2004 Toyota Prius Review

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Button

Fun. It's fun to push a button to start a car. It's fun to get in and out without pressing a fob or pulling a key. There's plenty of room inside, and the seats are made of quality materials. The front display is so different that it's a little disconcerting at first, as it's all digital and seems so far away. But once you're used to it you learn to appreciate the simplicity and futuristic feel. That simplicity is noticeable throughout the instrument control area. Toyota engineers included just what was needed, and managed to get most of it on the steering wheel - where it should be. These steering wheel controls are easy to use, intuitive to touch - though in the evening, it's hard to see the controls. The available voice activation works as well as most -- push the button and make a specific command - you'll get what you want, though the center console monitor seems to go dark when voice command is on. Of particular use is the voice-command temperature control and radio control.

Liftback

The fun doesn't end there - you can actually get people in the back, and bags in the hatch. This is a real mid-sized ship, with room to stretch and grow. Built on a new platform, the Prius has a wheelbase that's almost six inches longer than the previous car, a new five-door liftback design and midsize class interior dimensions of 96.2 cubic feet of passenger room. This compares nicely to the 89 cubic feet of room in the previous Prius, and gets close to the Camry's 101.7 cubic feet. The result is plenty of headroom in back, and legroom all around is sufficient. Thanks to the large glass lift gate in back and lowered, streamlined instrumentation up front, visibility is more than adequate. Possible exceptions may be the rear sides, where the design of the vehicle seems to obstruct the driver sightline.

All in all, the Prius feels good in your hands -- good like a solid car, with fun techno gadgetry, including advanced fuel cell graphics in the control center. Sure, it's not crazy fun like pulling a g on your local onramp - but come on - you never really had the nerve to do that anyway. And while Smart Entry/Start is not exactly the most important element to the Prius, it is perhaps the coolest - as if your car knows you and is ready to go when you are.

Hey. How was work today? Should we skip gassing up and go straight home? I still have a full tank of fuel.

Synergy

It has a full tank of fuel because the Prius is the Son of Scientists who have oil and car grime under the fingernails -- professionals who have built a significant piece of automotive technology called the Hybrid Synergy Drive. Debuted first in this vehicle but scheduled to be rolled out to at least the Lexus RX330, the Hybrid Synergy Drive system is a "full hybrid system," capable of operating in gas or electric modes, as well as a mode that combines the power of the gas engine and electric motor. This new drive system uses a 50-percent more powerful 50-kilowatt drive motor operating at up to 500 volts. A newly adopted high-voltage power converter enables this increased voltage and power. The generator in the new Prius has a higher peak operating speed that increases electric-mode operation in city and freeway slow-and-go operation. A regenerative braking system further boosts system efficiency -- when the Prius is coasting or the brakes are applied, the electric motor functions as a generator, capturing kinetic energy that would normally be lost as heat through the brakes and using it to recharge the batteries.