Gotta Prius :d

[ol'git]

Hi folks,

just picked up a Prius on test :D , I have to give it back at 4pm tomorrow though.

Its the 10th Anniversary edition in black, looks a bit like a Mafia staff car with it's tinted windows, only driven it a couple of miles but even in that short space of time, I had a silly grin all over my face, even my youngest asked when we're buying one lol.

Going to hit Tesco soon, then I can see what I can get in to the boot. So far I like the quietness and comfort of it and the PWR button is handy for joining the A127. I sat at 50 then engaged the CC, no idea what the fuel/mpg was like as I can't find the display for that , can anyone point me in the right direction please .

Will report back when I've had more time in her, but I now think I know why you folks rave about them so much, they're just a joy to drive .

[johalareewi]

no idea what the fuel/mpg was like as I can't find the display for that , can anyone point me in the right direction please .

On the steering wheel, press the DISP button to cycle through the available displays on the main screen. The HSI / trip meter screen will have average mpg shown. Then use the TRIP button to cycle through the trip meters (A, B, miles left, ODD). Press and hold the TRIP button to reset a trip meter (A or B ).

A quick way to get to the HSI/trip screen is to press the ECO MODE button. The MFD will switch to the HSI screen with the trip data along the bottom. Press ECO again to exit ECO mode leaving the HSI displayed

[cbcdesign]

They are just such clever machines! I have had SD1 Rovers & Jags, both very nice cars but frankly the Prius is the best car I have ever owned. It's not perfect but there isn't very much to complain about. I absolutely LOVE my Prius!

[Jan&tone]

They are just such clever machines! I have had SD1 Rovers & Jags, both very nice cars but frankly the Prius is the best car I have ever owned. It's not perfect but there isn't very much to complain about. I absolutely LOVE my Prius!

+1

[Chris Dance]

Prius is a great car. Good for passenger comfort, good for transporting lots of refuse to the dump etc. Good economy and easy to drive and no road tax.What more can you ask for. One thing I am reluctant to use is auto park.

[cbcdesign]

Prius is a great car. Good for passenger comfort, good for transporting lots of refuse to the dump etc. Good economy and easy to drive and no road tax.What more can you ask for. One thing I am reluctant to use is auto park.

I havn't used it either but I do use the rear view option with the green & red guide lines, very useful I find.

[Jan&tone]

Auto park is a great toy, my grandchildren think it's cool! I've used it a few times to show it off, but never 'for real'!

[ol'git]

Hi folks,

thanks for the advice re average fuel, great help, managed to get 59.7mpg average today with an average speed of 20mph (all town driving), tomorrow we'll be using the A road, so looking forward to that.

What a fantastic motor the Prius is, I really didn't expect it to be like that, quiet, poke when needed and that auto box ... what a dream, I can't even feel it changing gear.

My neighbour's either side were impressed, the tight a**e to the right of us even noticed that the VED was nil, the guy to the left had nothing but praise for it, says it all really.

I do, however, have 3 minor problems with the car...

1, I keep hitting my left knee against the bluddy center console, but I can live with that.

2, It could do with longer seats, again, I can live with that

3, most important one ... because we had a new car on the drive, my wife and daughters persuaded me to take them shopping ... 'BIG MISTAKE!' ... "we just want to get some winter boots." "you can give the car a proper test in traffic" ... ... £200 quid later we left the shop :ffs: jumpers, boots, tops and belts and sod all for yours truly, typical huh? LOL

Overall, very VERY impressed with the car, it handles all our tesco shop with ease, then handled town with ease too ... looks like I'm going to convert, won't be for about 3 months though, but I'm 100% sure now .

Thanks again to all you folks who have helped and pointed me to the right direction , I'd always thought of Prius drivers as the proverbial old f**ts, but I now see where you are all coming from, for me its a 'no brainer'.

[cbcdesign]

Hi folks,

...I can't even feel it changing gear.

That's because it doesn't have any gears. Its a continuously variable transmission system so it has an infinite number of gears in theory.

[Jan&tone]

shopping ... 'BIG MISTAKE!' ... "we just want to get some winter boots." "you can give the car a proper test in traffic" ... ... £200 quid later we left the shop jumpers, boots, tops and belts and sod all for yours truly, typical huh? LOL

You're getting a new car, the girls got new clothes..... Who got the better bargain!

[ol'git]

Hi folks,

...I can't even feel it changing gear.

That's because it doesn't have any gears. Its a continuously variable transmission system so it has an infinite number of gears in theory.

Doh!, now you've made me feel like a 'reet whelk' LOL, although I did expect a slight 'jolt' if that's the right word, like you do on more conventional automatic boxes, but in the Prius its just as smooth as silk.

shopping ... 'BIG MISTAKE!' ... "we just want to get some winter boots." "you can give the car a proper test in traffic" ... ... £200 quid later we left the shop jumpers, boots, tops and belts and sod all for yours truly, typical huh? LOL

You're getting a new car, the girls got new clothes..... Who got the better bargain!

True, all so very true ... but they don't see it like that, so I'll just keep playing the 'hard done by hubby' until they finally twig ;) ... lol.

[Chris Dance]

Glad you like the car. You will not regret buying one. Let us know when you get it. Enjoy taking the Prius demo on the A roads today.

[blue verso 56]

You can get up to 10% off a Prius if you negotiate hard even with a trade in but its the cost to change that matters .

I have just done 1,500 miles in 21 days in my new Prius and must say I am thoroughly pleased with my decision to change to a Hybrid

[ol'git]

Well the Prius is now back with Mr T, and I must confess, we were all sorry to see it go. I got back in my Mondeo and gave it a bit of 'welly' to join the A127 and left everyone behind me in black smoke, shame really as the Mondeo really is a nice car.

Still, looking on the brighter side, all being well, I will be going to a Prius within three months.

I returned an average of 67.4mpg over the few hours driving (the Mondeo cannot compete), I used the PWR button a couple of times (I like that button :D), tried A roads, B roads, country roads and town driving and I really cannot find any serious faults with the Prius in any way. Is the car perfect? ... No, can it be improved? ... Yes, but the small improvements are just that, small but significant enough to tempt more people to buy them.

I could list some of the niggles, but then that'll just be me being picky and I can definitely live with them ... score out of 10, I would give it a healthy 9/10 ... reason is those minor niggles.

[johalareewi]

I returned an average of 67.4mpg over the few hours driving

This might take the shine off a little bit but for some unknown reason, Mr T has decided that the gen3 prius should pimp the mpg figures. It varies, but 5% over seems to be average so you probably got closer to 64mpg. Still pretty good

Also, Mr T has made the speedo over cautious so when it says you are doing 70mph, you are really doing 65mph (you can check this with satnav). However, a lot of car manufacturers do this so it isn't specific to the Prius.

More niggles. :)

[ol'git]

This might take the shine off a little bit but for some unknown reason, Mr T has decided that the gen3 prius should pimp the mpg figures. It varies, but 5% over seems to be average so you probably got closer to 64mpg. Still pretty good

Sure is, much better than my Mk3 Mondeo which I also think is 'pimped' a little

Also, Mr T has made the speedo over cautious so when it says you are doing 70mph, you are really doing 65mph (you can check this with satnav). However, a lot of car manufacturers do this so it isn't specific to the Prius.

More niggles. :)

Nah, no more niggles ;) ... my Mondeo does the same, when I set the CC to 56mph on the satnav and trip computer, the speedo is actually showing nearer 59mph.

[Peter Sale]

Apparently it is a legal requirement that speedos do not under-read and this is why every manufacturer, not just Toyota, make them over-read. Every car does, most of us aren't really aware until either the sat nav or Mr Plod confirm.

Now I once had a Montego (aka pile of sh*t) that over-read by 25% on delivery. The delivery driver advised me to take my new company car for a spin and I soon found out what they meant. On the way home on the M6 I was doing an indicated 85 when a plumbers mini-van raced past me like an F1 car !

[Jan&tone]

Apparently it is a legal requirement that speedos do not under-read and this is why every manufacturer, not just Toyota, make them over-read. Every car does, most of us aren't really aware until either the sat nav or Mr Plod confirm.

Now I once had a Montego (aka pile of sh*t) that over-read by 25% on delivery. The delivery driver advised me to take my new company car for a spin and I soon found out what they meant. On the way home on the M6 I was doing an indicated 85 when a plumbers mini-van raced past me like an F1 car !

Over the years ALL my Toyotas have been 3mph over the actual speed, before that my Capri was 5mph over and years ago my Zephyr 6 was anything from 5 to 10 mph pver it fluctuated that much!

My very first car, an Isetta bubble car, had a speedo that worked when you could keep it bolted into the gearbox, most of the time it fell out so it didn't work anyway...

[Opifex]

That infallible source of knowledge Wikipedia tells us that to meet EC regulations

• The indicated speed must never be less than the actual speed, i.e. it should not be possible to inadvertently speed because of an incorrect speedometer reading.
  
• The indicated speed must not be more than 110 percent of the true speed plus 4 km/h at specified test speeds. For example, at 80 km/h, the indicated speed must be no more than 92 km/h
  

.

I believe the error margin was originally allowed because of the inherent inaccuracy in electro-mechanical speedos. Why it's still allowed for electronic speedos I've no idea - maybe it's to allow for the error that would be introduced with over-inflated tyres.

[Sagitar]

That infallible source of knowledge Wikipedia tells us that to meet EC regulations

• The indicated speed must never be less than the actual speed, i.e. it should not be possible to inadvertently speed because of an incorrect speedometer reading.
  
• The indicated speed must not be more than 110 percent of the true speed plus 4 km/h at specified test speeds. For example, at 80 km/h, the indicated speed must be no more than 92 km/h
  

.

I believe the error margin was originally allowed because of the inherent inaccuracy in electro-mechanical speedos. Why it's still allowed for electronic speedos I've no idea - maybe it's to allow for the error that would be introduced with over-inflated tyres.

There are several reasons for the creation of error in the speedo reading. The signal that is used to drive the speedo is picked up from a gearbox shaft, so any variation in the drive train between that shaft and the road surface will give rise to discrepancy. The difference in the diameter of a new tyre and a worn one will make a difference (though modern cars do have clever ways of adjusting for this). If you change the wheel size and use a different tyre profile, the outer diameter of the two tyres will not be precisely the same. The rolling diameter of the tyre is not the same as the free standing diameter of the tyre, because the tyre deflects under the weight of the vehicle. The amount of deflection will vary with initial inflation pressure and with tyre carcass temperature and that in turn will vary with ambient temperature and the way in which the vehicle is being driven.

So, you never get an absolutely constant relationship between the number of rotations of the gear box shaft and the distance covered by the rolling wheels. The speedo tolerance is there to allow for this.