2010 Prius unveiled: Cd 0.25, 50 mpg EPA combined, EV mode

[shovel]

Originally Posted by groar

And here are the Prius III models :

from DSC_0481 on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

The initial concept has no upper grill and some strange hubcaps.

Denis.

Looks to me like they're insulting us by showing us how cool it would have looked before the bean counters junkified it. "SEE THIS COOL THING? WE DESIGNED IT ALL SWEET LOOKING! BUT THEN WE HAD TO MAKE A LOT OF COMPROMISES SO.. UHH... HERE'S WHAT YOU GET."

[MetroMPG]

That's pretty funny

[RobertSmalls]

I wish they would pay more attention to technical realities when designing concept cars. Usually, I just look at concept cars and realize they could never and should never be mass produced, and the concept car is a waste.

You don't really want a Prius with headlight assemblies that extend up to your windshield, do you? And why do they think all concept cars have to have the biggest rims they can fit in the wheelwells, and no bumpers? I wish small steel wheels would become cool again.

If I had to buy one of the four with my own money, it would be Final Design.

[MazdaMatt]

I'm sure much of it has to do with laws. Look at the ground clearance on the first one - probably wouldn't be legal, and if it was, it wouldn't be practical because joe public would be smashing it against parking blocks and curbs. It certainly did Devolve, though.

[basjoos]

That evolution of the Prius series tells me that the 1st aero mod to do would be to close off that upper grill inlet since the initial concept model didn't have it. It looks like it was added to and enlarged on the later versions by auto stylists to make the front look more like a "normal" car. Lowering the headlights away from the base of the windshield was done to increase driver safety when driving in foggy conditions, where you want as much distance/angle between your line of sight and the headlight's visible beam in the fog as possible.

[NeilBlanchard]

Hi,

I got to sit in a 2010 Prius this evening: the center console "buttress" is not a deal-breaker, but it does touch my right knee and forces me to keep my leg in one position. I may drive it at some point, but I also want to see the Scion iQ...

[orange4boy]

The trailing edge of the sides has a fairly crisp edge on the new car.]

I was hoping they would do that. It seems strange to me that it took so long for this to be changed and why so few cars have that nice sharp trailing edge on the sides. You see them on the top trailing edge all the time. I just saw this on a new Dodge Minivan.

I think which ever company comes out with the first good minivan that gets epa 40mpg will murder the auto market.

The 2nd generation Previa (Estima) was sold as a hybrid in Japan. It comes with a 3.5L V6 or a 2.4L 4. Don't know the MPG.

Waning: Video in Japanese with Cheesy guitar soundtrack.

I think this is the 3rd gen:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Qq2xiYYyMM