2016 Toyota Prius full video review
Our comprehensive coverage of a car that will save the planet
By Shahzad Sheikh
We’ve already previously posted a first drive review of the new Toyota Prius – read that here – and in that I covered why we need hybrids. Something I emphasise again in this video (click below to play) – upto 15% plus more economical than obvious rivals, and 55% less emissions.
Some would say it has challenging looks, I don’t mind it personally, but perhaps because I understand that everything about this car is about efficiency. It’s meant to slice through the air and glide across the ground with the minimum of fuss and friction. This partly shapes the way it looks, although they have perhaps gone a little overboard with the ‘character lines’ at the front.
It’s about as practical as a Toyota Corolla. The interior will comfortable carry a family of five and their luggage with a slightly raised floor robbing only a fraction of the luggage space under the rear hatchback tailgate.
The interior is certainly a bit lively and different, although the light colours employed for the trim and upholstery is likely to get filthy pretty quickly, and the intriguing centre console does look a little like it belongs in the bathroom!
But there’s tons of high-tech on the centre dashboard display – with lots of info geared towards making you driving as efficiently as possible and there’s even a scoring for your driving, with which you start to become rather obsessed after a while. It becomes a bit of a challenge to see how high you can score and how low you can get your fuel consumption.
But aside from all this goody-two-shoes holier-than-thou piety from the Prius – what’s it like to drive? Well quite good actually. Good steering, decent braking and remarkably impressive handling actually make this a satisfying and fun car to peddle too. It may not be the quickest thing around, but it’s swift enough for city traffic and besides flooring it would ruin your high score – and that simply won’t do.
Verdict
This is a clear-conscience car – it’s the one you can actually enjoy owning and driving, fulfils all your practical and daily needs and still makes you feel good about yourself – you know doing your bit to save the planet and staying mobile.
Plus, whereas Hybrids have always been a bit too expensive to justify compared the economic savings, the Prius is actually reasonably priced if you look at that segment. At between AED90-100k it’s Camry money – and the Prius is far more interesting.
2016 Toyota Prius – The Specs
Price:
Dynamic AED89,900 ($25k)
Iconic AED97,900 ($27k)
Engine: 1.8-litre four-cylinder Hybrid, 121bhp, 120lb ft from electric motor
Transmission: CVT Auto, Front-wheel drive
Performance: 0-100kph 10 seconds, Top Speed 180kph, 4.5L/100km
Weight: 1380kg
Let us know what you think of the 2016 Toyota Prius below in the comments!
