New Prius

[stompe]

http://www.worldcarfans.com/9090226.030/to...debut-in-geneva

Will you buy one?

[benw123]

There's two things interesting in that article. The first is the emissions, which at 89g/km, is absolutely amazing. That's comfortably zero road tax for the foreseeable future. The second is that Toyota mentions they've improved cold weather running (you have to click the link to expand the press release). It might suggest they thought something wasn't right; we all know the Prius engine runs for longer periods in winter which hampers economy, so I wonder what Toyota has changed.

Would I buy one? Yes, if I could afford it! The new Honda Insight will be stiff competition though as it is cheaper, although less economical.

[stompe]

Hi Benw123,

The prices, I have confirmed with my dealer, have not been announced yet for the new prius. Is there any information please that you can share with us regarding the Honda Insight as being cheaper?

Thanking you in anticipation.

Stompe

[timberwolf]

http://www.worldcarfans.com/9090226.030/to...debut-in-geneva

Will you buy one?

Most likely not, but it depends on how long that Gen III model remains around, how much progress is made on plug-ins etc. Given the current recession what the future mortgage interest rates and future taxes will be to pay for the PM's brilliant plan to avoid the boom-bust cycles and housing bubbles of previous opposition govenments...

[benw123]

Hi Benw123,

The prices, I have confirmed with my dealer, have not been announced yet for the new prius. Is there any information please that you can share with us regarding the Honda Insight as being cheaper?

Thanking you in anticipation.

Stompe

Hi Stompe, I have read that the Insight will undercut the new Prius by a fair margin when it arrives (I think this was in Autocar). It's also mentioned briefly here on What Car's review (http://www.whatcar.com/car-review-full.asp...=2946#Ownership). Note that the Insight isn't as frugal however.

The existing Prius model will be sold alongside the new MkIII version, so expect the older car to cost about the same as the Insight.

[timberwolf]

The existing Prius model will be sold alongside the new MkIII version, so expect the older car to cost about the same as the Insight.

I am not convinced concerning the rumours that there will be stripped down Prius model Gen II to be sold along side the Gen III. It doesn't seem to make much sense to keep a factory line to make the current Gen II as well as the Gen III.

[fuel miser]

I recently read that Toyota have confirmed that the current Prius will be discontinued when the new model arrives, contrary to all the rumours. The new Honda Insight was tested against the current Prius in Autocar a couple of weeks ago, the Insight is nothing like as sophisticated as the Prius. It has a puny 14 bhp electric motor to assist the petrol engine, it cannot run on electric power alone unlike the Prius, which has a 67bhp electric motor on the current model. They completed an economy run with both cars in traffic, the Insight averaged 39mpg compared to the Prius's 47mpg. Also, the Insight was criticised for it's flawed CVT transmission, which jerked, jolted and juddered in operation. "You wouldn't accept it from a solely internally combusted auto" they stated. The Prius was praised for it's exceptionally smooth transmission.

Yes the Insight is cheaper, I think it ought to be as it's clearly nowhere near as good as even the current model Prius is, which has now been around for 5 years.