Prius Test Drive And High Mpg

[Jands]

I test drove a 2010 Prius Spirit on Saturday with 18K on the clock (my first Prius experience). I had it for a little over three hours and did a mix of town, A/B roads and motorway driving with an 80% bias towards town driving on my usual routes (mixed terrain including hills). As for driving style, I decided to see just how much mpg I could get without annoying anyone else on the road (keepig up with traffic but sticking to the speed limits), weather was warm and sunny. I kept it in ECO mode most of the time.

At the end of it I was amazed to see I achieved 85.1mpg - damn! I appreciate that it was only a limited test drive (I think I covered about 50 miles) and if I had the car over a longer period my mpg may well drop, but still I have to admit I was impressed. I noticed that around town you could achieve some really good mpg figures...on dual carriage ways and motorways it dropped to something like 60mpg...still very impressive.

I loved the gadgets and the displays. Great styling. The switch between electric and engine is hardly noticable. It corners better than I thought too! The cabin is quiet enough but not a lot of cubby holes, even the door shelfs are tiny!

The interior was better than expected but poor in the following areas:

- rear door trims flexed and felt cheap

- cloth trim is poor (what would it be like after 5 years?), leather (which I had on the test car) was better but not up to the standard of other makes

- carpets were cheap and thin (it definitely needs some decent mats)

- boot wasn't as deep as I expected (even with the batteries)...yes it's got extra storage space underneath but still...

- seat comfort wasn't too great and I couldn't get the headrest to adjust (forgot to mention this to the salesperson afertwards)

- not a lot of adjustment in the steering wheel

I understand that cost savings had to be made due to the expensive tech and weight saving but still...

The poor trim I could live with...not so sure with the size of the boot...anyone else got a prius and two kids under 3?

Anyway, still loved the car and walked back to the showroom afterwards with a smile on my face.

[Grumpy Cabbie]

I was worried about the poor trim too as at first it didn't appear to be wearing well. After 26k miles of taxi-ing it is still looking good and wearing well. The wear appears to be on the centre storage box lid and the drivers door trim where I rest my arm. It's not really wear as such more getting ever so slightly grubby, but I do wonder what it'll look like at 100k miles.

Regarding the boot and storage, I'd say it's amazing how much you can actually get into the Prius with a little ingenuity. I've surprised myself a few times. It looks deceivingly small!

[flow]

85 mpg ?

Blimey im amazed! Ive never got anywhere near that figure on the sort of journey you did.

[Jands]

I was worried about the poor trim too as at first it didn't appear to be wearing well. After 26k miles of taxi-ing it is still looking good and wearing well. The wear appears to be on the centre storage box lid and the drivers door trim where I rest my arm. It's not really wear as such more getting ever so slightly grubby, but I do wonder what it'll look like at 100k miles.

Regarding the boot and storage, I'd say it's amazing how much you can actually get into the Prius with a little ingenuity. I've surprised myself a few times. It looks deceivingly small!

I had a grey cloth BMW that was 13 years old. It weared really well, only problem was it looked dirty and I couldn't get it clean.

True - my wife has a Polo and we've always managed with that.

[Jands]

85 mpg ?

Blimey im amazed! Ive never got anywhere near that figure on the sort of journey you did.

I'm not a hypermiler (I read into it a little though) but there are guys over in the States who regularly get that sort of mpg (70mpg US gallons).

[Chris Dance]

I agree with Grumpie Cabbie, it is amazing how much you can get in the boot and with seats down it takes almost as much as my ex Volvo Estate. I think leather is better than cloth.

[johalareewi]

The boot isn't as deep but it is a bit longer than your normal hatchback so it can take a few suitcases with ease. It can take 4 adults and luggage on holiday. I like that the floor is level with the rear hatch so it is more like an estate than a hatchback (with the boot lip). Makes getting large and heavy loads in and out easier. The underfloor storage is handy too as are the clips for bungees.