… Toyota Prius …
Most folks think of Toyota as safe, sensible, reliable and conservative with a small ‘c’ and that is perfectly true, but there is another side to the company. Think World Rally Championship and Le Mans. Toyota does motor sport equally as well.
Way back in the 1980s, Toyota had a one make British rallying series for its Twin Cam, 1600cc, RWD, Corolla, and it was a wee belter of a rally car. Folk like Andy Kelly, Colin Valentine, Mike Riddick and Ronnie Thom competed in this hotly contested class. It was after that model that the Corolla became front wheel drive, but then the Starlet became the clubman’s weapon of choice, especially in Ireland. It’s also worth remembering that a certain Jimmy Fleming shoe-horned a V8 into a Starlet to go rallying!
Anyway, that’s all water under the bridge now, but Toyota still makes exciting cars, if you think of the Supra, the GT86 and the Mirai, but exciting is not confined to sporting. Toyota was one of the first companies to get into hybrids and this latest version of the Prius is their best yet, and possibly the best hybrid on the market today.
In fact if you forget the word ‘hybrid’ and judge it as a car, regardless of power plant, it ranks itself amongst the best of the compact saloons. Period.
It is roomier and more comfortable inside than the previous model and although it’s not a sports car, it’s actually quite nippy.
Looks aside, it’s quite odd on first acquaintance when you step inside. There’s no gearstick. Instead a stubby little knob sticks horizontally out of the central dash with the familiar letters, R, N and D with a B for Battery. There are just two pedals, so it’s a case of pressing the blue starter button, put the shift into D – and nothing happens! At least you think nothing is happening, but a tentative press of the accelerator eases you off from rest in silence.
At least most of the time. If the lithium-ion battery pack is fully charged then the Prius is quite happy to tootle about in electric mode until you get outside the city limits and need a bit more speed when the 1.8 litre petrol engine cuts in almost seamlessly. Although I’m not a fan of CVT transmissions, this one works very well.
Although the 1.8 VVT-i petrol engine only delivers 97 bhp, the electric motor delivers another 25 horses, which combined gives the car a nought to 60 time of 10.6 seconds. That sounds slow, but it actually feels quite quick and the car is happy to cruise at 70 when on the motorway.
However, Toyota has devised a ‘cunning plan’ to stop drivers thinking it’s a sports car. There is a centrally mounted information panel which uses various colours and displays to provide the driver with information about fuel consumption and saving. To those of a competitive nature, the challenge becomes one of keeping it in the ‘green’ and trying to match Toyota’s claimed 94mpg. Over the 138 miles of mixed motoring I had the car I managed what I thought was a respectable 75.5 mpg although there was room to do better, much better.
This dash top panel is additional to the touchscreen mounted centrally below it and which controls most of the other major in-car functions. That results in a clean and simple, clutter-free, button-less fascia but it will take a while to work out all the various options that such screens provide these days.
There were just two quibbles. The driver’s seat cushion is a bit flat and taller drivers might appreciate a bit more thigh support on longer trips, but that apart this is a very practical and frugal motor car. It will appeal equally to the cardigan and carpet slippers brigade as it will to the social media facebookers and twitterers with its wireless connecting pad for the iPhone. The other thing I didn’t like was the foot-operated parking brake, but that’s a personal dislike. It worked well enough, but I still prefer a proper lever!
Speaking of quibbles, there is one other contentious point. The style. There’s no doubt it looks different and whether that will put people off or attract them is down to personal taste. Me? I liked it. Would I have one? I think I would.
As for motor sport potential, we’ll leave that to the new Yaris WRC.