Toyota Prius Hybrid 1.8 (A) Review

Talk about brand establishment. While automakers have scrambled to develop a petrol-electric powered hybrid, the Prius is on its third cycle of life. Sidetrack - pronounced as "Pree-ears," Toyota adopted a Latin name that means "to go before" when translated.

And while the Prius is only a half-right answer to today's exhaust-related problems, 25.6 kilometres to the litre ain't no joke when talking about that proverbial frugality prize.

And this 2009 model can potentially achieve that. Although subtle, the Prius has received a little more presence. A more wedge-like appearance, arrow-like head and tail lamps, and a redesigned roofline to make more space - it's more dynamic than the car it replaces.

Drag co-efficient figures are down to 0.25, a by-product of enhancing underbelly smoothness - amazingly low for any production car that's only matched by the Mercedes E-Class coupe. But unlike Obama's plunging approval ratings, the real kind of change that you can believe in is found on the inside of this hybrid.

There's a new console that sparks a little ocular attention. Digital gauges are found a sizeable distance away from the driver. You're somewhat separated from your front passenger, a move deliberately done to reduce the mass of buttons on the dashboard.

And there are lots of them to play with. In addition to a cool heads-up-display for your speed and fuel efficiency functions, there are "power" and "eco" buttons that change throttle and engine maps. These increase or retard engine response in order to better manage fuel delivery. In other words, you have more control over how much throttle you input and hence, the amount of fuel you feed the engine.

Another button called "EV" enables the Prius to operate in battery-only mode, but only works at speeds of up to 45-50 km/h, and when the battery is more than adequately charged (this is when the battery icon indicates 4 bars or more on the instrument panel, according to our experience with the car).

A touch-sensitive steering button layout detects your fingering shenanigans with the controls, and duly indicates what you're about to touch on the speedometer so you don't have to look down. This includes the radio cluster, climate control and trip computer functions.
As for the equipment list, there are automatic windows for every door, cruise control, a CD/MP3 player with auxiliary input, and new options that aren't available now, such as a moonroof with solar panels. That powers a fan, drawing hot air out of the car without troubling the car's electrical system.

Toyota also claims to have lightened the body in addition to having stiffened it, but the bulk of our delight comes from the engine. Instead of the underpowered 1.5-litre-battery combination found in the previous Prius, there's now a 1.8-litre four-cylinder engine that by way of increased torque, has helped the Prius prowl around urban areas in a more efficient, easy manner.

This combination puts out anything between 100 bhp to 134 bhp with the battery in full swing, and a good 142 Nm spread of torque.

But the biggest change is well-hidden from view. The car now shares a majority of parts with both the Corolla and RAV4, cutting costs and turning it into a real everyday driver with no excuses when the time comes for it to be hoisted up in the docks.

The interior environment is great for all 5 passengers. While there's less lateral knee room in front, the driver's seat is now height-adjustable, enabling conti-car lovers to sit lower and feel more cocooned. People in the back receive more head and leg room, thanks to slimmer front seats and the revisited roofline.

Greater provisions for luggage room come to light. A redesigned housing for the rear-mounted battery, as well as a noticeable 5.6 cm deeper space creates more storage cubes. Toyota also claims that the Prius' plastics are now carbon-neutral, and while the door panels still came across as slightly hollow when jerked around, they felt positively better than its predecessor.

Driving impressions

The new engine is a revelation. At highway speeds, in conjunction with the planetary geared continuously variable transmission, it runs at slower, more efficient rpm on a light throttle load.

When you finally break out your lead foot as we did, average combined fuel economy figures tend to drop into the range of 6.5-7.5 litres per 100 km, but that's still very impressive considering real petrol-engined car speeds that we achieved.

Tease the throttle into extending your fill interval, switch the engine map to "Eco," keep an eye on those "Eco" indicators which are by the way, also new, and make judicious use of the EV mode. Thereafter, you'll discover that less than 4.3 litres per 100 km can be had in urban and highway driving conditions.
There are other improvements aimed at improving the Prius' previously unrefined temperament. Although a slight problem above north-south highway speeds, there's less wind noise, vibration and harshness levels, especially from the engine.

Steering feel has also been improved as the engineers angled the wheels slightly. The four-wheel disc brakes though, aren't easy to modulate, especially under hard braking. Initial bite may be good, they dramatically clamp down on the rotors halfway through the process.

This might be due to the regeneration system that captures heat from braking, subsequently turning it into electricity and charging up the battery. But to Toyota's credit, the entire process happens much faster, and is more effective. This might also be the reason why we were able to run the car with the engine turned off more often than the old Prius.

We also stopwatched a 0-100 km/h sprint in a time of 10.7 seconds. That's nothing short of remarkable.

Will you buy one?

It has to be said - even an ardent, self-confessed petrol junkie who loves carburetted Alfas more than Teslas will admit this - there's a sick pleasure knowing that as you sit at the lights, with all those other vehicles around you idling away, you realize you're in possession of a zero energy drain device that thereby excretes as little waste as it can when you move away under electric power amidst the slurry of diesels and big block thrummers.

And that pleasure can now be had at more realistic levels. It has Corolla-surpassing levels of performance and grip, even with those skinny eco-tyres, and it accomplishes such feats with diesel-like efficiency. It also has near Corolla-like levels of serviceability.

But the hardest thing about owning one would probably be the overcoming fact that most think the Prius has been moulded around the concept of fuel economy. While you might have to adjust to the controls, particularly the CVT and unpredictable brakes, the rest of the abovementioned sentiment remains as unfounded as communism in Australia.

That's good praise for a car that has been designed with low-drag tyres, a slippery body and electric air-conditioning, power steering and water pump in mind. Heck, we've never heard of "inverter coolant" in a car before, hello?

And so, 10 years on, with over 700,000 zinging around worldwide, the 2010 Toyota Prius has evolved into a genuine car with lots of refinement, great economy, and the real world ecstasy of extreme hybrid frugality.

Hollywood celebrities will still drive one, just to make a point, but we feel that they no longer need to do so, because Toyota has already proven theirs. The only problem is, can you justify $96,000 worth of fuel-saving technology in the long-run?