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Boost it!

Bigger and more powerful Prius in the works

rybo submitted on 7/4/2008 Official Bell & Ross Timestamp: 11:03:05 AM

47 user comments | Category: Misc News | Source: | SOURCE: www.motorauthority.com

Toyota’s third-generation petrol electric Prius hybrid is expected to make its world debut at the Detroit Auto Show in January next year but the car’s official launch isn’t expected to be until April of that same year.



The information comes from a source from the carmaker’s South Korean division, which revealed the new Prius will be simultaneously launched in Japan and the U.S. in April next year.

The changes planned for the new model will be minimal, and will consist of a slightly larger body, a more spacious interior and a more upmarket feel.

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rybo

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User Comments

DieselRules

That concept (in the rendering) will never make it to market.
The image in this article is more likely:
http://www.egmcartech.com/2008/07/03/2010-toyota-prius-to-get-bigger-more-power-and-better-fuel-economy/
It also showcases Toyota's cost-cutting: glass is cheap, but steel is cheaper (especially really thin steel) so the windows are tinier than the slits in an armored van!
(its those same slit-windows that give the RX-350 models their bizarre, ungainly proportions)

— DieselRules (View Profile)

Posted on 7/5/2008 12:45:43 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1   

t_bone

Interesting. I HATE the trend of slitlike windows.

— t_bone (View Profile)

Posted on 7/5/2008 9:56:21 PM | | Votes: 1   

EnnNorak

kthor, getting leukemia from driving does not appeal to me either. What the bigger Prius needs is to toss out the engine and battery pack in favor of a nice H4 diesel.

— EnnNorak (View Profile)

Posted on 7/11/2008 7:29:01 PM | | Votes: 1   

DieselRules

So, with better economy, it will it come closer to VW's older TDI models, just as VW releases the new, bigger, much more powerful TDI Jetta (that also gets a "real-world" 60 MPG Hwy ... on a US gallon)
I loved passing all those SUVs and Prius's on I-5 in my '98 Beetle TDI, but I just sold it to my son.
We're ordering a new Jetta TDI Wagon (hi-line) with DSG 6-speed, which will blow the doors off any hybrid ever built.
And I'm commuting on a Yamaha Majesty (the A6 2.7t is up for sale)

— DieselRules (View Profile)

Posted on 7/5/2008 12:49:43 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 3   

truckmen

Dieselrules did make a good point that his tdi beetle is better on fuel than the pathetic prius! Although I love the looks of this concept, it is just a facelift with a few mpg better on gas. PML blows this new prius away!

— truckmen (View Profile)

Posted on 7/5/2008 4:05:22 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: -3   

lenkun

I completely agree that Hybrid is a much better alternative than diesel. Diesel's fundamental principals contracdicts all it's mission. It's more expensive to buy than a regular unleaded fuel. It's dirty, noisey, runs rough, and above all, slow in performance will only getting about 80% of what a hybrid of similar size could do. It doesn't have as much torque than hybrid since hybrid gets their torque at zero RPM and also very expensive to insure and maintain, not to mention to purchase in the beginning.

— lenkun (View Profile)

Posted on 7/5/2008 11:39:53 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1   

Threepoint1415926

"dirty, noisey, runs rough, and above all, slow in performance"

That is simply not true. Modern diesels are quiet, clean, they run smooth and are very good in performance.

— Threepoint1415926 (View Profile)

Posted on 7/5/2008 1:14:17 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 2   

chewy

electric development didn't stop. there was no point as the old batteries really sucked.

Why compare a Tesla and a Beetle TDI. The Tesla is a tin can, put the same engine into a real car, or the same Beetle and you would lose quite a bit of performance and economy.

An electric engine is more efficient than a gasoline powered engine, or even a diesel, no point in debating that. But, the turbine that created the electricity is not that far ahead of the piston engine.

— chewy (View Profile)

Posted on 7/5/2008 7:58:32 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1   

Agent63

Boring & disgusting; typical Toyota(Lexus) designs. What's truly exciting about their looks? NOTHING!. I think my LS is the most boring to look at. A big car with a pricier tag should look more elegant than it does. However on the plus side it rides perfect over the bumps. Perfect for an old man(that i'm not).

Toyota needs to make this Prius look hip and cool in order to convince the younger consumers that a Prius is the next Civic to buy.

— Agent63 (View Profile)

Posted on 7/5/2008 2:21:44 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1   

Agent63

So it looks more hip and cool than a conservative A6 TDI or a Jetta TDI?.. You said ANY.

— Agent63 (View Profile)

Posted on 7/5/2008 4:22:03 AM | | Votes: 3   

Agent63

LOL !

No Toyota will be up there with the Gullwing. It will never cost as much as one too. You are seriously a troll even though you say you're not.

Don't even talk about Audi's designs. Have you seen my car? it's one of the most boring cars on the road despite my love for it haha!. It's not hip and cool and definitely won't get you any ladies (or in your case GUYS [go read the BMW PUTS LEXUS & MERCEDES ON NOTICE THREAD..He exposed his gender preference]).

— Agent63 (View Profile)

Posted on 7/5/2008 9:18:46 AM | | Votes: 1   

Threepoint1415926

Though I'll agree with some of what you say Agent, give it up with the sexual preference thing. This is a modern world. Do you really care? Does anyone else?

— Threepoint1415926 (View Profile)

Posted on 7/5/2008 1:16:59 PM | | Votes: 2   

0to60

Agent63 - " I think my LS is the most boring to look at" ...

Then why the H*!% did you buy it!?!

— 0to60 (View Profile)

Posted on 7/5/2008 2:02:24 PM | | Votes: 3   

Agent63

I bought the LS because of the customer service. It's boring but it's not a bad car. It's just not as good as some of the fanboys say it is. I speak from experience and everyday use of the darn thing.

— Agent63 (View Profile)

Posted on 7/5/2008 7:13:55 PM | | Votes: 1   

Hyundai

"Though I'll agree with some of what you say Agent, give it up with the sexual preference thing. This is a modern world."

And why in the ironic world would you give a shit what he thinks about another person's sexual preference? What are you, the thought police? Does everybody have to condone sexual deviancy???

— Hyundai (View Profile)

Posted on 7/5/2008 11:24:28 PM | | Votes: -1   

Threepoint1415926

And why in the ironic world would you give a shit what he thinks about another person's sexual preference? What are you, the thought police?

If I was of a policing nature, I would comment on your faulty inference of the world "ironic" to describe the situation. Opps, I just did! Damn me! Further, I dont care what he says I'm merely commenting on the fact that no one here (modern people I assume) cares what he has to say on the matter, in large part because this is a car forum, and given this is the third thread he's brought it up, it would be nice for the space to not have been wasted much like your comment and my rebuttal have now done. If you or him would like to discuss what your thoughts are on the matter, I invite you to a thread concerning philosophy and ethics. Otherwise, in the great words of myself "give it up." I dont care about his thoughts or yours. I just dont care to read them over and over and over again.

— Threepoint1415926 (View Profile)

Posted on 7/6/2008 7:19:11 PM | | Votes: 0   

flozel1

So this agent bought an LS, spent his own coin to purchase a car that he does not think is good enough.

Sound kinda' ridiculous doesn't it. But, whatever dude... But when you said you're young, that really confused me. Young people actually do a lot of research before they buy a vehicle. They tend not to rely on past accomplishments by automakers so much as the boomer generation.

— flozel1 (View Profile)

Posted on 7/6/2008 10:02:57 PM | | Votes: 1   

Hyundai

"If I was of a policing nature, I would comment on your faulty inference of the world "ironic" to describe the situation. Opps, I just did!"

HOW IRONIC?! Maybe you should brush up on your English?

— Hyundai (View Profile)

Posted on 7/7/2008 9:33:36 PM | | Votes: 0   

Threepoint1415926

Again, you still dont know what "irony" means. Perhaps you should go brush up on yours?

— Threepoint1415926 (View Profile)

Posted on 7/9/2008 7:20:21 PM | | Votes: 0   

truckmen

Looks great, although it is the same ineficient car that it always was. My relative rented one for a road trip and he said that it was almost always in gas mode! The electric motor was too weak to back up a driveway so the gas motor had to start up to back up. He was very unimpressed.Why is toyota wasting there time producing nickel-metal hydride batteries when there are already batteries better than Lithium Ion? The new batteries have 5 times more range than lithium Ion and they are still stuck on old technology from ten years ago! PML is 20 years ahead of this inferior car!

— truckmen (View Profile)

Posted on 7/5/2008 4:17:25 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 0   

mpls

Toyota are also working on Lithium Polymer batteries, I think you'll find it was GM who was still working on researching NMH.

BTW, 5th Gear did a test on the Bluemotion of VW, the claimed 70+ was no reachable.. they said they could only get around 50mpg

— mpls (View Profile)

Posted on 7/5/2008 4:45:31 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 5   

tcatnat

Diesel in my area is getting very expensive. I just bought a new car and wanted a diesel but for every penny jump in the price of regular gas, diesel goes up 2-3 pennies at least.

Why make the Prius larger? Is it marginally larger or significantly larger. I thin it fills a good niche. I have never been in a Prius, is it the same size a s a Carolla, why not make a Carolla hybrid.

Will next years Prius have the lithium battery or will it still be based on it's current technology?

— tcatnat (View Profile)

Posted on 7/5/2008 7:25:00 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 4   

Threepoint1415926

That's kinda what I thought.

— Threepoint1415926 (View Profile)

Posted on 7/5/2008 1:22:37 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1   

0to60

Either way, the "enthusiast" will complain!

— 0to60 (View Profile)

Posted on 7/5/2008 2:04:28 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1   

truckmen

The sailer, how about 640BHP and still more economical than the Prius! The company is PML, about twenty years ahead of Toyota. Check out the article on PML, It is an eye opener.

— truckmen (View Profile)

Posted on 7/6/2008 4:17:44 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 0   

StickShiftCamry

Agent63 - The LS leaves room for upgrading - it doesn't have polarizing looks - put some 22's on urs and a lowering kit. It does have nice exhaust openings. We get tired of seeing blk S550s here.

— StickShiftCamry (View Profile)

Posted on 7/5/2008 6:35:14 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1   

investor27

No. The lithium battery probably won't come until 2011 or 2012. Next year's Prius will still use the same, old, dated battery technology that's over a decade old.

Now I love diesel cars as much as the next guy. I had been a strong advocate of bringing diesel over to the US. But it seems the gas companies feel threatened by diesel fuel, and have raised diesel fuel prices to uninhibited, costly levels. At the current diesel gas prices, it doesn't make sense owning a diesel car anymore. Congress has to do something about this crime.

— investor27 (View Profile)

Posted on 7/5/2008 7:22:20 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 2   

tcatnat

That's a shame because I keep reading about new technologies coming to market within the next 3-6 years that will greatly improve fuel economy, including new batteries, plug-ins, the kinetic flywheel, hydrogen (maybe longer term) etc. Diesel would have been a nice stop gap until we get there. There is too much money in oil that is hindering our progress in transportation technology.

— tcatnat (View Profile)

Posted on 7/6/2008 7:26:00 AM | | Votes: 2   

StickShiftCamry

Toyota has too much sh** up their sleeves - all they have to do is put AWD w/hybrid V6 in the ES...which i've heard things about. That thing will be fast and still cheaper than an A6.

— StickShiftCamry (View Profile)

Posted on 7/5/2008 10:14:05 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1   

bmwdrvr

midsize front wheel drive alleged luxury car based on a cheaper model...it sounds like the A6 to me since when did Audi step out of tier 3...honestly Lexus here in America is a more prestigious company....by a long shot than Audi

— bmwdrvr (View Profile)

Posted on 7/6/2008 4:48:33 PM | | Votes: 1   

huu76

Sailor,
The GS450h is pretty fast, what makes you think a retuned I4 ES-hybrid wouldn't be?
The Germans are dreading the day an ESh sees the light of day, bigger vehicle and better mileage than their economy cars.
What doesn't make sense is why anyone would buy a TDI when a Prius gets better performance for the same price and on cheaper fuel, and is cleaner than any German vehicle ever will be.

Anyway, anyone want to take a wager on when the Germans embrace hybrids and claim to be the industry leaders and that diesels were never the way to go?

— huu76 (View Profile)

Posted on 7/6/2008 4:47:04 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1   

huu76

Regarding the Prius being hip and/or cool. No matter if you love or hate it, it stands out because of what it is, and by that nature is hip and cool.

Even the Beetle lost its edge to the Mini, and the Mini love affair has subsided.

Name how many movies the Germans had to buy airtime in inorder to tell people their cars are hip and cool. Toyota does absolutely nothing to advertise the Prius.

Trying to be cool isn't cool boys and girls.

— huu76 (View Profile)

Posted on 7/6/2008 4:50:54 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1   

ChicaneShooter


for all the prius bashing, buyers still have to get ON A WAITING LIST to get one.

people will likely STILL have to wait, when the new one comes out.

how many people are on waiting lists to buy a diesel car?

— ChicaneShooter (View Profile)

Posted on 7/9/2008 2:26:22 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1   

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