2014 Toyota Prius

The appearance of the 2014 Toyota Prius amalgam is now instantly recognizable; the car has looked appealing abundant the aforementioned aback way aback in Japanese used cars dealer. The accepted car is now in its fifth year, and there's now a accomplished ancestors of Prius models: a subcompact, a wagon, and a constituent hybrid. But the aggregate of the model's sales are still delivered by the archetypal five-door Liftback model, and there will be an all-new bearing advancing aural a year or two. It's the quintessential amalgam car, apparent from 100 anxiety away.

The high-tailed auto appearance of the Prius is now in its eleventh year, beyond two generations, and from a South Park apology to accretion numbers of Priuses awash in red states, it's become a basic on U.S. roads. Its appearance lowers aerodynamic annoyance to clasp every endure mile out of anniversary gallon of gasoline, and the aftereffect includes a domed contour and a two-part breach rear window.

The Plug-In Prius is about duplicate from the hybrid-only model. It carries a beyond array backpack that can be recharged on bank accepted to accord it up to 11 afar of all-electric running. The alone arresting differences are a scattering of trim items and a charge-port aperture on the appropriate rear fender. (The added two Prius models--which accept their own reviews--differ appreciably more. They are the abate Prius C auto and the beyond Prius V wagon. All except the wagon are rated at 50 mpg combined; the wagon comes in at 42 mpg combined.)

Inside both the Liftback and constituent Prius, the dashboard layout--in a array of hard-plastic moldings and surfaces--is alpha to attending added and added like a 1980s video game, with assorted graphs, numbers, and icons broadcast beyond both an Advice Centermost top up and abutting to the abject of the windshield, and a array of added accepted gauges and displays abaft the council wheel.

A appropriate "flying buttress" animate that sweeps down from the top of the birr is the aboriginal affair that catches the eye. It's striking, but the accumulator amplitude beneath it is awkward to reach. The berth is ample abundant to authority four adults comfortably, 5 in a pinch, and authorize as a mid-size car beneath EPA definitions. The foreground bench added is thin, though, and the harder artificial centermost animate will abuse taller drivers' kneecaps.

With a 1.8-liter four-cylinder engine and a brace of electric motor-generators, the Amalgam Synergy Drive powertrain maxes out at 134 horsepower. The motors adeptness the car alone on electricity (at speeds up to 30 mph), accommodate electric torque to supplement torque from the engine, and recharge the array during adorning braking or engine overrun. Dispatch from 0 to 60 mph is quoted at hardly beneath than 10 seconds, but you'll apprehend the engine bawl up foreground to get there. With added acquaintance architecture hybrids than any added maker, Toyota's adeptness to alloy the adorning braking with the accepted abrasion brakes is excellent.

The Prius Plug-In Amalgam uses the aforementioned active gear, but the accepted car's 1.3-kilowatt-hour nickel-metal-hydride array backpack is replaced by a 4.3-kWh lithium-ion backpack that gives it 11 afar of electric ambit on the EPA analysis cycles. However, a comment credibility out that alone 6 afar of that ambit is continuous, because even beneath the almost affable EPA testing, the engine has to about-face on at atomic already to adeptness the car even admitting there's activity larboard in the pack. One real-world archetype would be foot-to-the-floor dispatch into fast-moving cartage from an acclivous freeway on-ramp.
Novices may be abashed if they drive a Prius for the aboriginal time. Engine acceleration rises and avalanche alone from annihilation the driver's bottom does on the accelerator, as the amalgam arrangement continuously adjusts its adeptness sources to aerate ability and reclaim the best bulk of activity that would contrarily accept been wasted. The administration is aswell abundantly numb; the Prius drives ponderously, with aught feel through its electric adeptness steering. It corners accomplished and responds to inputs, there's just actual little acknowledgment provided to the driver.

Seven airbags and a array of cyberbanking assurance systems are no best as avant-garde as they were for 2010, if this bearing of Prius was launched. But the car charcoal aggressive on safety, including accessible adaptive cruise control, rear-view camera, and lane-departure warning, forth with an Intelligent Parking Assist action (though Ford's agnate arrangement is better). There's aswell the "Safety Connect" arrangement to acquaint aboriginal responders in case of an accident. The 2014 Prius is an IIHS Top Assurance Pick+ vehicle, however--unlike the beyond Prius V wagon.

Consumers can accept from four trim levels, accepted as Two, Three, Four, and Five. (A stripped-down Prius One is alone awash to fleets.) The steering-wheel Touch Tracer controls let drivers cross through airheaded on the advice affectation after removing their easily from the wheel, with options apparent in the array amid two ample gauges. The highest-priced Prius Four and 5 models now amount added than $30,000 for buyers with a abundant duke on the options sheet. Choices cover LED headlamps, limited air conditioning, Bluetooth, and a aeronautics system. Packages cover the feature-rich Technology Package, or the Solar Moonroof advantage that includes a photovoltaic solar console to air-conditioned the cockpit by powering a blast fan that switches on if the Prius is parking.

Beside the Prius Liftback and Prius Plug-In Amalgam models, the blow of the ancestors includes the Prius V wagon and the Prius C auto hatchback. We accept advised anniversary of those models separately.
The abate Prius C auto is sportier and added lithe--compared to the mid-size Liftback, anyhow. The abate engine and battery, additional a simpler and added accepted interior, accord it a abject amount beneath $20,000 forth with that all-important 50-mpg accumulated gas breadth rating. The Prius V offers far added amount space, all the acceptable Prius virtues, and a accumulated EPA gas-mileage appraisement of 42 mpg--though it can feel underpowered if heavily loaded.