Live Thread: One week with a 2023 Toyota Prius Limited

Watching with strong interest. I'm heavily eyeing awd with intent. 

I drove the Prius from Daytona Beach, FL down to Sebring International Raceway this morning, and averaged 45.3 mpg. This trip is about 150 miles split evenly between rural stop and go and highway driving, and I aimed for about 80 mph on the highway and 55-65 mph in the stop and go sections. So it gets perfectly decent mileage for a long commute.

However, I'm not sure I'd want to spend a long commute in this thing. The stereo is great, but it sort of has to be to drown out all of the road noise. Floor it, and the CVT/electric motor combo screams while propelling the car along at a pace I'd call "good enough." The car is also fairly nervous on the highway. And the interior, while full of nice materials and pleasant to be in, is also really tiny. There's a hatch, yes, but I tried to put a box in it last night and realized it's nowhere near as big as what you'd find on a second-gen Prius. Visibility is also terrible, as I can't really see out of the back at all, and those clean lines make a massive blind spot over each shoulder. Front visibility is severely compromised by the massive A-pillars that seem to go all the way to the headlights.

But this isn't a premium car--it starts under $30,000, which means it's a cheap car these days. Still, though, I'm not sure why you would pick this over a Civic unless the Civic's low-40s mpg is just too low for you. And if efficiency is all you care about, why not spend a few thousand more and buy a Model 3, or nearly ten thousand less and buy a Chevy Bolt?

TL;DR: Decent car. But I don't get it. 

Oh, but this thing does look AWESOME. Points for style. 

What kind of laps can it turn at Sebring?

In reply to Tom Suddard :

Tom,
You've spent time in both; New Prius or Ford Maverick Hybrid?  

Toyota puts really crappy tires on their cars. New tires make a difference. 100,000 miles in a gen. 2 & 145,000 in  the current gen 3. The faster you go the better the car is. The new model lake of space would be a problem, I have put dishwasher in the back of the 2012 Prius.

You have to factor in Toyota relibility, change the oil each 10,000 miles, engine coolant at 110,000, Hybrid coolant at 150,000, a friend with a 200,000 mile Prius says at some point you will need new struts.

In reply to John Welsh :

Maverick hands down. It's way more car for the money, and I can see out of it. 

Qaaaaa said:

What kind of laps can it turn at Sebring?

or the FIRM.  especially on a set of RT660's 

how many laps before the battery depletes?

can a BMX bike fit in the back with one of the rear seats up? (i.e. 3-up mode) {or, in lieu of that, can you put a tape on the width/depth of the rear cargo area?)

how strong is the regen?  How far does the TCS/StabControl turn off?

Tom Suddard said:

Still, though, I'm not sure why you would pick this over a Civic unless the Civic's low-40s mpg is just too low for you.

A Civic doesn't get anywhere near low 40s in the city.  
 

Disappointing that the utility is not as good as it once was.  The Maverick really does seem like a much better vehicle for the average person... If you can get one.

what's the OEM wheel+tire combo weigh?

how well could you sleep in the back if the rear seats are folded down?

pics of the suspension and/or underbody panels?