Prius refinement (and some general GenII, GenIII stuff)
Discussion
Slowly contemplating a change of car and while petrol head side of me wants something daft, the other side of me is inherently interested in trying out Hybrids and EVs. Now an EV is probably off the cards for us owing to how we use our cars, but in a few years I expect all that will become much easier to sort out.
So Hybrids and specifically the Prius. If anyone who owns or had owned one could chime in that'd be awesome!
My main worry about this car is road noise and ride comfort. Having had an 8th gen civic for the past 5 years my biggest pet hates are:
1) refinement. Harsh engine sounds on accelerating and intrusive engine sounds when cruising at motorway speeds. Also horrendous road noise from the tyres. The latter two are of most concern.
2) squeaky, rattly, el-cheapo plastics with no rigidity to them
3) ridiculous ride. Great on glass smooth roads. Akin to rolling a piano down some stairs if on normal UK roads. The Civic literally swan dives into ruts and holes...its awful.
Does the Prius tick any of the above boxes?
Secondly I have been reading some forums and many commentators mention that they feel the GenII is a much more solid feeling car. Quieter on the motorway and also has better battery packs. Obviously its not as efficient as the newer car but many still seem to rate it highly. One guy even wished he'd never bought a GenIII and had bought a good used GenII instead, such was his hate for the road noise.
Also how comfy are the seats? With no lumbar support in the civic, long journeys are pretty bad on the back. But in my sheddy S60, the arm chairs in those leave you feeling great! I am not expecting the latter, but would hope for better than the former!
And finally, what is the stereo like in these things? Again not expecting to be blown away like the HU-803 in the Volvo, but equally I'd like a little more chutzpah than the wind up job Honda bestowed the civic with.
Cheers
So Hybrids and specifically the Prius. If anyone who owns or had owned one could chime in that'd be awesome!
My main worry about this car is road noise and ride comfort. Having had an 8th gen civic for the past 5 years my biggest pet hates are:
1) refinement. Harsh engine sounds on accelerating and intrusive engine sounds when cruising at motorway speeds. Also horrendous road noise from the tyres. The latter two are of most concern.
2) squeaky, rattly, el-cheapo plastics with no rigidity to them
3) ridiculous ride. Great on glass smooth roads. Akin to rolling a piano down some stairs if on normal UK roads. The Civic literally swan dives into ruts and holes...its awful.
Does the Prius tick any of the above boxes?
Secondly I have been reading some forums and many commentators mention that they feel the GenII is a much more solid feeling car. Quieter on the motorway and also has better battery packs. Obviously its not as efficient as the newer car but many still seem to rate it highly. One guy even wished he'd never bought a GenIII and had bought a good used GenII instead, such was his hate for the road noise.
Also how comfy are the seats? With no lumbar support in the civic, long journeys are pretty bad on the back. But in my sheddy S60, the arm chairs in those leave you feeling great! I am not expecting the latter, but would hope for better than the former!
And finally, what is the stereo like in these things? Again not expecting to be blown away like the HU-803 in the Volvo, but equally I'd like a little more chutzpah than the wind up job Honda bestowed the civic with.
Cheers
I don't have any experience of the Civic so don't really know how it compares with the Prius but here are some observations about my Mk2.
Generally very refined but engine can be noisy under hard acceleration.
Road noise OK but quite tyre dependent - Dunlop Blu Response seem much better than OEM Bridgestones (better steering too)
Ride comfort really quite good, almost as good as my Merc W123.
I went for a Mk2 over a 3 because I preferred the interior and found the visibility much better.
Seats quite comfy, even after 21hr trip to Italy.
All I can really say is try one, you may like it.
Generally very refined but engine can be noisy under hard acceleration.
Road noise OK but quite tyre dependent - Dunlop Blu Response seem much better than OEM Bridgestones (better steering too)
Ride comfort really quite good, almost as good as my Merc W123.
I went for a Mk2 over a 3 because I preferred the interior and found the visibility much better.
Seats quite comfy, even after 21hr trip to Italy.
All I can really say is try one, you may like it.
Prius is an interesting car, one perhaps you have to love for its qualities to forgive its shortcomings.
I bought a gen3 to run alongside my xfr (now sold) as a works car. It liberated me from worrying about parking it anywhere, damaging the alloys, having to constantly wash it, worrying about getting it dirty inside, and I didn't have to worry ant putting high mileage on it.
I thought I wouldn't love it hence liberating from all the fore mentioned. Ironically I love driving it for all of those reasons. And the fact it costs very little to run and nothing ever goes wrong with it.
It's actually a great run around for me, it's roomy and I've used it to go on long day trips whilst I kept the mileage down on the xfr as I planned to sell it. The end result was I don't dislike driving it or taking day trips in it. It does the job well.
The shortcomings are it really is league apart in its handling compared to the xfr, it's almost funny. But that amuses me. It can handle but it has zero feedback and zero fine adjustment on the steering, it leans and the seat gives little lateral support. It's actually funny.
The ride is also fairly average. The low rolling resistance tires and the quest for weight saving does produce a bit more road noise than normal.
Despite popular belief Prius are quick enough when they need to be up to 70 where the bhp deficit starts to show. However if you want maximum power the cvt goes to high rpm and it's just like any other 1.8 petrol at near redline.
So really being realistic it isn't as refined as you would like. The materials are purposely light or absent for weight saving and if you are one of these people that craves premium feel you will not like it.
I'm not and have never been that interested in ultimate cabin luxury, neither do I have issues with the Prius ride or noise. Things like that simply don't bother me. The car drives fine, gets me anywhere, I have everything I need, handles and performs fine in practically every situation. Has few compromises and returns at the moment 65mpg over a tank.
I initially just wanted a cheap run about that I could claim 45p a mile on and be quids in. I bought well st low mileage and surprisingly grew to like it. Been using it daily since my xfr went and will sell it as soon as my tesla turns up. The Prius certainly helped me gain interest in tech / ev cars.
I bought a gen3 to run alongside my xfr (now sold) as a works car. It liberated me from worrying about parking it anywhere, damaging the alloys, having to constantly wash it, worrying about getting it dirty inside, and I didn't have to worry ant putting high mileage on it.
I thought I wouldn't love it hence liberating from all the fore mentioned. Ironically I love driving it for all of those reasons. And the fact it costs very little to run and nothing ever goes wrong with it.
It's actually a great run around for me, it's roomy and I've used it to go on long day trips whilst I kept the mileage down on the xfr as I planned to sell it. The end result was I don't dislike driving it or taking day trips in it. It does the job well.
The shortcomings are it really is league apart in its handling compared to the xfr, it's almost funny. But that amuses me. It can handle but it has zero feedback and zero fine adjustment on the steering, it leans and the seat gives little lateral support. It's actually funny.
The ride is also fairly average. The low rolling resistance tires and the quest for weight saving does produce a bit more road noise than normal.
Despite popular belief Prius are quick enough when they need to be up to 70 where the bhp deficit starts to show. However if you want maximum power the cvt goes to high rpm and it's just like any other 1.8 petrol at near redline.
So really being realistic it isn't as refined as you would like. The materials are purposely light or absent for weight saving and if you are one of these people that craves premium feel you will not like it.
I'm not and have never been that interested in ultimate cabin luxury, neither do I have issues with the Prius ride or noise. Things like that simply don't bother me. The car drives fine, gets me anywhere, I have everything I need, handles and performs fine in practically every situation. Has few compromises and returns at the moment 65mpg over a tank.
I initially just wanted a cheap run about that I could claim 45p a mile on and be quids in. I bought well st low mileage and surprisingly grew to like it. Been using it daily since my xfr went and will sell it as soon as my tesla turns up. The Prius certainly helped me gain interest in tech / ev cars.
We had a 8 gen Civic for 7 years and did 90K in it. My wife replaced it with a Lexus IS300H which has the same 3rd gen Hybrid drive unit as the Gen 3 Prius - all be it with a bigger petrol engine.
The hybrid drive unit is leagues more refined than the engine in the Civic. Motoring journalist moan about a 'unrefined noise' when accelerating hard. But this only happens when you put your foot flat to the floor and only for a few seconds, the sound it self is no worse than the sound of the Civic been reved.
Despite the IS been some 300kg more than the Civic, and quicker in real life. I've seen it return some stupid mpg figures when driven carefully. The best I ever saw from the Civic was 57mpg.
Finally as others have mentioned the hybrid drive in the Lexus opened my eyes to the benefits of the EV motoring. So much so, within about 1 months of my wife's Lexus arriving I sold my 380bhp BMW 335i and replaced it with a Nissan Leaf. I cannot see my self owing a petrol/diesel car ever again. The IS300H makes our old Civic seem out-dated, but the Leaf makes the IS300H feel equally as backwards
The hybrid drive unit is leagues more refined than the engine in the Civic. Motoring journalist moan about a 'unrefined noise' when accelerating hard. But this only happens when you put your foot flat to the floor and only for a few seconds, the sound it self is no worse than the sound of the Civic been reved.
Despite the IS been some 300kg more than the Civic, and quicker in real life. I've seen it return some stupid mpg figures when driven carefully. The best I ever saw from the Civic was 57mpg.
Finally as others have mentioned the hybrid drive in the Lexus opened my eyes to the benefits of the EV motoring. So much so, within about 1 months of my wife's Lexus arriving I sold my 380bhp BMW 335i and replaced it with a Nissan Leaf. I cannot see my self owing a petrol/diesel car ever again. The IS300H makes our old Civic seem out-dated, but the Leaf makes the IS300H feel equally as backwards
Cheers all
Will probably have to get a test drive in one to see what its like. I hope the steering isn't like the Sienna hire car we had in the US. That was so light and so devoid of feedback actually driving it in a straight line required intense concentration, otherwise it would wander all over!
The Lexus CT200H catches my eye as well... a Prius in a posh frock and if AT is to be believed, decent ones can be had for extremely reasonable money.
Spritmonitor.de shows very similar average MPG between prius and CT200 as well, with the Prius on 5.13 l/100km and the lexus a bit further back on (i think), 5.4 l/100 km. That puts both comfortably in the 50MPG+ bracket.
Will probably have to get a test drive in one to see what its like. I hope the steering isn't like the Sienna hire car we had in the US. That was so light and so devoid of feedback actually driving it in a straight line required intense concentration, otherwise it would wander all over!
The Lexus CT200H catches my eye as well... a Prius in a posh frock and if AT is to be believed, decent ones can be had for extremely reasonable money.
Spritmonitor.de shows very similar average MPG between prius and CT200 as well, with the Prius on 5.13 l/100km and the lexus a bit further back on (i think), 5.4 l/100 km. That puts both comfortably in the 50MPG+ bracket.
Edited by Otispunkmeyer on Tuesday 25th August 11:42
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