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TheCarConnection.com's editors prepared this review from hands-on experience with the new 2010 Toyota Prius. TheCarConnection.com's resident experts will produce a full review, including opinions from other professional sources, as more road tests of the 2010 Toyota Prius become available.
Likes:
- Exceptional fuel economy
- Tall, airy cabin
- Hatchback utility
- Improved driving feel
- more upscale effort in general
Dislikes:
- Likely more expensive
- Still drives like a hybrid
- Console design means less knee room in front
It's back for a third generation—and now, a decade and 700,000 ancestors rolling around already, the 2010 Toyota Prius brings with it more room, a more refined feel, and the real-world ecstasy (for some) of 51-mpg fuel economy.
The 2010 Prius still is recognizable as a Toyota hybrid, but there's more wedge in its stance, more crease in its profile, catchier cues in its arrow-inflected headlamps and taillamps, and more room under its reproportioned roofline. For sure, it's more dynamic-looking than the outgoing model and a hair longer overall, but it's still more future-appliance than future-chic. It does split the wind more finely; the aerodynamic drag's down to 0.25, one of the lowest figures for any production car, with much of the improvement achieved under the car.
Change you can believe in is found more in the cabin, where a new flying-buttress console adds some visual interest to the Prius' wide, low dash and its digital, distantly mounted gauges. Driving controls are segregated from the passenger by black and silver plastic, which cuts down the sheer mass of the dash panels.
Earth geeks and mileage freaks will spend hours away from World of Warcraft coaxing ever-high fuel economy out of the 2010 Prius. Officially, it's rated at 50 mpg city, 39 highway by the EPA, but TheCarConnection.com's experts teased 69.5 mpg with judicious use of the gas and the Prius' new battery-only EV driving mode—and we've already heard of figures exceeding 75 mpg. In part, the improved fuel economy is due to a lighter, stiffer body. The powertrain's also been reconfigured for less weight, and contrary to expectations, a bump in displacement from 1.6 liters to 1.8 liters for the four-cylinder engine has helped the hybrid system be more frugal overall. The combination puts out 134 horsepower, but the 1.8-liter's better torque helps the Prius run at slower engine speeds on the highway. A hefty lead foot will drop the Prius into the high 30-mpg range, but a light touch, a mindful eye on the "Eco" driving mode indicators, and use of the new EV mode—which allows a mile of pure-electric driving with a well-charged battery pack—will help any driver extract more than 50 mpg in city driving.
