Home » Car Reviews » Toyota » Prius » 2004 Toyota Prius Gasoline Electric Hybrid Mid-Size Sedan
2004 Toyota Prius Gasoline Electric Hybrid Mid-Size Sedan
…Continued
Jump to page: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5
The Prius originally introduced in the U.S. had 2 motors, a conventional 4-cylinder, gasoline-powered engine, and an electric motor. The electric motor drove the car most of the time. When the batteries were low or more power needed to accelerate onto a freeway or climb a hill, the gasoline engine would take over. When the car idled, or was stopped at a stoplight, the gasoline engine shut off. A device on the brakes provided the predominant means of recharging the battery. Plugging into a wall socket, recharging station, or paying a large energy bill was unnecessary. This tactic left fewer standards to meet. All in all the second Prius got a whopping 48 gas-miserly miles to a gallon of gas; a humungous improvement.
Unlike the Honda Insight, the Prius had room for 4 adults, and 5 if the person in the middle of the back seat was small. It had a trunk that could carry a normal load for a small sedan. It was functional, short on power, odd looking, and built with too many cheap parts. Not a lot to overcome in a third model.
Toyota has introduced a new Prius for 2004. This one signals the arrival of a nearly-mature, gas-electric, hybrid car that is economical on all fronts, and functional for the masses. It is larger, faster, gets better fuel economy, and is more commodious and comfortable than the car it replaces. The car grows in size moving it from the compact to the mid-size segment. With part quality and interior space to rival mainstream cars like Accord, Camry, and Taurus there are now few reasons not to have Prius on your immediate test-drive list.
Exterior Styling
Although considerably better looking than the previous car, the new Prius is still a bit odd. However that strangeness works both for, and against, the car. The Prius is a fundamentally different product than the standard-gas-powered-soot-blowers most people drive. Because of this some designers think it needs to look different. More importantly the shape of the vehicle is intrinsic to miserly gas consumption. We believe in order for it to sell like mainstream cars it needs to have a style people want to own, and styling will undoubtedly evolve over time. Moreover Prius is already competing with the Honda Civic, and the-shortly-to-be released Lexus RX330 Hybrid, thus mainstream looks are going to be critical to the success of the product.
The 2004 Prius is a much larger car than the one it replaces. The wheelbase is a full 6 inches longer.
The new Prius maintains the rounded, aerodynamic shape that gives the car a super-low, 0.26 coefficient of drag (Cd). The low Cd decreases the effect air mass has on the vehicle enabling the car to slide through air rather than ram into it. The design is a critical component of maximizing fuel consumption, and minimizing interior noise. The hood rises up into the A pillar curving over the passenger compartment into the D pillar at the very back of the car. The shape is an elongated arch.
The only drawback we encountered is that rearward visibility is significantly hindered by the rear deck, which cuts across the window.
Jump to page: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5
