2010 Toyota Prius - Review

By Jennifer Knightstep

Jennifer Knightstep

Author BIO

I was born in Detroit but raised in California, which explains my love of cars in general, but my fascination with and excitement about electric... More

LATEST ARTICLE
Purdue Presents the evGrandPrix
Is there any better way to encourage innovation than a contest? Offer a prize for inventing or... Read More

• N/ALEADERBOARD RANK
• 127ARTICLES CONTRIBUTED
• 0COMMENTS POSTED

Pre-Production 2010 Toyota Prius in Orlando

There, tucked in a corner of the basement at Cobo Arena in Detroit, sat the third-generation Toyota Prius, right next to the Honda Insight. Ironic? Perhaps. But even under the glare of unflattering fluorescent lights, the Prius just looked cool...the same iconic Prius profile, just tweaked a little.

As we approached, Curt, our "co-pilot" handed us some press materials on a bamboo flash drive and let us climb in. He seemed just as excited as we were. I slid into the passenger seat and immediately noticed the increased head room. Not that the second generation Prius was cramped, but this was downright spacious. "We pushed back the A-pillar and center apex, so we were able to keep the familiar Prius shape, but with more headroom," Curt confirmed.

The console and instrument cluster have been improved too, and moved more towards the center. This proved to be very convenient; rather than straining to look for a readout above the steering wheel, your eye was simply drawn to the IP cluster in its new position.

Most of the materials on the interior were nice, but nothing was plush; a few of the surfaces felt and looked a little chintzy, but everything was very well put-together and attractive. The seating was comfortable and the steering wheel seemed designed specifically for my own hands.

We navigated out of the basement and onto the road in front of the Renaissance Center (the General Motors world headquarters, more irony?) and the Prius handled nicely at very low idling speeds. Quiet. Not a lot of pep, though. After about a mile, we pulled over so I could drive...and couldn't figure out how to put our Prius into "park." Drive? Reverse? Up? Down? We could SEE "park" but couldn't figure out how to get there. After a  few minutes, Curt located the button for "park" (ah-ha! not on the shifter at all!) and we were on our way again.