On Tuesday night, Toyota dropped the new Prius from the sky in Las Vegas in front of journalists (we guess our invite got lost in the mail, Toyota?), “social influencers” and bartenders, because most of them had already seen the leaked photos that you have too.
The 2016 Prius is a little Mirai, a little Corolla and a whole lot of vague right now. Toyota didn’t detail any of the car’s official specs or price, but according to CarNewsChina the 1.8-liter four-cylinder engine and electrons in the back combine for 150 horsepower and will propel the car up to 60 mpg. According to the report, the Prius will also travel up to 34 miles on electricity alone.
Even though the car won’t go on sale until early next year, Toyota is ramping up production at its plant with “unprecedented” levels of overtime.
The new Prius, which will be built on Toyota’s new global TNGA framework, will be 2.5 inches longer, 0.6 inches lower and 0.8 wider than the outgoing model. The Prius will also use a double wishbone suspension setup in the back instead of the last generation’s torsion beam to wake up some of the number handling aspects of the outgoing model.
Of course, how the thing looks is probably the biggest difference over last year. Toyota says the roof has been lowered and the Prius’s signature bump has been moved forward to drop the rear of the hatch further and faster. The floating roof is accentuated by the blacked out rear pillar and presumably 120,000 man-hours went into shaping the curves around the headlights.
The Prius will be the first car built on Toyota’s TNGA architecture. It’s likely that a compact hybrid crossover will be built on the same framework too.
I would not have picked the Prius as the car to make tail fins stylish again. At first glance, reminds me of a Chevy Biscayne.
The RAV4 has had tail fins since it was redesigned for MY2013.
Kyree, read my post again. It was about making fins stylish again, not having fins.
It’s to distract you from the rusty muffler.
It’s a Volt and Leaf KILLER.
A continuing sales success? Probably.
Eye-ball searingly ugly? Definitely.
“It’s a Volt and Leaf KILLER.”
Ha Ha!
As it was in the beginning and will continue to be until the end….
Yeah if I were a car parked next to one of these things I would probably wither up and die too!
What a waste of time and money. Even when gas was $4/gallon, I calculated 8 years break even vs Mazda3 [all maint considered] in my area driving. Now governments will try tax these cars for not using gasoline. I was right all the way 5 years ago to pick an inexpensive, economical compact vs Prius. If Prius gave some driving fun for few extra grand – oh no – it is fun-deprived on top off all else. Enjoy your Prius
The Prius is a midsized car.
@bball40dtw – Prius is midsize only by passenger volume. Hip, leg and shoulder room are of compact car. for example, shoulder room in Mazda3 is 2.3 inches more. It is its cockpit shape that gives it volume. But it is not volume that will make you more comfortable. No, it is not really a midsize, no.
thats just not true… sit in both cars and tell me they have same space, they dont.
Dont justify your purchase based on false numbers, just say you wanted better drivers car and thats it.
Otherwise Prius does have more space, does get 50 MPG, does cost almost nothing to maintain (brakes anyone?) and does get a lot better resale value. It is not a drivers car tho, never was and likely it never will be so thats a way to justify the purchase.
p.s. Prius official HWY rating is 48 MPG, and if we look on averages, Prius drivers average 48 MPG while new Mazda 3 drivers average 33 MPG according to Fuelly and their 5000 drivers for those vehicles. So official PR is not where you should look for any numbers.
@spw “Dont justify your purchase …” This is exactly right. I just can’t justify purchase of Prius for my driving conditions.
Prius has more space – yes but not comfort space. Just like Civic was filling “airy” but that because there was tons of space … between windshield and driver. A space that will not make me more comfortable. Again, use tape measure – Prius is smaller but taller.
For the mileage, I would go to Consumer Reports. They seem to be right on money on all my cars. (BTW at that time only Corolla MT was rated 2 mpg more than Mazda3 by them) CR averaged 44mpg in Prius. This is impressive. But again, modern compacts are catching up and cost less.
Prius reliable… Many cars are reliable. Brakes – I’ve just recently inspected my front brakes – they are half life at 56K miles. My 1998 protege went 10 years on front brakes and 12 on rear. Manual tranny, you know…
In my area, an 8 year old Prius easily fetches $7,000-9,000. A Mazda3 struggles at half that, if the rust isn’t terminal.
That’s a big difference, considering the original price difference is around $6000, and the EPA estimates that the Prius will save you $700/year on gas.
Based on those numbers, the break-even could be around 4 or 5 years.
Like it or not, the Prius has great resale.
I really don’t care what Prius fetches. The fact is, in 10 years total $$ spent on operating your $24K-base-price, 2011 Prius will be more than total spent on $16.5, 2011 Mazda3 iTouring that basically compatible in options, take away hybrid-specific options. I calculated it to the bottle of oil. Prius is perception.
I hear so much about Mazda rust but this is most popular car in Canada – 1. 2 – I just sold my Protege of 16.5 years, this year, and the guy still rides it with no issue. so, rust. Yea, there is rust mostly on suspension components, I have not replaced any of it. Even muffler was original, however, 2 other exhaust pieces were replaced.
I thought the Civic was the most popular car in Canada. That’s what Honda claims in their ads, are they wrong?
A friend kept a Protegé running for nearly 20 years. It didn’t rust too badly, but it got to the point where his shop told him “don’t bring it back, we don’t care how emotionally attached you are, it’s done.” Mazda’s rust issues came after that, starting in the 1990s (well before the Prius was introduced).
I’m not saying the your Mazda doesn’t work for you, I’m just saying that the Prius is surprisingly cost-effective if you plan to keep it for 5-10 years, as many people do.
I still wouldn’t buy one, but not because of cost.
@heavy handle Mazda3 is on decline in Canada now. And with that, it is 12th best overall sold car. I think, it was bestseller compact recently. This is impressive for a rusty car in Canadian climate. and In US it is #what? 123? Whatever. I am telling you, just grab a calculator and count ownership cost for 10 years. Without calculating it – this is just words.
” I was right all the way 5 years ago to pick an inexpensive, economical compact vs Prius.”
And this is why I choose SRT.
Regardless what the future holds, I’ll have a ridiculous stupid grin on my face everytime I press the gas pedal.
I dig it. I also have nice grin for the compact FWD sedan. Actually, my sedan and I, both have grins
The people who choose to buy Prius are a loyal bunch. But make no mistake, the Prius is often a third or fourth vehicle and not their primary mode of transportation.
The F150, Camry and/or an SUV often round out the list of long distance transportation.
I know it’s been done, but I cannot even begin to imagine cramming my carcass into a Prius for a cross-country trip. Certainly not with all the schit my wife drags along on our trips.
We used to use our Prius for 12 hour prairie crossings with one kui and ARL of the associated stuff.
It wasn’t the perfect car for this, since the steering is a little touchy on the highway and the seats aren’t ideal for such a long stretch. But, if you already have a Prius, it’s plenty competent – and the gas ($20-$30 for 400 miles) was about half of what it cost in our next-best vehicle.
With two kids, we bought a minivan and wince at the fuel prices ($60 for 530 miles).
We still have our Prius, ani it does create loyalty, bit by bit, day by day. It’s an owner’s car rather than a driver’s car, and we’ve owned ours for 11 years. My wife might let me replace it with a Tesla Model X, but she’ll have to think about it….
Prius has pretty bad seats to be frank with you. and for the money you have to pay for it, the gas mileage is not too far away from modern compacts. Current Prius makes 41mpg hwy, current Mazda3 – 40 mpg. This is 1 mpg. If you in a city, yes – you win with Prius. I live in suburbs and my 2011 Mazda3 5MT constantly makes 30mpg avg. All my arguments are not for city dwellers. Just in case anyone missed it.
Where do you get 41mpg highway? Are you looking at the Prius v (the big station wagon) numbers? My Prius v averaged 40mpg driving mostly mountainous interstates at 70mph. My time in the regular Prius in the same conditions returned an easy 50mpg.
hdc: “I know it’s been done,…”
We do it every year (usually 3K miles but we did one that was 5K) and it’s just fine. Usually it’s just Mrs. Kix and myself but we’ve had the 20-something along once or twice. The trip average is usually 52mpg at a few miles over whatever the limit is and neither one of us feels we gave up anything for that.
Hence my total bewilderment at why larger sedan sales are so off. They offer the best ride/handling/MPG for long distance comfort.
I’m not looking forward to this gen’s entering US cab fleets, as rear seat headroom is not exactly a strength of the current Prius. (And I say that as someone who generally likes the 2nd and 3rd-gen Prius.) Apparently, however, I’m one of about five people left in the world who believes people over 5’9″ should be able to sit in the back seats of four door sedans and hatchbacks. The market is fast reaching a point where I’m left with a lose-lose choice between a CUV or a vehicle with miserable packaging. Perhaps this is a cynical choice by Toyota to push more buyers into the Prius V.
We rented a new Sonata while my parents were in town. It had rear seat leg room that was positively limo-like. Too bad the roof was about four inches too low.
Rode in a new Impala LT today, and the rear seat room in that is incredible as well.
However – it was loud in there with lots of tire noise, and the 2.5 and 6-auto were awful. It was jerky and very buzzy under acceleration, like a blender. That car is too much for a 2.5 to handle.
I just don’t understand why GM does things like that. The new Impala is a genuinely nice car, and nobody outside of the Midwest even knows about it let alone cross shops it because Chevy passenger cars have been garbage going back approximately forever.
Rentals and municipal fleets are their first and last chance to make a positive impression. And they put that weak and buzzing 2.5 in upwards of half of them.
TTAC car nuts say, “that 2.5 is awful!” The other 95% of the world doesn’t know what a 2.5 is, or that there’s an alternative. They say, “that Chevy is awful!”
“What else is new?”
I think it is the trend to four-bangers in midsize sedans.
The 2015 4-banger Camry is a dog, loud going up the mountain, and the transmission is always searching for the right gear unless on a level road with the wind at its back.
Ahhhhh, but the V6 Camry! Now there is a fine midsize sedan for ya. No doubt the V6 Impala, if they make one this year, will also be a much better, smoother, quiet car.
If you’re looking for a midsize sedan, better get one with a V6 before the V6 in midsize sedans is history.
If you upgrade from the 1LT to the 2LT, you get the 3.6 standard.
Given that the price difference is $2K, after today I’d say it’s a mandatory 2K. Gets you other standard equipment too.
Other than that, the materials seemed okay in parts (like the door panels) and crap in others (wood, plastic buttons). I’m not so sure at $30,000. For the SAME money, I feel like you get a lot better car with the Accord EXL V6, though it will be a BIT smaller.
But, you’ll get quite a lot more back at resale time, as well.
Strange I have driven 2 2014 Impala 1LT’s with the 2.5 and they were quiet, nice driving cars and the 2.5 seemed plenty punchy and didn’t seem any noisier than rental Camry’s or Sonata’s. Note that both of these cars had over 20K miles on the clock.
Now I did notice that the big 18″ and optional 19″ tires were a bit noisier and clumpy over bumps than my 2013 W-body Impala with 17″ rubber but this is a trend on most late model cars and SUV’s today and is getting hard to avoid.
When we were merging onto I71, the guy had to hit the gas a bit and speed up. The trans shifted down one or two gears, and the car lurched as the buzzing reared it’s head. It felt truly unrefined. The Cruze was much smoother in operation, though of course slower. But I floored the Cruze a couple different times, and it’s response was still composed. I think this one had the 18″s on it, but still so much road noise.
I like turtles.
This new styling is….well….an acquired taste. I am surprised they did not go a little more conservative given the typical clientele that purchase the prius family. Oh well, i am sure it will sell just fine.
I would like to see toyota try their hand at something like the cr-z, just executed better. I respect the hybrid tech and am sure there are a lot drivers that would give up some of the mileage for something that was sportier/more fun to drive.
“Toyota says the roof has been lowered and the Prius’s signature bump has been moved forward to drop the rear of the hatch further and faster.”
Translation: We worked really hard to make the car less useful, and also didn’t make it better looking. You’re welcome.
Ha, that’s the first thing I thought of.
Unfortunately this seems to be the design mantra of a lot of auto companies these days. Make it more swoopy and useless, because god forbid someone be seen in anything resembling a practical box.
I think the more likely reason for the shape is wind tunnel success than designer vanity.
I think the more likely reason for the shape is wind tunnel success than designer vanity. I rarely see passengers in the back seat of these things.
They don’t have Uber or Lift in your village?
Thank you, Tosh. Upon reading that comment, I looked out of my office window (admittedly in the downtown of a major city) and saw three Prii with passengers in the back. So yes, passengers do ride in the back of these.
EChid: “Toyota says the roof has been lowered”
By 20mm. I wouldn’t say that’s the end of the world.
I like the interior (as long as I can change the LED color to red), but the exterior is still hideous.
Overly trendy looking rear end. Toyota looks a jealous about the Infiniti/Nissan feminine designs. But, I’m sure this car will be just as bullet proof as the previous model. Glad they kept the hatch design over a more generic four door sedan.
They ruined the iconic style. Big mistake.
I agree. The new rear end is not only ugly but it doesn’t say “Prius” at all. I always thought the previous design was all about aero and thus the reason its shape (along with Honda’s Insight) were so similar. So either that was wrong or they found a new way to hit the same aero target. While the hatch may still be there, it looks like a normal (over styled / aka Nissan) sedan thus I’m sure sales will be fine. However it’s lost it’s charm.
Really? I see a tear drop hatchback with vertical tailights flanking a a horizontally bisected rear window, just like the two generations prior. The Prius was an odd duck back then, now everyone is used to it. This ratchets the formula up quite a bit to get noticed, and I’m sure it will become iconic soon enough.
The last three were cool-looking—and the previous two, in particular—established a style that was distinctly recognizable as Prius. Now, Toyota comes out with this thing, which looks like something you’d find on “River Monsters.” It’s got a face only a mother could love…and mine doesn’t. I asked her.
Why is Toyota doing this to us?
Americans are buying Toyotas nearly at the most we have ever bought. Most would assume they would be happy with that. So why have they decided to terrorize American roads with such a monstrosity of a design.
It isn’t bad enough they’ve given Lexus suvs the appearance of wanting to eat pedestrians. They missed the original Death Race 2000 by 40 years. But know they’ve decided to make the Prius unbearable to gaze upon. Why o why have they done this to us. Haven’t we been good to you. Is this a retaliatory act for PedalGate.
I don’t think I will be able to handle seeing this car EVERYDAY. I already see a shrink twice a week. I’m not willing to take any more meds. I saw a 2015 Lexus GX the other day in traffic, I immediately found myself about to have an Existential crisis if it wasn’t for the Original VW Beetle I saw moments later. I see my only solution as being moving out the city, the Prius/Subaru driving area, to good old pickup driving red America.
God have mercy on us.
Toyota is getting more daring with styling because it’s working for them. The Corolla that was redesigned a couple of years ago has been a big sales success, even beating out Civic for best selling subcompact. Lexus continues to sell well, with the big grills.
Exactly, and **unpopular opinion alert** I think the Corolla and Camry (except C pillar) actually look fairly nice. Certainly better than before and better than some of their competitors.
Agreed. It’s funny, the folks I talk to in the real world don’t sound anything like the Autoblog/Autospies/TTAC echo chamber. They all seem to really like the styling of Toyotas and Lexuses over the past few years. I guess Toyota talks to more people like them and less of the Best and Brightest.
Egads! You think the largest car manufacturer in the world actually might know what they’re doing or something?
” It’s funny, the folks I talk to in the real world don’t sound anything like the Autoblog/Autospies/TTAC echo chamber”
Amen!
Toyota puts out good stuff, their detractors notwithstanding.
I never owned anything but Detroit 3 until 2008. That’s when I converted to Toyota, with only one hiccup since, when my wife wanted a 2012 Grand Cherokee.
Today, we’re an all-Toyota all-the-time family:
2011 Tundra, 2015 Sequoia and 1989 Camry V6.
It doesn’t get any better than this.
Life IS good.
This vehicle looks unlike anything Toyota has ever sold. Now I’m not one who hates Toyotas. I’ve had in my possession a Scion IQ. Other Scions have been in my household for years. I love the look of the new Corolla and Highlander. They make the American roads and parking lots full of interesting and pleasant designs. I’ve recommend a Toyota numerous times when asked.
But this car is just too much to digest.
I find current Toyotas singularly horrible in pictures, but not nearly as offensive in person. Somehow this Toyota styling idiom just doesn’t translate well to photography — coming across as busy, awkward, and weird. In person they are just inoffensive like all Toyotas ever.
I honestly don’t even notice the Lexus grille anymore, although I will surely have a moment of panic the first time a 2016 LX 570 appears in my rearview mirror.
dal, I think an awful lot of research goes into the styling before it is released for sale.
Some people have posted that they think the Tundra and the Sequoia are fugly. I don’t think so.
And I think ye olde 1989 Camry I drive is actually quite stylish, even 26 years on.
The C-pillar on the ’15 Camry was taken directly from the ’89 Century/Ciera/6000, don’tcha knoow?
Daring is one thing. Repulsive is another!
We bicth when Toyotas are boring, we bicth when they’re not. We are idiots who can’t even spell bicth.
I salute Toyota for adding the DW to this package. Must test drive.
As most taxis here in the Vancouver are Prius I can’t understand why we even bother talking about these things. If TTAC had been around in 1969 would they have run an article about the new 1969 Plymouth Fury 1 4 door with a Slant 6?
Of course. Half of TTAC thinks anyone who buys anything fancier than a used Yaris/Prius C/Fury 1 rather than saving the money is a moral failure.
I’m almost certain they would, and that’s what differentiates TTAC from other outlets. If you dislike that direction, there are thousands of car porn sites on which everything expensive and/or fast is by default jerked off to by self-appointed connoisseurs who consider such “lowly” cars as the Prius as not warranting their attention.
I have good news for you, though. If the Prius is beneath you, there’s an piece on the Bentley Bentayga somewhere above this one; maybe that one will strike your fancy. A word of warning, though: expect some negativity in the comments, unlike in most outlets where the combination of PrestigiousBadge+FashionableBodystyle+HighPrice always, literally always results in the collective orgasm of the commentariat.
What’s the point of a sedan with hardly any rear headroom?
The rear spoiler is now built into the trunk which blocks some of the rear view.
Yet, this car will sell because… it’s a Toyota Hybrid, regardless of looks, as hybrid owners buy it for its fuel efficiency.
I fully expect the blogosphere to gouge their eyes out/ throw up in their mouths a little/ make comparisons to some alien or another/ question Japan’s ability to ever design a beautiful car/ proclaim undying love for the last generations.
I also fully expect the new Prius to inspire even more hate in the next couple years, cuz you’re gonna see them everywhere!
I’ll take mine in blue.
This guy understands the interwebs.
Gaudy. First thing I would do with one is determine how to remove the spoiler.
That’s not a spoiler, it’s the rear deck. Under it is a glass panel for rear visibility.
lower longer wider!
Saturn called (from beyond the grave): they want their Ion back
That stupid shiny white part of the interior reminds me of a toilet. I anticipate drunk Uber passengers sitting shotgun whipping it out to take a leak on the road.
I do like the new dashboard graphics, but not the overall shape of the dash.
I figured since the gen 2 was better looking than the gen 1, and the gen 3 was better looking than the gen 2, this would continue the trend, but I’d prefer to look at a gen 1 over this thing.
Disappointed that the little window near the wing mirror is now blacked out. It seems like a toasters that the Toyota gets a black plastic triangle whereas the Lexus version gets glass. It also looks very back heavy. If they gave it a double wishbone suspension , will they give it wider tires, too?
What’s up with those little nodules on the A-pillar? Do they smooth out the aerodynamic turbulence caused by the mirrors, or something?
Anyway, buyers have liked the Prius for looking like nothing else on the road since the Gen. 2 model. It’s a way of broadcasting that your car is unique and special, that it was designed with a greater purpose in mind. Whether it looks ugly or not is, frankly, irrelevant- it just has to look different.
Wonder when the new Prius V will be out.
The 2015 model just got a midcycle refresh, so it won’t be until model year 2018 (fall of 2017, maybe) at the soonest.
It’s good to know the combined power plant will propel this 1950’s spaceship-wet-dream-look vehicle up to 60 mpg.
Propel is a verb meaning to drive, or cause to move, forward or onward.
It is not a measure of fuel economy.
When I first read this, I thought it said “propel the car up to 60 miles per hour, which, while an improvement, didn’t seem much to brag about.
>You want a Prius?
You bet!
>You want a new Prius all shiny with the warranty and new car smell and nobody else’s filthy grunge smeared in all the corners?
Well, yeah.
>Here’s what they look like now.
OK.
looks like a whole lot of hideous to me. The fact that these blights will be all over the roads by next year is indeed a very depressing thought!
Who let thier halfwit teenage son design the taillights? I’m not looking forward to being stuck in traffic behind one of these.