Gen2 to Gen4

[Phil T]

In light of the way some councils are clamping down on emissions like London, the extra CO2 of the 17 inch wheels might be an added hidden cost in the next few years. Plus 15 inch tyres are much cheaper and do improve the ride, when I bought my Gen 4 the dealer had the option of 15 inch wheels instead of the 17 inch with price reduction.

And speaking to the SatNav is fine IF you use the right commands, so after plenty of cussing, I told her where to stick her help and use the display. Just set the destination while stopped!

Also the Leather is COLD and the heating takes a while to warm them up, the cloth seats were much warmer, but my partners down jacket feathers used to stick in the cloth and were a bugger to remove.

[HughL]

My experience with the G4 display and polarised sunglasses not so happy with my G4 BusEd+. HUD becomes almost invisible, shadowy blotches on the touch screen and parts of the dash displays regardless of brightness. Happily, doesn't seem to affect the speedo which is odd. Same with the touchscreen & HUD on my previous G3.

Effects roughly the same with prescription Zeiss polarised, standard RayBans and both high-quality Persol and cheapo off-brand overclips. As with all things polarised, depends on the angle of eye-to-source and the way the polarisation is angled in the glasses so YMMV, but my partner is 10" shorter than me, has the seat in a very different position so very different to the touchscreen angle, uses different brands to me and it was worse for her than it was for me. Angle less different on other displays so about the same for both of us; HUD definitely near-invisible even at max brightness for her too. I was irritated enough to invest in a pair of non-polarised prescription sunglasses specifically to keep in the car so I don't have to keep tilting my head the read the satnav or the HUD.

I'm 64 and creak a bit, so it's definitely harder to get into and out of than the G3 (which is similar to the G2 in that respect) but, once in, very easy to find a comfortable position for all-day-at-the-wheel journeys. I've been in the back of a G4 taxi for a longish journey and at 5"10" didn't find it unpleasant at all, although definitely snugger than the G3. Storage space inside a drawback to begin with, but got used to it.

That said, even if I'd known about the various issues mentioned here I'd still have bought the car to replace my G3 as (for me) they are comparatively minor compared with the overall experience of calm, quiet, flowing driving, low costs and lowish emissions.

[RelaxedDrive]

So I have ordered a gen 4; the test drive really showed how much more refined it was!   It was night and day.

My polarised sunglasses worked fine and I could see all the displays.

I am going for the MY19 mid-cycle updated version.  There are some differences I have not seen mentioned anywhere, so I'll list them:

• retuned engine to provide improved CO2/MPG
• improved levels of noise vibration harshness

Of course it's marketing speak, so who knows how much was really changed!

Also, business ed. has optional front/rear parking sensor pack + SIPA, and bus. ed. plus has optional JBL.

[PeteB]

55 minutes ago, RelaxedDrive said:

...

• retuned engine to provide improved CO2/MPG
• improved levels of noise vibration harshness

1. should be good then.  I got about the same mpg out of Gen 2 Prius as I did Gen 1, but that was no mean feat given the Gen 2 was in the next car size sector up from the Gen 1 (original Prius was a small, 4-door saloon).  My Gen 3 Prius did about 6 mpg better, and my Gen 4 about 7-8 mpg better than Gen 3 (in the summer I get about 100 more miles from a tank in the Gen 4 compared to 3 - despite the claimed tank being 2 Litres smaller on the Gen 4).
2. Gen 4 is the most impressive so far, so if  the face-lifted one is better still, should be very nice.  The Gen 2 had the firmest seats and suspension of all Prius generations, so should should notice a big difference in the Gen 4 (especially if you get 15" wheels).

[RelaxedDrive]

I see the toyota web site has pics of the refreshed version of the car now, and it seems to show some proper controls on the multimedia system - here's hoping!

[Catlover]

On 2/22/2019 at 1:06 PM, RelaxedDrive said:

So I have ordered a gen 4; the test drive really showed how much more refined it was!   It was night and day.

My polarised sunglasses worked fine and I could see all the displays.

I am going for the MY19 mid-cycle updated version.  There are some differences I have not seen mentioned anywhere, so I'll list them:

• retuned engine to provide improved CO2/MPG
• improved levels of noise vibration harshness

Of course it's marketing speak, so who knows how much was really changed!

Also, business ed. has optional front/rear parking sensor pack + SIPA, and bus. ed. plus has optional JBL.

Have you gone for the 15" wheels????

[RelaxedDrive]

Yes, I had to get a spare wheel, plus all the benefits of 15" wheels.  :-) 

 

[Tuggers]

After much navel gazing I swapped my 2007 Gen2 Prius for Gen4 Prius PHEV 3 weeks ago, and am highly delighted.... mostly. Agree with others on here, not having an off switch for the auto headlamps is a big oversight. One thing I notice, the windows steam up much more readily than my Gen2 after a few minutes, particularly rear side windows. I've faffed about with the fan settings etc but maybe I'm too much of a newbie to get it right... any tips gratefully received! 😊

[PeteB]

Make sure recirc is set to fresh air - with a/c on as well will dry out car and clear mist.  Obviously the trade-off of using a/c is more significant in a PHEV as it can hit your range, but it dehumidifies the air as well.  Often, just using fresh air will keep the windows clear once any mist has gone unless the car is full of people and the air is damp.

[Phil T]

Tuggers, I run most days at 22C top and feet vents fresh air, two of us in the car and rarely have any misting up, even when we have lots of rain. If I run the preheat when still on the charge, it often mists up but soon clears without any further adjustments, when I start off. These last few sunny days I have turned the heating and fan off and had the luxury of 6 extra miles on the charge, still no misting.

[kithmo]

Mine only mists up when I turn the climate off.

[Ten Ninety]

14 hours ago, Tuggers said:

 One thing I notice, the windows steam up much more readily than my Gen2 after a few minutes, particularly rear side windows. I've faffed about with the fan settings etc but maybe I'm too much of a newbie to get it right... any tips gratefully received! 😊

My PHV is more prone to misting than any other car I've owned, even with A/C on. I don't actually believe the A/C is dehumidifying most of the time - it certainly isn't when it's pre-heating. This may be because I'm always in Eco mode, which does limit the A/C operation. Have you tried running in Normal mode? I've never bothered to test this myself - I pushed the button once when I first got the car just to see the pretty dash colours, then left it in Eco ever since. It may be worth trying if the misting is bothering you.

I should also say that I run with recirc on all the time (other than when the damn thing switches itself to outside air) which isn't conducive to demisting. However, whilst I would reasonably expect the rear windows to mist up on recirc, I find the PHV cannot even keep the windscreen clear if the temperature dips below freezing unless I switch to breathing filthy outside air. Every other Toyota/Lexus I've owned has managed this, so I presume the A/C is tuned to be more aggressively 'eco' in the PHV.

 

 

[QuantumFireball]

In my Gen 1 Plug-in with aircon and recirc on in Eco mode, it struggles to keep the windows clear. "Eco" mode certainly does reduce the duty cycle of the aircon compressor, and also makes the climate control heating/cooling threshold more lenient.

Normally I just set it to Auto, with that also controlling recirculation - when heating it always switches it to fresh air, and I rarely have trouble with the windscreen fogging up even with aircon off, unless it's freezing or very wet weather.

[Tuggers]

Thanks for all the feedback, I've started to use front & rear defoggers on start up, then after a minute or 2 switch to auto, this works fine unless it's really cold.

Been driving about a month now and I've been looking out for other Gen4 PHEVs, but yet to see one, are they really that rare? Mind you north Cheshire is very much SUV country 😕, a Range Rover round here is like a clitoris, every ****'s got one. I'll keep looking though.....

[RelaxedDrive]

Finally got my new car (business edition, mid cycle refresh) and I was happy to discover the following 'extras' I was not expecting:

• the voice button on the steering wheel works!  I can select music or make phone calls.
• it has 802.11 wireless (there is an on/off option). Not sure how this is used yet though!
• there is mention of mirror link/cast - so maybe I can get navigation on the main screen via a smartphone?
• looks like you might be able to view videos, there was a browse video option, although I have yet to try this.
• there are two knobs and real buttons on the multimedia system.

I must say the multimedia system is much improved, it's fast, slick and easy to use!  :-)

I am very happy!

[PeteB]

3 hours ago, RelaxedDrive said:

Finally got my new car (business edition, mid cycle refresh) and I was happy to discover the following 'extras' I was not expecting:  congrats, I'm sure you'll enjoy

• the voice button on the steering wheel works!  I can select music or make phone calls.
• it has 802.11 wireless (there is an on/off option). Not sure how this is used yet though! - one use if to set your phone to 'tether' mode, so that your car can access the Internet through it, then you can get much better traffic info from the SatNav than the Traffic Message Channel data via the RDS Radio.
• there is mention of mirror link/cast - so maybe I can get navigation on the main screen via a smartphone?
• looks like you might be able to view videos, there was a browse video option, although I have yet to try this. - if it has the same system as the new RAV4 (I test drove one last week), that played MP4 videos from my USB stick on the screen quite nicely
• there are two knobs and real buttons on the multimedia system. - yes I much prefer this too - for some things the old way is best.

I must say the multimedia system is much improved, it's fast, slick and easy to use!  🙂

I am very happy!

 

[RelaxedDrive]

I found the manual for the updated multimedia(MM17) online by looking at the corolla manuals and discovered:

• it should support mirrorlink v1.1 or later (including v1.2) - I think we were tied to v1.0 previously, requiring old phones!
• mirrorlink is supported via USB or USB & WiFi
• FLAC/ALAC (lossless) audio is supported

I aim to test this soon when I get a more update phone...

 

[Living On The Edge]

Hi folks, I swapped from Skoda to a 66-reg Prius Business Edition+ just before Christmas. It's on 15" wheels, but had a can of gunk in the boot. Said that was a deal-breaker so nice dealer provided spare wheel and rest of gubbins within the price.  But, it does eat some boot space, which I can live with.  Absolutely delighted with the ride, space, economy, kit and, well, just about everything. The LED headlights are simply superb compared to the candles on my 2015 Skoda.  Auto headlights?  Had them for years on Peugeot, Volvo, Skoda and wouldn't be without them, or the auto full beam. Was very dubious at first but now trust it.  HUD is new to me and wouldn't, now, want to be without it. Speed limit sign recognition is good, if not perfect but, to be fair, I still use the Eyeball Mk 1. The very polite lasy who chastises me with "You are over the speed limit" grates a bit, but I have found that this Prius is far easierto drift over the limit that any other car I've had. Maybe the absence of engine braking? The transmission is a gem, as opposed to the Skoda's DSG device which, latterly, I was really just expecting something very expensive to happen...despite being in warranty. Skoda have a bit of of a rep for blaming DSG clutch failures on the customer.

People talking of swapping 17" wheels for 15" will certainly get you better ride, cheaper tyres and much more tolerance of potholes. BUT the V5 will still show the CO2 that the car was originally registered with...it's fixed for life, I'm afraid.  Tell your Insurance folk and they'll be fine. Interestingly, the 15" alloys stay cleaner for far longer than any other alloys I've ever had.  I also love the fact that I can set the climate control for driver preference or all seats.  Satnav ? Faultless.

As I say far too often...It's a great car and has more useable toys than Hamleys.

 

[Heidfirst]

26 minutes ago, Living On The Edge said:

 The very polite lasy who chastises me with "You are over the speed limit" grates a bit,

If it is like the Avensis you can adjust the margin or turn this off completely.

[Catlover]

My 66 plate Prius Excel doesn’t speak to me saying I over the speed limit. I didn’t know you can turn it on/off, so mine must be off, thankfully.

[PeteB]

13 hours ago, Living On The Edge said:

...Auto headlights?  Had them for years on Peugeot, Volvo, Skoda and wouldn't be without them, or the auto full beam. Was very dubious at first but now trust it.  HUD is new to me and wouldn't, now, want to be without it...   Hmmm, don't know how good it was on the other 3 makes, but mine have 3 times almost caused accidents when they've come on unexpectedly (and without me being aware unless I hear the relay click) in bright daylight as for a second people think I'm flashing to give way.  This happens as I pass under overhanging trees (as on one road I use frequently) and between 2 story buildings in a narrow bit of road where there are a couple of very sharp turns - I use this road at least every other day and in less than a mile they come on and off 4 or 5 times, despite the sensitivity being set to minimum!  I know they shouldn't see flashing as anything other than "letting them know I'm there" but I hate to think what would happen if someone died or was seriously injured as a result.  There really should be a way of disabling this feature when necessary, as there was on previous versions of Toyota and Lexus cars with the feature.  I also don't want the lights on when I'm parked in low light with the system on to prevent the 12V battery being flattened.

...Prius is far easier to drift over the limit that any other car I've had. Maybe the absence of engine braking?...  plus lack of noise at low speed and the smoothness of the transmission

 

[kithmo]

9 hours ago, Catlover said:

My 66 plate Prius Excel doesn’t speak to me saying I over the speed limit. I didn’t know you can turn it on/off, so mine must be off, thankfully.

Maybe it's because you don't speed 😉

 

[RelaxedDrive]

Being over the speed limit was turned off by default on my car.

Regarding mirrorlink, it did not work with a Samsung galaxy s7 phone running android 8.0.0.  The phone said it was connecting via mirrorlink, but the car didn't see it.

I probably need an older version of Android...  this is a bit pants I must say!

[Heidfirst]

21 minutes ago, RelaxedDrive said:

Regarding mirrorlink, it did not work with a samsung galaxy s7 phone running android 8.0.0.  The phone said it was connecting via mirrorlink, but the car didn't see it.

I probably need an older version of Android...  this is a bit pants I must say!

iirc you also need the matching app (Drivelink?) on the phone & Samsung discontinued developing that (tbh Toyota didn't allow for permissions for many features).

Mirrorlink was almost dead on arrival overtaken by CarPlay & Android Auto.

 

[RelaxedDrive]

Yes, I had Samsung carmode app on the phone too, tried launching it before, no good.