2016 Prius smoke-test

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by California98Civic

I like the aft angles and trim most. Side view is great.

I find the front end good looking, but the side view especially looks (out)dated with the creasing in the door and aft area. The Gen III has a continuous crease that draws a single line and makes it look sleeker and more aerodynamic. The rear end is just too radical for my taste and I don't think the look will hold up well with time. By contrast the Tesla is a sharp looking vehicle with a design that should hold up well with time. Perhaps economy vehicles are not meant to look timeless?

[freebeard]

...the side view especially looks (out)dated...

I see it just the opposite. The thing I liked best about the earlier body was the loft line. It has regressed to the mean.

[cyclopathic]

Originally Posted by California98Civic

I prefer the new one, actually. Looks to me as if they optimized changes meant to make it more marketable to people who want an "aggressive" look. The result is pretty interesting. I like the aft angles and trim most. Side view is great.

Big complain on Gen3 was the dashboard solar gain and limited visibility due to high hood and forward A-pilars. Lower hood is to address these issues.

[cyclopathic]

Originally Posted by ksa8907

Im glad you brought up the word aggressive. Toyota marketing is a laughing point for me. I always hear their commercials on the radio going to work in the morning and they,"Jan", always point out that theor line has aggressive front grilles. Aggressive look... thats cute.

I think they are going through identify crisis, sort of what GM had gone when they designed Aztek.

[cyclopathic]

Originally Posted by redpoint5

. By contrast the Tesla is a sharp looking vehicle with a design that should hold up well with time. Perhaps economy vehicles are not meant to look timeless?

How about Hyundai, Mazda, Fiat and VW products? Later Ford and GM products look pretty decent.

[aerohead]

Smoke's too far from body to tell anything about potential separation.('doubt there's any)
They've lowered it and stretched it,which is exactly what Hucho has been advocating since the 1980s.
It 'looks' like a Prius.Won't scare off any satisfied owners thinking about a trade- in .
Maybe their next-gen engine will provide the performance increase that the new body won't.
Slow,incremental change.No grand gestures.Conservative business practice.

[aerohead]

I GOOGLED: 2016 Toyota Prius coefficient of aerodynamic drag.
Wikipedia is showing the new car in their drag table,assigning Cd 0.24 to it.

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by Old Tele man

That ( 0.24 ) is what Toyota published, but by *WHO'S* standards (JAE or SAE)?

All automotive wind tunnels use the same ISO calibration model and strive for the best accuracy,and they're publishing crosswind averaged Cds,with yaw up to around 8-degrees,but there remains a tunnel-to-tunnel discrepancy.Some tunnels are very close in their results.Hucho addresses this in his book.
We know from DARKO that the Cd 0.25 Prius scores Cd 0.285.
The 2016 might show Cd 0.273 if measured there.Don't know.
We do know that the Prius has come down from 0.29,to 0.24 over it's evolution,by Toyota metrics.By 2025 we should see very low Cds,snuck in each 4-year styling cycle in between.

[aerohead]

I just saw this.Flow looks pretty.Upper flow is trying to strip the paint off.A good sign.
http://d1r57ja1amoclf.cloudfront.net...8749183172.jpg

[BamZipPow]

Originally Posted by aerohead

I just saw this.Flow looks pretty.Upper flow is trying to strip the paint off.A good sign.