The all new 4th generation 2016 Toyota Prius is out and we get to test drive it. Hybrid cars are known to be boring and slow, Toyota’s Prius kick-started our love affair with the hybrid, and quickly became the vehicle of choice for environmentally-concious celebrities, cab drivers, and anybody who wanted to cut their motoring costs […]
Exteriors
From the front, standard LED headlamps make the front light units smaller. The three points of their housings—which have sharply angled chevron shapes—extend back along the fender, toward the center of the grille, and down toward the ground. Moving back along the car, the Prius has now acquired some a sharp accent line in the doors, along a second one over the rear wheelwells, that together reduce its visual height.
The rear design, however, is likely to be the most polarizing aspect of the new shape, with chevron-shaped light units flanking the tail spoiler. They’re fine, but then both units trail down into long extensions pointing toward the bottom corners of the tall tail. A new paint color, Hypersonic Red, gives what the company calls a “deep and vibrant luster” that highlights the new Prius’s form. Seven colors will be available on launch.
Interiors
The 2016 Toyota Prius has a more conventionally laid out interior than its predecessor. A traditional center console between the seats contains cupholders, a shallow storage bin (home of the wireless phone-charging pad) and an armrest. The stubby shifter with its separate Park button remains, and the speedometer and gauge array still sit high in the center of the dash. A new head-up display option can present the most crucial information directly in front of the driver.
A seven-inch multimedia screen takes pride of place, but another welcome addition is the Qi (pron. Chee) wireless phone charging pad beneath it. This may seem like witchcraft, but a Qi-enabled phone will charge faster than via USB.
Other interior highlights include a new thick-rimmed steering wheel wrapped in grippy, good-quality leather and a 55mm lower seating position that makes you feel more like you’re sitting in the car than on it.
Driver visibility has improved thanks to a lower bonnet, reshaped door mirrors and a thinner wing bisecting the rear window, but the latter’s intrusion is still annoying.
Rear passengers still don’t get adjustable air vents, but the climate control system integrates with seatbelt sensors to conserve energy by directing airflow only to seats that are occupied.
There are plenty of storage spaces front and rear, with a total of four cupholders and four bottle holders.
Performance
As before, the new 2016 Toyota Prius is powered by a 1.8-liter four-cylinder engine and a pair of electric motor/generators. Their outputs are blended in a unique electronically controlled continuously variable transmission (CVT) that feeds as much as 121 horsepower to the front wheels. Light to moderate braking transforms one of the electric motors into a generator to keep the hybrid battery topped up.
The 2016 Prius is just slightly quicker than before, so it’s not going to win any speed contests. That’s perfectly acceptable in light of its maximum-mpg mission. The new Prius powertrain is more evocative of a full-on electric vehicle than ever. Part of this is due to improved noise suppression: You don’t hear the engine as much when it is running. But the system also stays in EV propulsion mode more of the time, provided you’re not a leadfoot.
Comfort and Safety
Every 2016 Toyota Prius comes standard with antilock disc brakes, stability and traction control, front side airbags, full-length side curtain airbags, a driver knee airbag and a passenger seat cushion airbag. A rearview camera also comes standard.
Blind spot monitoring with cross-traffic alert comes standard on the Prius Four and Four Touring. The Toyota Safety Sense package includes full-speed adaptive cruise control, forward collision warning and lane departure warning and intervention.
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