{"id":38242,"date":"2022-12-14T09:03:41","date_gmt":"2022-12-14T14:03:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/?p=38242"},"modified":"2022-12-14T09:03:41","modified_gmt":"2022-12-14T14:03:41","slug":"2023-toyota-prius-first-drive-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/?p=38242","title":{"rendered":"2023 Toyota Prius First Drive Review: It doesn’t suck!"},"content":{"rendered":"

DEL MAR, Calif. \u2013 In the beginning, the Toyota<\/a> Prius was a science experiment. Then it became a phenomenon. Then it matured to be less weird and then, most recently, it got eye-searingly ugly by even Prius standards. Consequently or not, buyers fled en masse. Throughout those four generations, though, certain elements remained consistent: they were incredibly fuel efficient<\/a>, they were love-it-or-hate-it unconventional and they were mind-numbingly uninvolving to drive. For the fifth-generation, 2023 Toyota Prius, only one of those things remains true, and it\u2019s inarguably the one that matters most. It gets as high as 57 miles per gallon combined with different trim levels and drivetrains dipping only as low as 49 mpg. That\u2019s roughly a 5-mpg improvement over before and puts the Prius back on top of the hybrid fuel-efficiency podium.<\/p>\n

Yet simply getting incredible fuel economy<\/a> isn\u2019t enough anymore in the face of plug-in hybrids and full EVs. That\u2019s what makes the new Prius\u2019 radical transformation so significant. And honestly, do we really need to delve deeply into how much of a visual transformation the 2023 Toyota Prius represents? Despite being underpinned by a strengthened and lightened version of the same TNGA-C platform, the Prius has gone from one of the most awkward and ugly cars<\/a> on the road to something that is well-proportioned, distinctive and genuinely aesthetically pleasing. This futuristic wedge was legitimately turning heads during our drive, and not because they were seeking a sick bag. The new Prius is actually cool, and unlike that second-generation phenomenon, it\u2019s not only because of the mpg readout in the instrument panel.<\/p>\n

Which leads us to another key element: the new 2023 Prius is less likely to put people off by being bizarre. For example, the instrument panel that has always resided atop the middle of the dash has migrated to where it always should\u2019ve been: directly in front of the driver. Sure, the digital panel is above<\/em> the steering wheel rim and, as such, may be blocked a bit if you\u2019re shorter, but it\u2019s also closer to the driver\u2019s natural line of sight. The shifter is also now placed on the center console instead of sprouting like a mushroom out of the dash, although it maintains the same left-up for Reverse, left-down for Drive movement that\u2019s been a staple since the second-gen Prius. The shifter hardware itself is basically the same design as what you\u2019d find in a Lexus NX or RX.<\/p>\n

The overall design is also more conventional, which isn\u2019t to say dull. Far from it. It\u2019s modern, visually appealing and, well, just look at the before and after below.<\/p>\n

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The standard touchscreen remains 8 inches, but the upgrade is 12.3 inches with the same widescreen orientation and interface as various other recently introduced Toyota and Lexus vehicles. It\u2019s also slightly canted toward the driver, as opposed to its portrait-oriented predecessor that sure looked like it was pointing at the passenger. The interface could still use a permanently docked icon (or physical button) to escape from Apple CarPlay\/Android Auto, and the overly complicated radio interface is a step backward, but overall, this is a sufficiently modern, quick-reacting system.<\/p>\n

Down below, the center console is higher with more thoughtfully considered storage solutions. It also doesn\u2019t look like a toilet as the old one did when painted white. Importantly, the quality of materials has improved, including the dash pad, door tops and SofTex simulated leather that no longer looks and feels so obviously simulated.<\/p>\n

The seats it covers are both more supportive and interesting to look at, with a 1-inch-lower hip point that makes them feel like you\u2019re sitting in the Prius rather than on top of it. A big part of the seat lowering, however, is because the new Prius\u2019 roof height is 2 inches lower than before. That decrease is mostly over the front occupants, which should be obvious in the side-by-side photos below.<\/p>\n

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Sadly, you\u2019re less likely to wear a jaunty hat while driving in the new Prius. You\u2019re equally as unlikely to wear one in the back seat. Headroom seemed to be just as tight in both, although at 6-foot-3, I\u2019m a tough test. The newly available fixed glass roof and its sunshade housings do lower the roof forward of rear occupants\u2019 heads, though, making it feel a bit claustrophobic even if their noggins technically fit. And while we\u2019re in the vicinity of visibility, that ultra-raked windshield results in more dashtop reflections than normal, and there\u2019s a chance that those who sit closer to the wheel may feel uncomfortably close to the windshield header.<\/p>\n

Once you\u2019re comfortably seated below that header and push the perfectly normal start button, the new Prius displays what is perhaps its most surprising development. The hybrid powertrain is massively more powerful and refined with impressive drivability improvements beyond not just the old Prius, but other Toyota hybrids as well. Engine displacement jumps from 1.8 to 2.0 liters with output following suit from 96 horsepower to 150. The powertrain\u2019s new electric motor, featuring a newly developed magnet and electromagnetic steel plate, produces 111 hp up from 71. The result is a total output of 194 hp, up from a measly 121, which translates into the 0-60-mph time plummeting from a sluggish 9.8 seconds to 7.2. It goes down even further to an even 7.0 with the returning all-wheel-drive system that is once again the result of adding an extra motor to power the rear wheels (output goes up to 196 hp).<\/p>\n

This is a huge difference that anyone can notice and appreciate, but so too is the new powertrain\u2019s power delivery. The lighter and more powerful lithium-ion battery<\/a> now sends more juice to the motor when starting off, allowing for a longer stint of electric-dominant acceleration before the engine kicks on. That engagement is now smoother, and chief engineer Satoki Oya said he prioritized making sure the transition between electric motor and engine outputs was smoother for a less interrupted acceleration curve. It was immediately obvious upon driving the new and previous Priuses back-to-back that he succeeded. The old model\u2019s<\/a> engine comes on almost immediately with a rather clunky engagement and an unflattering growl. The new one indeed runs on electricity longer before the engine comes on in a more seamless way accompanied by a more pleasing, mechanical note that sounds like an actual engine rather than an old blender.<\/p>\n