2010 TOYOTA PRIUS: Gas-guzzling gearhead goes green

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 04/12/2009 (6125 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

IF you’re looking for a comprehensive review of the all-new 2010 Toyota Prius, I’m definitely not a source to be trusted. 

What I can offer you, however, is how it felt for a gas-guzzling gearhead like me to spend a week driving the most popular hybrid vehicle on the planet, here in Winnipeg.

Confession: I was determined to hate this car and everything that it represents. The cars that race through my dreams are sleek, sexy, powerful and more than a little dangerous. Clearly, Toyota didn’t create the Prius with guys like me in mind.

When I climbed into the Prius for the first time I pulled down my hat and, although it was cloudy, I put on my sunglasses. I was actually worried that someone might see me driving this thing. All those years spent trying to outlive my nerdy Star Wars past and here I was behind the wheel of the motoring equivalent of a pocket protector. The force was definitely not with me.

My grease-stained finger pressed the starter button and, with the exception of a few bells and whistles, nothing happened. Silence. I depressed the brake and flicked the tiny gearshift lever that looks like an Atari joystick and stepped on the gas … or rather, the accelerator. Thanks to its electric motor the Prius quietly floated away. My head was filled with the image of a herd of happy hamsters running on a wheel.

After settling in and getting over myself, I was surprised with how much room there is inside a Prius. Although it has a smallish look about it, it’s actually a mid-sized car. In fact, the wheelbase is only four inches shorter than a Chevrolet Impala. It’s faster than it looks, too, and when the gasoline engine takes over the Prius can reach highway speeds and beyond with little effort.

It’s also quite comfortable and, with the exception of that quirky little gearshift lever, everything was laid out perfectly. The stereo isn’t bad either and, after hooking up my iPod to the accessory jack, I was cruising along without a worry in the world.

Maybe that’s the thing about a Prius. Maybe driving isn’t always about blasting away from a light like being shot out of a cannon. Maybe it’s not about being wrapped in the lap of luxury while the leather seat massages and heats my butt. Maybe it’s not about looking cool when nobody is actually looking.

Maybe, and I’m not committing here just yet, but maybe owning a Prius is all about transportation.

My journey to understand the perquisites of Prius led me to the Walmart on Empress Street, where a flock of Duffy’s Taxi drivers were waiting patiently for their next fares. A row of cabs outside a department store is usually not something that attracts my eye, but every one in the row was a Prius. So I struck up a conversation with a pair of cabbies, Rahim Abdul and Imad Nakhleh.

Abdul has been driving a cab for about a year now, always in a Prius, while Nakleh is a four-year veteran who remembers what it was like to slug it out on the city’s mean streets behind the wheel of a Ford Crown Victoria.

“Everyone I pick up, they always want to talk about the Prius,” Abdul says about his 2005 model. “They want to know how good it is on gas, they ask me how it drives in the winter, and they ask me if it’s a good car.”

Well, is it a good car?

“Depending on the weather and how I drive, I can get between 5.9 and 6.2 litres per 100 kilometres,” he says, now grinning. Yeah, I ask again, but is it a good car? “It’s a very economical car,” Abdul repeats. “Very cheap on gas.”

Just when I was about to ask if he was a politician in a former life, his pal Nakleh piped in and did his best to answer the question.
“The Prius is a pretty good car,” he said with seriousness in his eyes. “Pretty good for a taxi.”

Our good-natured conversation led the guys to outline a few important facts, both good and iffy about the Prius. The good, and this one is obvious, is the amazing fuel economy. The ride is also smooth, the seats are comfortable and the stereo is great.

But, according to Abdul, it takes a Prius a little longer than most cars to warm up in the winter. The solution for him is to simply leave the car running, even at shift change, often for 24 hours a day, seven days a week. That’s not really an option for regular folks.
In the end, both Abdul and Nakleh agreed that the Prius is a good car for people who do most of their driving in the city, and they both offered that their cars were extremely reliable.

Shortly after parting ways with the Prius, I stopped at the Oakbank Esso and filled the gas tank on my rusty but trusty 1994 Chevrolet Cheyenne pickup. I also grabbed a stick of pepperoni and a bottle of Fresca. The total came to $107.34.

Granted, I don’t drive the truck all that much, but this 4×4 beast burns about 20 litres of gas for every 100 kilometres driven. This means that with gas at a buck a litre it sets me back about $20 to drive 100 clicks. In the Prius, (I purposely drove it like I would any other vehicle), that same 100-kilometre journey only cost me $4.30. That means that for every 100 clicks I travel in a Prius I could save more than $15.

With all the talk about the Prius and its amazing fuel economy. it really should have come as no surprise just how efficient this car is. But it’s one of those things that I had to experience myself to fully appreciate.

The sticker price on my tester, a base-model Prius, was $27,500. That seemed like a lot of money initially but,  after a week with the car, the price-tag seemed easier to justify.

Before driving one, I always thought the Prius was a diminutive grocery-getter, more of a novelty than a car. Although I’m still not crazy about its looks, I’m sold on the fact that it’s a bona-fide car that will get you and four friends where you need to be for a whole lot less money than the movers from our gasoline-guzzling past. And better for the environment to boot.

Despite my best efforts, even a gearhead like me can’t argue with those cold, hard facts.

paul.williamson@freepress.mb.ca

THE SPECS
❚ Type: Front-wheel-drive midsize hybrid sedan
❚ Engine: 1.8-litre, variable valve-timing four-cylinder and electric motor
❚ Power: 98 hp @ 5,200 r.p.m. (gas) 80 hp (electric); net horsepower: 134 hp; 105 lb-ft of torque @ 4,000 r.p.m.
❚ Transmission: Continuously variable automatic
❚ Wheelbase: 106.3 inches
❚ Length: 175.6 inches
❚ Width: 68.7 inches
❚ Height: 58.7 inches
❚ Curb weight: 3,042 pounds
❚ Estimated fuel economy: 3.7L/100 km (city); 4.0L/100 km (highway); 3.8L/100 km (combined)
❚ Base price: $27,500
❚ Standard features: Antilock brakes; brake assist; electronic brake-force distribution; electronic stability control; front seat side airbags; curtain airbags; tire pressure monitor; EV, eco and power driving modes; pushbutton start; electric air-conditioning compressor.