Hot News: New Toyota Prius Grows Up

OMG - 100 Horse Power !!!
So Cool !!!

Now this shall teach you Lexus hybrid and fuel efficient BMW Bi-Turbo Fools Quiet !!!

At 100 h.p. I'd throw out the battery pack to save weight and rely only on the engine -- perhaps Toyota will have the brains to introduce a non-hybrid pure diesel version.

Yeah you ever wonder what the fuel economy of a prius is when you load the thing up. Let me tell you it ain't any better than any other car of it's size.

I would take a a family on vacation in a prius if I were married with Kids. Matter of fact, I may try to rent one the next time I get a loaner from enterprise if I dont decide to just put my car in the shop for a loaner. lol.

Please say you didn't make any more like you!!!!

A whole whopping 100 horsepower?! Please, Toyota, you're spoiling us!

100 horse power? Now we are talking. But aside from making it more appealing to the speed racers around the world, how about making it easy on the eyes? 3rd gen redesign anyone? If not then there is always the 4th gen...

Actually, the 100hp number is misleading: that is what it gets from the IC engine alone: the electrical drive system adds about another 30hp and a LOT more torque. I have driven a Prius and it is no ball of fire on the highway, but certainly not too bad. And around town, the torque from the electric motor, which is maximum at all speeds, is very noticeable.

100 hp is fine. My car has 75 and it zips along happily.

With far less weight....

Now can you imangine if the foor mat gets stuck under the gas pedal this time ? It will be way beyond accelerating wildly . They will have to mount a kill switch somewhere.

Yes but the A150 is a 1.5 litre, not the 1.8 the new Prius will be.
And the A class is hardly the most economical car around. 118d is a better choice, around 120 hp and 60+ highway mpg.

And I don't think it's a question of catching up, just it's a different attitude. The Germans are making fuel efficient vehicles more common, and they are keeping the cost the consumer lower - the Prius is still expensive for what it is, and uses a lot of expensive components. In contrast, a BMW 118d uses relatively few expensive components, and is basically an efficient diesel with a few bits of wizardry thrown at it - it's not a separate model that was designed for fuel efficiency like the Prius. I'm sure they could make a more efficient diesel if they tried, but there's little need to when it's already so good.
Want I want to see is what the mpg's like for the Prius when you put a normal diesel in it, like VW's 2.0 tdi.

fyi: expensive=high quality. dont you know that there hasnt been a SINGLE recall with the hybrid drivetrain in toyota or Lexus?

Are you implying that the BMW 118d is not a high-quality car?

Diesels may be more fuel efficient but they're still dirty, eg. produces more soot than gasoline engines.

I drove this thing from Zip Car. I abused the hell outta it. It has torque from ZERO RPM. Its not slow or anything. Loaded comment is BS, I had that thing loaded almost touching the ground, and still the Electric only can function to almost 25mph if i can remembr. What they need to do in it is have modern Civic like Digital Dash display, not like 1988 Chrysler New Yorker dash display, it looks nasty when sunlight directly shines thru the bak window on the the guages, u can see unfinished electrical panels.

why is toyota obsessed with making their cars larger and heavier? i'm impressed they're keeping the fuel economy down with the increased weight, but why the increase in the first place? they do this with everything they make, i don't get it.