The Prius isn’t the same as it used to be, and that’s a good thing. With the new 2023 Toyota Prius, the company that popularized the hybrid car has given its famous nameplate a new look. This comes nearly 20 years after a previous-generation Prius won our Car of the Year award. Since then, Toyota has made hybrid versions of almost every make and model it sells. This has made the Prius less important over time. But the Prius is back in the spotlight, thanks in large part to its new look and much more power than you’d expect from a car that gets 50 mpg. And, for the most part, it deserves to be the new star.
Few $30K cars look this good
Go ahead and look at the pictures of this (relatively cheap) thing for a minute. Ever since we first saw the 2023 Toyota Prius, we’ve been drooling over it. Its new front-to-back design is much cleaner and more striking, and it looks just as good in person as it does in photos. Even as its drag coefficient has gotten worse, the result is a design that customers old and new alike can want, even though it’s a hybrid.
Although it looks much better, the way the new Prius drives may be just as important, if not more important, and Toyota has done a good job there, too. Power levels have gone from “Why is everyone in such a rush?” to “Passing that truck ain’t a problem,” and anyone who’s driven a previous-generation model will know the difference. Toyota pretty much nailed it when it comes to balancing power and efficiency. Front-wheel-drive models have a total system horsepower of 194 and all-wheel-drive models have a total system horsepower of 196. On the highway, the new Prius has enough speed to please just about everyone except those who want an all-around feeling of instant torque from the electric car.
It has more power thanks to a new, more powerful 2.0-liter inline-four engine and a front engine that’s also more powerful. The rear engine on all-wheel-drive 2023 Prius models is also (hopefully) more powerful. FWD and AWD models now come with a lithium-ion battery pack, and combined city/highway driving range is between 554 and 644 miles. This means you’ll spend more time driving and less time stopping for gas.
Toyota says the 2023 Prius can go from 0 to 60 mph in 7.0 to 7.2 seconds and still get over 50 mpg. No, its yet-to-be-certified EPA mpg numbers won’t be much different from the 2022 model. Toyota says FWD models of the 2023 Prius will get 52-57/52-56 mpg city and highway, while AWD models will get 49-53/50-54 mpg. Even so, those numbers are still better than just about every other new-engined car.
During our time with the new car, we spoke with the Prius’ chief engineer, Satoki Oya. He told us Toyota customers and dealers were already happy with the mpg numbers the Prius got, but were tired of what they thought was its boring design. Problem solved.
Design-worthy performance
Oya also talked about how difficult it was to make the performance of the 2023 Toyota Prius hybrid match its design. Performance can mean different things to different people, but Oya and his team have mostly created a car that is more responsive, more fun to drive, and handles better than before.
We were able to drive the new Prius right after a 2022 model. In addition to having more power, the accelerator pedal gives less feedback, and the brakes feel much better. This can be a real problem for hybrids, like the Prius we tested a while back, and the top half of the new car’s pedal travel does too much of anything. But overall, the 2023 Prius brakes better, with braking that feels almost completely natural (like a non-hybrid car) when you stop.
Its continuously variable transmission is a star for how smooth it is, and it’s also more responsive if you need to pass quickly. When we drove the 2023 Corolla Hybrid, we could hear the engine and tires. We’ll have to spend more time with the 2023 Prius before we can say for sure, but the new car’s engine is quieter than a typical compact sedan or your neighbor’s non-hybrid RAV4.
We can’t wait to put the 2023 Prius through a full series of MotorTrend instrumented tests, but for now we can tell you that it drives well for a regular car. The steering doesn’t have much feel, but it’s light enough. The biggest dynamic issue we encountered was unique to the Prius AWD. When the car was in normal driving mode, it would sometimes allow us to use the engine brake more than we wanted. It’s possible that this was only true for these early prototypes, but even if it isn’t, it’s not a big deal.
Prius 2023: a traveling star? Yes and no
As long as you’re not as tall as its author (around 6’4″), the 2023 Prius should be a good way to get to and from work each day. The smooth transmission and quicker acceleration of the 2023 Prius make up for the acceptable ride quality of the standard 19-inch wheels on XLE and Limited models. It can be used for travel because it has a long drive range and a 12.3-inch touchscreen.
The 2023 Prius has a sleeker look, but this comes at a cost in many objective ways. There’s less headroom in the front and rear, and the XLE and Limited only have 20.3, while the LE has 23.8 cubic feet. feet (outgoing car could swallow 27.4 cubic feet of stuff). But there’s no question which we’d rather drive, even though the 2023 model’s hidden rear door handles are awkward and inconvenient. Oh, and who else was hurt by the way it was done? Back view. It wasn’t great on the latest Prius, and it won’t be great on the Prius plus in 2023.
Put Prius back on your list
Though no longer a carpool lane darling, the 2023 Prius is a much better car that deserves a lot of thought. No, its rear seat and visibility aren’t as good as the latest model, but it’s easier to drive and just as good at getting you where you need to go. Plus, it has a power liftgate, which you won’t find on any hybrid Corolla or Camry, no matter how much you pay. We don’t know if buyers will like how it rebalances form and function, but based on what we’ve seen so far, they should take a close look at the latest iteration of Toyota’s longtime hybrid star.
| 2023 Toyota Prius Specs | |
| BASE PRICE RANGE | $28,545-$36,960 |
| PROVISION | Front engine, FWD/AWD, 5-passenger, 4-door hatchback |
| ENGINES | 150-hp/139-lb-ft 2.0L Atkinson-cycle DOHC 16-valve I-4, plus 152-lb-ft electric front motor; 194 hp comb; 150-hp/139-lb-ft 2.0L Atkinson-cycle DOHC 16-valve I-4, plus 214-lb-ft front and rear electric motors; 196 hp comb |
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Categories: Technology
Source: vtt.edu.vn