2010 Toyota Prius - Second Drive

The top-selling hybrid tops 50 mpg.

BY PATRICK BEDARD, PHOTOGRAPHY BY DAVID DEWHURST
May 2009






If the Toyota Prius is about sending messages—and even some owners agree that it is—then this new, third-generation model speaks through a bullhorn. Ignore this if you can: 51 mpg city, 48 highway, and 50 combined for the official EPA mileage ratings.

Fifty mpg! Free hugs at Whole Foods, no limit, while they last.

The big five-oh ekes out a clear margin over the old Prius (48, 45, and 46) and leaves Honda’s new Insight hybrid back in the shadows (40, 43, and 41). Good enough for its position as the “most affordable hybrid,” but no high-fives.

Maybe the saints of old had to flagellate themselves to show their piety, but messaging by Prius is as soothing as silk underwear. Interior space for passengers and cargo is up by five cubic feet, Toyota says, though the car itself is longer and wider by less than an inch each way.
The 2010 model has muscles, too: Acceleration from zero to 60 mph takes 9.8 seconds, says chief engineer Akihiko Otsuka, which would be quicker by 0.3 second than the last Prius we tested.


No more floaty little appliance gliding along the byways, either. The suspension is much tightened, with real anti-roll now and much firmer shock control. The standard-equipment P195/65R-15 tires were quiet on the smooth blacktops we drove near California’s Napa Valley and completely forgiving of the rough stuff. Or you can upgrade to much stiffer P215/45R-17s if you want to feel the road’s cracks and crumbs.

Although the previous model always felt roomier than its exterior dimensions would suggest, the third-generation version adds space where people need it most—more knee clearance in back, thanks to deft shaping of the front buckets, and a looser fit around the hips and shoulders in front. A height adjuster is now standard for the driver’s seat, as is a tilting and telescoping column. Raising the roof over the back seat adds headroom and, together with pushing the bottom of the windshield forward, creates a graceful overhead sweep from front to rear. The wind seems to approve, too, as the drag coefficient drops from 0.26 to 0.25.

The quality of interior padding and coverings has been plushed up, too, eliminating the mood of frugality that infused past versions. The seats feel like quality furniture now, and the abstract textures on the dash and door panels add a contemporary freshness to the interior.

Mechanically, Toyota says that 90 percent of the hybrid system is new for this 2010 model. The engine has been enlarged to 1.8 liters and 98 horsepower compared with 1.5 and 76 before, while combined output is up 24 horsepower to 134. Revs are held much lower over the operating range, with a significant reduction in engine noise. Gone are the drive belts; all accessories are now electric.


Battery output has been upped from 25 kilowatts to 27 without changing the nickel-metal hydride cells; the credit goes to a redesign of the packaging, which saves weight and improves cooling.

Like the Insight, the Prius includes a selection of mode buttons on the center stack to optimize hybrid operation for specific conditions. The EV mode allows engine-off driving at speeds up to 25 mph for up to a mile, Toyota says, depending upon battery charge (0.9 mile at less than 20 mph in our run). Eco mode moderates throttle opening and air-conditioning loads to improve fuel economy at some expense to acceleration. Power mode puts a priority on acceleration, such as when merging onto a freeway, at a cost to mpg.



Those who see a message in every Prius might be surprised at the lack of enviro rah-rah within. While the Ford Fusion grows a vividly colored rain forest in the instrument cluster leaf by leaf, and the Escape and GM hybrids indulge in green gestures, the Prius mostly avoids that cliché. This is a straightforward car, though it has several dash screens devoted to the details of fuel economy. In fact, the new logo for Toyota hybrids is blue.

What message will folks read into that?

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