The 2023 Prius is a beauty.

[SB1500]

I kept seeing this on YouTube with rave reviews from people who have always been less than nice about the Prius, and I have to agree with them, this is a stunner.  196hp... sleek design... built in LED ambient lights on the dash too like a Mercedes / the DIY ones I did. It's honestly looking like such an attractive package. It's no longer considered bad looking (though in fairness, I think it always looked quite well and different for such a different).  It's no longer considered slow, 190hp is respectable territory and certainly 'gets out of its own way' fast. The interior seems as modern and well laid out, with little nice touches such as the lights I mentioned...  Depending on how this is priced, I think it's going to be really popular. Especially for us holding out from the EV fad (I'd say it'll turn out to be a fad or a minority share of the overall car market suitable for some people willing to make the compromises). 

Any of you folks who are long-term Prius owners (or haters) thinking the same?

[FROSTYBALLS]

Unfortunately it isn't being sold in the UK.

[Rosgoe]

Yea shame it’s not coming to uk same as the corolla cross isn’t.

will still have to stick with the corolla I said to dealer as the corolla cross isn’t coming to uk I can’t justify changing mine for a 2023 just to get BSM extra power on the 1.8 and HUD. the present 1.8 is plenty powerful enough for my needs.

[Cyker]

I know right? It's mad how many rave reviews the thing is getting.

I really want to know what happened to the Toyota design department as they have been absolutely killing it with their new designs - I actually think they're making the best looking 'normal' cars on the market right now. The germans have gone to old-Toyota levels of boring, and a lot of the other manufactures seem to have employed Salvador Dali and HR Geiger to design some of their cars, Esp. low and mid-range EVs - They just look so unbelievably boxy or ugly; Trying too hard to make something that stands out, and they do, but not in a good way! Proportions all wrong, far too busy with the details in an inconsistent way... ugh!

In contrast Toyota have somehow gotten a near-perfect balance of being understated with a good mix of agile and aggressive-looking styling without over-doing it like a lot of other manufacturers. Really 10 out of 10 from me, which is just so bizarre for Toyota!

I might be biased, but I do think the Mk4 Yaris is one of the best looking cars on the market right now. Albeit very very angry-looking from the front  

 

[SB1500]

1 hour ago, FROSTYBALLS said:

Unfortunately it isn't being sold in the UK.

I actually (despite all the YouTube coverage I've watched recently) didn't even know that, woah, heartbreaking! 💔 

45 minutes ago, Cyker said:

I know right? It's mad how many rave reviews the thing is getting.

I really want to know what happened to the Toyota design department as they have been absolutely killing it with their new designs - I actually think they're making the best looking 'normal' cars on the market right now. The germans have gone to old-Toyota levels of boring, and a lot of the other manufactures seem to have employed Salvador Dali and HR Geiger to design some of their cars, Esp. low and mid-range EVs - They just look so unbelievably boxy or ugly; Trying too hard to make something that stands out, and they do, but not in a good way! Proportions all wrong, far too busy with the details in an inconsistent way... ugh!

In contrast Toyota have somehow gotten a near-perfect balance of being understated with a good mix of agile and aggressive-looking styling without over-doing it like a lot of other manufacturers. Really 10 out of 10 from me, which is just so bizarre for Toyota!

I might be biased, but I do think the Mk4 Yaris is one of the best looking cars on the market right now. Albeit very very angry-looking from the front  

 

They really are! I remember seeing the facelift version of all the outgoing cars, Yaris with the two tone and new front, Auris and Avensis facelifts and thinking wow they were really getting better and better with the designs looking sleeker, and at the time the CEO / President of Toyota had said something about making the brand less boring... but this new generation Yaris, Corolla and even the Aygo to some extent, and now this Prius, they really are nailing it. 

I became a big fan of Mercedes in 2021 after having a new one for two months, so I am not slagging them here, but the EQS and electric line they have is hideous! It has early 2000s Citroen or 2000s Beetle remake vibe to the curvature...  The BMWs too, I wasn't ever much of a big fan of, but they sure were distinctive. Between Skoda and Kia's copycat grilles, I think they've been pushed into making a mockery of the iconic front ends... Audi, well, I think one look at some of their latest models reveals the extent of their model sharing... one of the Audi's looks very much like the Porsche 911, and to be honest, it's sad to see they're bringing that level of copying their models between the badges into the new EV era... though it's been bad in general with the last decade of their designs, the A3, Golf, Skoda version and Seat versions are becoming so angular and similar to peripheral vision, more than ever...  I suppose it's a winning strategy for them, and it works, but man, I can't tell anywhere near as easily when Toyota and Lexus share platforms, I heard the CT200h was a Prius underneath, you'd never know looking at them really! 

I'm hoping that if this new Prius is their 'halo' car for the Toyota brand and where it's going, that the next major revisions of the other cars in the next decade take their design cues from it. I really (really) love that ambient light bar in the dash, seeing Toyota adopt little silly but nice things like that to me, totally expels my desire to want to outgrow the brand in the future in favour of the likes of Mercedes. 

It's really exciting to see where they're going and how serious they are about improving Hybrids, not just throwing in the towel given the 2035 deadline across Europe and the UK... They seem to believe, and I sort of hope they're right, that that will be delayed or greatly modified to potentially allow for some kind of split or compromise where Hybrid is still an eco conscious option, maybe by then there will be some real headway in getting a LOT from a little fuel, who knows.. I'm glad they aren't giving up. It's a shame how much the press is trying  to bully them at the minute over it, I think let them try it ... as we watch 

[Bper]

Stylish, more power, 57mpg , will sell very well but doesn't look like it is being sold in the UK.  But that may well change if sales figures rocket elsewhere. 

 

[Harters]

I’m looking forward to seeing it when we go to the States later in the year. 
 

I am interested to see how the headroom is considering the roofline is two inches lower. 
 

They are getting the plug-in version in Ireland which makes it even more maddening that we are not getting it 🤨

[TonyHSD]

I do really like the new Prius except two major design changes that putting me off but it’s not available here or I have no plans to buy one anyway. 
1. Dashboard instruments are super uncomfortable and pretty much all reviewers are mentioned that , only perhaps ok if you are on the taller side

2. Windscreen angle- this is too sharp and definitely will make the driver and front passenger felt squished, less headroom, blind spots from the A pillars. 
Apart from these two complaints it’s a really good car not only by look but also as technology, hybrid gen5 . , but there will be soon available Corolla with the same power train so not a big deal if no Prius. 

[Cs233]

Got cash ready to buy a new Prius and was planning to downsize from an ES. Will look at importing one when production is established although expect it will likely not be viable with taxation etc. Will absolutely not be buying the Corolla though. 

[Jimota]

Five years ago I would never have considered buying a Toyota car as I perceived that they were frumpy, unexciting and boring cars.  Well, things have changed dramatically, some of the new Toyota models are really cool looking and congratulations are in order for the designer(s) who now make some of the best looking vehicles on the market.  Hopefully, the new models coming on stream look pretty close to the concept drawings as well.

[Cyker]

Totally; I still can't get over the dramatic change in design language on the newer cars!

The insides and general fit and finish still aren't up to the germans, but what you loose in opulence you gain in reliability, which to me is an acceptable trade!  

 

[TonyHSD]

17 hours ago, Cs233 said:

Got cash ready to buy a new Prius and was planning to downsize from an ES. Will look at importing one when production is established although expect it will likely not be viable with taxation etc. Will absolutely not be buying the Corolla though. 

Why not a Corolla? 
Touring Sport excel 2.0 hybrid as good as the new Prius, even better imo. 
Extra headroom on both front and rear, better sound proofing, (new Prius its noisy),  extra boot space while remaining the same overall size outside. Better drivers digital display and standard steering wheel, for me it’s a better car by far. 
 

[APS]

Agreed, it's a good design. For some reason, it feels very "Honda". Stick a Honda Badge on there and I would not have doubted for a second it belonged there. Funnily enough, Honda does not have anything that looks like this. 

[Cs233]

Appreciate this is subjective but I do not like the look of the Corolla, the modern look of the Prius appeals to me. Also feel the Prius is better built or at least the Gen 4 was. Will try to import a Prius perhaps later this year but do not see it being practical simply due to HMRC

[APS]

17 hours ago, Jimota said:

Five years ago I would never have considered buying a Toyota car as I perceived that they were frumpy, unexciting and boring cars.

Didn't they just. The problem they had was being incredibly cautious and conservative. This works at an engineering level where you slowly make things incrementally better. At a design level, which needs to appeal to a buyer's heart, you need to be more brave. Everything was designed by committee, with x number of groups having to approve and sign-off every design. This generated safe designs that, while they didn't offend anyone, they inspired no-one. Since Akio Toyoda-san took over, he realised this was a problem and made changes. Design centres got a freer reign and the approval chain was cut significantly shorter. This is what we're seeing the result of now, more than a decade later.

 

 

 

[Cyker]

Praise be Akio Toyoda!  

 

[APS]

4 minutes ago, Cyker said:

Praise be Akio Toyoda!  

 

織田さん, 度もありがとうございました！　(^｡^)

[FROSTYBALLS]

Reminds me of Clarkson when he tested the Corolla 1.6 against the VW Golf GTi (excuse the poor resolution) and the Corolla won -

 

[SB1500]

Yeah but the Golf (and most VWs) is a glorified appliance / washing machine though without the Toyota Badge to make it worthwhile in the long term. I think of it as the best selling Hotpoint at Curry's, a lot of people swear by em, but so what? hahaha  Toyota did have that period of boringness - I think the mid /late 2000s was the worst but was the then Astra or Golf any better in the slightest? i don't think so from a look perspective. 

Glad the Corolla one, good old Clarkson, bet that p'd a lot of people off at the time and I bet that's what he intended haha 

20 hours ago, FROSTYBALLS said:

Reminds me of Clarkson when he tested the Corolla 1.6 against the VW Golf GTi (excuse the poor resolution) and the Corolla won -

 

 

[TonyHSD]

Back in the days Japanese cars had two major weaknesses against German ones, crash tests and corrosion. Todays things are different and Toyota got caught up. Just watched a phev Prius review and not a bad car at all except the instrument cluster, this is so much off putting really. 

[TonyHSD]

Here some interesting interview with the chief engineer of the gen5 Prius 

 

[davidif]

17 hours ago, TonyHSD said:

Here some interesting interview with the chief engineer of the gen5 Prius 

 

Can't help but think that that reminds me of a 1990's Mazda 323f from that angle!

[TonyHSD]

17 minutes ago, davidif said:

Can't help but think that that reminds me of a 1990's Mazda 323f from that angle!

Lol, you are right. It looks similar to Mazda indeed 👌👍

[Cyker]

Maybe they've been kidnapping Mazda designers! That would explain a lot...!  

[TonyHSD]

18 hours ago, Cyker said:

Maybe they've been kidnapping Mazda designers! That would explain a lot...!  

Unbelievable resemblance with Mazda 323F