen seems to be able to show a bunch of useless information you would never need but would be a hell of a driver distraction for your average hollywood celeb. At this point I'm suddenly wondering if all these goodies are meant to distract you from something else about the car. I shrugged off this feeling and prepare my mirrors to back the car out of the spot.
Well now is the fateful moment, I'm going to actually test drive an economy car. But wait, how the hell do I shift it into gear? There is some weird ass knob on the dash that says r d b. Well obviously I can tell you pull it towards r for reverse but what is b? I ask the dealer and he has to get someone else who tells me it is a battery only mode. Well here we go, I push the button towards r and let go. The button returns to the center position per it's design and the center dash screen lights up with a rear camera video. Apparently all Prius' come standard with a color rear camera. I soon determine there is a reason for this, the Prius has the worst rear view of any car I've ever driven. Even my Mazda with the bisecting ricerish wing has better rear visibility. Without the rear view camera there could be a hot chick standing behind me naked and I'd end up running her over.
In fact, it is very likely you would run her over, because this car is exceptionally quiet so she wouldnt hear you comming. I can barely hear the car even when the engine turns on. It is exceptionally cold and of course the engine will run more often as a result, but honestly I could only tell the difference due to slight engine shimmy through the wheel. Who knows how a pedestrian would notice you comming. I ask the dealer if anyone has made such a comment and just receive a completely lost shrug.
So time to pull it onto the street. I turn right at the same place I did with the GTO a week earlier, but sadly even with a wet slightly slushy road this car couldnt break the tires free if I put trays under the rear tires. Theres just very little power. Ok, well its an economy car, I can forgive it for being slow from a stop. Maybe I should try to see what it is like from speed. At 40 I slam the gas to see about passing. The result, a very weedy loud noise. Thats it.. The car might have made it to 42 after a few seconds. I can't fogive this, even my mothers current 4 cylinder camry has some sort of passing. I've been in semis with better acceleration.
At this point I lean over and try to play dumb to hear about the cvt. I ask about the lack of transmission shifting, the response from the dealer was something along the lines of.. 'Well thats just the way the hybrid is'. Yeah. well.. ummm.. ok.
So right, the cars slow. At least maybe it handles ok. Well, no. I've seen less body roll in a school bus and the car felt light over every turn I took.. at a whooping 40 mph... The steering wheel has a huge dead spot and there is no feel whatsoever.
At this point yours truly is getting bored of this 24000 dollar economy car that can't get out of its own way but has more gadgets then your local A/V store. I decided to hit the brakes on this test drive literally, but even that took a long time.
So right, the car handles poorly, has no feel, and accelerates like a snail... It also happens to look like a cross between dull and ugly.. I mean if you coshopped this car and a washing machine, you might have difficulty telling the difference. That is till you stepped to the rear of the car, in which case you'd know which was which based on what made you gag. Final conclusion, I would not wish this car on my worst enemy or his grandmom.
I walked onto the Toyota lot and the first thing that hits me, not a damn one of their current line interests me. Even the scions leave me cold. They have an old mr2 and a lexus is300 covered in snow which might be half interesting, but these are definitly not in test drivable condition. Right, I'm going to have to really fake interest if I want a test drive, especially after stepping out of a Mazda 6. Who would believe yours truly would buy a Prius? So I decided to claim I was shopping for a parent which of course worked like a charm.
So the first thing you notice in the Prius are all the gadgets. You could play with them forever. This is in sharp contrast to the GTO of the previous week. Unfortunately my salesmen was clueless. I asked him all sorts of questions, including feigning ignorance, and not once did I get an answer. So it ended up my job to play with these gadgets and figure them out. As a gadget geek I must say, that part of the test drive was certainly fun.
So I decided to be thorough so I started out inside the dealership looking at a floor model. My first question? How do I open the trunk? The first response I get is, I don't know. I look around and there is no trunk release inside the car. Another salesmen swings buy and tells me the car has to have the power on to open the trunk. The floor model has no power and cannot be started. Yet another salesmen walks by, reaches under the lip of the hatch and pulls a handle which opens the hatch. Here is a clue, salesmen should know the car they are selling.
Now before I preceed I must tell you, my perception of the Prius has always been a really small car. I was quite suprised to be greeted by a decent size trunk. It was at least the size of the gto and the rear seats folded down to provide quite a bit of room. So I guess I can't really complain about the cargo space.
From there I moved outside to an actual test driveable car. My first impression of sitting in the car is 'suprisingly roomy'. So I have to give a plus to Toyota for making alot of interior space in a small car. Meanwhile the dashboard is laid out in a very unique way. The speedo is a long way away from my face, up near the front windscreen. There goes the posibility of selling this car to pensioners, they wont be able to see the speedo. Then again, maybe thats a good thing. Maybe Toyota is doing its part to get half blind seniors off the road!
The model I was test driving was about mid spec, it did not have the nav system or leather seats. Still the seats feel quite comfortable even if they are manual. So right, time to actually start the car and drive. The moment I have been dreading. The car only has an emergency key for the drivers door, instead a transponder must be in the car to start. There is a transponder holder next to the wheel but the dealer just drops the item into the cupholder.
I reached up at this point and hit the power on button... Nothing happens. Well, rather the dashboard shows the mileage and the battery charge while the center screen launches into a Toyota title screen but there is no noise from the engine. After the nag screen a graph of the car with where the power is comming from appears. This screen seems to be able to show a bunch of useless information you would never need but would be a hell of a driver distraction for your average hollywood celeb. At this point I'm suddenly wondering if all these goodies are meant to distract you from something else about the car. I shrugged off this feeling and prepare my mirrors to back the car out of the spot.
Well now is the fateful moment, I'm going to actually test drive an economy car. But wait, how the hell do I shift it into gear? There is some weird ass knob on the dash that says r d b. Well obviously I can tell you pull it towards r for reverse but what is b? I ask the dealer and he has to get someone else who tells me it is a battery only mode. Well here we go, I push the button towards r and let go. The button returns to the center position per it's design and the center dash screen lights up with a rear camera video. Apparently all Prius' come standard with a color rear camera. I soon determine there is a reason for this, the Prius has the worst rear view of any car I've ever driven. Even my Mazda with the bisecting ricerish wing has better rear visibility. Without the rear view camera there could be a hot chick standing behind me naked and I'd end up running her over.
In fact, it is very likely you would run her over, because this car is exceptionally quiet so she wouldnt hear you comming. I can barely hear the car even when the engine turns on. It is exceptionally cold and of course the engine will run more often as a result, but honestly I could only tell the difference due to slight engine shimmy through the wheel. Who knows how a pedestrian would notice you comming. I ask the dealer if anyone has made such a comment and just receive a completely lost shrug.
So time to pull it onto the street. I turn right at the same place I did with the GTO a week earlier, but sadly even with a wet slightly slushy road this car couldnt break the tires free if I put trays under the rear tires. Theres just very little power. Ok, well its an economy car, I can forgive it for being slow from a stop. Maybe I should try to see what it is like from speed. At 40 I slam the gas to see about passing. The result, a very weedy loud noise. Thats it.. The car might have made it to 42 after a few seconds. I can't fogive this, even my mothers current 4 cylinder camry has some sort of passing. I've been in semis with better acceleration.
At this point I lean over and try to play dumb to hear about the cvt. I ask about the lack of transmission shifting, the response from the dealer was something along the lines of.. 'Well thats just the way the hybrid is'. Yeah. well.. ummm.. ok.
So right, the cars slow. At least maybe it handles ok. Well, no. I've seen less body roll in a school bus and the car felt light over every turn I took.. at a whooping 40 mph... The steering wheel has a huge dead spot and there is no feel whatsoever.
At this point yours truly is getting bored of this 24000 dollar economy car that can't get out of its own way but has more gadgets then your local A/V store. I decided to hit the brakes on this test drive literally, but even that took a long time.
So right, the car handles poorly, has no feel, and accelerates like a snail... It also happens to look like a cross between dull and ugly.. I mean if you coshopped this car and a washing machine, you might have difficulty telling the difference. That is till you stepped to the rear of the car, in which case you'd know which was which based on what made you gag. Final conclusion, I would not wish this car on my worst enemy or his grandmom.