First Drive: 2012 Toyota Prius v
Meet the Newest Member of the Prius Family
I met the newest member of the Prius family today. And I did so a mere five miles from where I welcomed a little bundle of joy to my family 15 months ago in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Fitting, then, that this should be the family-oriented relative of the Green Movement’s poster child. Fortunately for me, the v was all cleaned up and ready to drive without a dirty diaper in sight.
The drive started out about the same as in any Prius, which is to say my passenger inquired as to whether or not I actually started the car. No surprise since the Prius v is equipped with the same powertrain as its smaller and older sibling. As a recap, that means there is a 1.8-liter 4-cylinder under the hood paired to Toyota’s Hybrid Synergy Drive system. The total output for the system is 134 hp with 98 hp supplied from the gas engine. With the battery fully charged and no load on the engine (until we demanded immediate output from the A/C, that is) the Prius v starts as quietly as any other Prius on electric power (ambient conditions dependent). But putting my foot down to emerge from the parking lot immediately kicked in the ICE.
The transition of the engine kicking to life in the v seems to be ever so slightly more refined than it is in the regular Prius. The 3” longer wheelbase, 1” wider track and larger body in general seems to absorb some of the excess roughness we observed in the original Prius. This helps make the Prius v sound less like a garbage disposal under heavy throttle. Our chief complaint remains though. This powertrain, which is now in its third generation, still has some NVH issues to iron out.
Amazingly, the ride and handling dynamics have been improved compared to the standard Prius. The front MacPherson suspension is largely the same architecture as the original model, albeit with beefed up components to compensate for the added weight and separate bushings for both the springs and shocks. Unfortunately, the rear still utilizes a torsion beam design to, in Toyota’s words, improve packaging (read: lower costs). The steering and brakes are more responsive but still numb. It feels as though Toyota engineers made up for the lack of feeling in both of these areas by turning up the gain. The result is quicker turn-in and sharper brake bite, resulting in frequent nose dives on my introductory drive. In both of the cars I drove I found it hard to predict the degree the regenerative brakes were going to kick in, and thus found it difficult to brake smoothly. This is not something the smaller Prius was plagued with so it is possible there is still some fine tuning to be done as these were pre-production vehicles we were driving. Even the throttle response seemed slightly better, which is likely a result of the final drive ratio being changed to a more aggressive 3.703:1 drive compared to the 3.268:1 final drive in the smaller Prius. Toyota is also debuting something called Pitch and Bounce Control where the vehicle will actually vary the torque output ever so slightly to counter the pitch and bounce effects from a wavy or washboard road. Something we will have to put to the test better once we get a week alone with the vehicle.
The interior is vastly improved. The instrument panel theme is a cross between a Tundra and the smaller Prius. The odd thing is it works. The gauges are still top and center, but the dash is more segmented. The HVAC / audio / nav controls are contained within the piano black trapezoid, while the key drive control functions are corralled in the driver-biased silver streak. The result is an inviting cabin that is neither confining like the Prius nor pieced together like the Tundra. Order the Prius v Two or Three trim levels and seats are covered in the Prius’ typical cloth. Step up to the Prius v Five, however, (Toyota is skipping Four for now) and your seats will instead be covered in Toyota’s new Softex material, which is supposedly 28% lighter than genuine leather. The extra inch of vehicle width translates well into the three-across seating in the back while the 3” wheelbase stretch directly benefits legroom. The rear seats now slide and recline as well as fold flat. There is 34.3 cu ft of cargo space behind the seats or 67.3 cu ft available with the seats folded flat. And if you are still feeling claustrophobic the Prius v Five is available with a polycarbonate sunroof which is actually 50% lighter than typical glass units of the same size.
The penalty for all the additional room? Obviously even Toyota couldn’t add 232 pounds to the bottom line (total curb weight: 3,274 lbs), grow the overall exterior package and lower the effective drive gears and not be facing an economy or cost penalty. The EPA fuel economy rating is lower compared to the Prius with a 44 city / 40 highway and 42 combined rating (vs. 51/48/50). The secret: keep the weight low and tune the exterior for aerodynamics. There is a good reason for the now iconic Prius shape: it cuts the wind best (0.29 Cd Prius v vs. 0.25 Cd Prius). Even the premium JBL speakers were designed to cut power draw by 54% and still maintain output compared to the current Prius speakers. The cost? Toyota says they haven’t set a price point yet, but to expect MSRPs to be about $3K higher for a Prius v versus a comparably equipped Prius.
Why choose the Prius v? Really, the question needs to be ‘why not?’. It simply makes more sense for more people. At least it makes more sense to me than the smaller Prius, which has an almost cult following thanks to high profile endorsements, yet isn’t practically sized to fit the needs of a typical family, or priced to fit a budget-minded one. The Prius v will appeal to a wider audience with real lives and real things (kids, dogs, stuff) to haul around.
Toyota has a hybrid powertrain that works, and works well, despite my blathering on about its shortcomings. Does the Prius v make my enthusiast blood boil? No. But it does fascinate, and I think it’s going to fit into Toyota’s expanding hybrid family just fine when it goes on sale this fall.
Photos by Jason Muxlow
Photos courtesy of Toyota
