Four wheels good (no, really)


Firstly, do not adjust your browser, someone other than Ian is actually posting for a change. I felt this one sat better with Spinneyhead than my own seldom updated site.

My current car is about to hit 3 years old and I’m thinking of getting a new one so today I test drove a Toyota Prius. Overall impressions were good. It felt like a normal car with two execptions that frankly aren’t a bad thing. First, unless you accelerate hard (and I do mean pressing to the floor) it’s spookily quiet and smooth to the point that you can’t use the engine sound to judge your speed you have to check the speedo. Secondly, the big touch screen display for the onboard computer is a little distracting as I kept wondering what that car was doing. The switch between electric, combined, petrol only, recharge from petrol and regenerative breaking is utterly seamless and without looking at the screen you can’t tell. Acceleration from 0 to 30 and 40 is quick and 40 to 70 (ok, maybe 75ish) was a bit slower than my current car when I rev it hard but certainly quick enough. Depending the trade-in and finance I get offered I may be buying one.

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