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Ken Gratton9 Jul 2009
REVIEW

Toyota Prius: Run to Melbourne

The Carsales Network took Toyota's new Prius out of its urban habitat to dice with death on our intercapital roads

Toyota Prius


Road Test - Sydney to Melbourne


Price Guide (recommended price before statutory and delivery charges): $53,500
Options fitted to test car (not included in above price):
nil
Crash rating: TBA
Fuel: 95 RON ULP
Claimed fuel economy (L/100km): 3.9
CO2 emissions (g/km): 89
Also consider: Honda Civic Hybrid (more here), Hyundai Elantra LPI/Kia Cerato LPI (when they arrive), MINI D (more here)


It's common knowledge that hybrids do their best work in stop-and-start traffic. At a constant speed, diesels are usually as frugal -- and without the weight deficit and drivetrain losses associated with hybrid-drive vehicles.


But not everybody wants or needs to own two cars if just one can be both the commuter car and the tourer.


The introduction of Toyota's third-generation Prius presented an opportunity to see how a state-of-the-art hybrid would cope with freeway travel and whether the hybrid wonder could fill the role of touring car as well as runabout. Finishing Toyota's media launch early, the Carsales Network headed off in a top-spec Prius i-Tech for the drive from Camden, south-west of Sydney, to Melbourne, via Canberra.


This car comes standard with satellite navigation and active cruise control, both features that would ease the hardship of the run. As well, it boasted an MP3-capable audio system -- and the writer brought along a pre-prepared CD with over 130 songs on the one disc. Over the 11 hours of the trip, the same song wasn't played twice!


Toyota had kindly left Minties in the centre console cupholder too, so everything was set.


According to Toyota, the Prius should return an open-road fuel consumption figure of 3.7L/100km, but that would be at a fixed speed of 100km/h and presumably without too much drain on the batteries. For this exercise, the Prius would be consistently running at up to 110km/h on the principal highways linking two state capitals and the national capital. Also, at least half the journey would take place at night, so headlights would drain power -- and the driver wasn't going to leave himself short of some of the comforts of life for the sake of the environment!


In short, the vehicle was going to be tested in the same conditions that most owners would experience driving from city to city. There would be no special care taken to maximise fuel economy.


From the start, the Prius had already run at least a hundred kilometres in the morning, without a fuel refill, so the car began the touring test at a disadvantage. Toyota staff had reset the trip computer for distance and fuel consumption at Camden, but with its 45-litre tank already at least five litres below full, the Prius was never likely to cover the full distance from Camden to Melbourne via Canberra without a pitstop along the way.


Kudos to Toyota for the satellite navigation in the Prius. It's reliable, fast, accurate -- and it gives you instructions by both semantic methods ("Straight on at the roundabout" and "Take the second exit").


Guided by the satnav, the Prius headed for Canberra. 65.2km into the trip, the car's trip computer was registering an average fuel consumption of 5.7L/100km. That seemed pretty high for daylight driving, but the average figure had started at 5.8L/100km from Camden, so it was gradually improving with each 100km.


Using active cruise control was never going to help fuel economy though. As with any conventional cruise control, it won't spool up power from the petrol engine in advance of a hill, but a lazy person's alternative is available... Simply set the cruise control 5km/h faster than the speed limit and slot in behind a car driving precisely at the speed limit -- one driven by a person whose style is to hit the gas on the flat before a hill. The Prius will also pick up speed to maintain station behind the car in front.


You don't have to touch the accelerator and you gain all the benefits from the economical driving style of the driver in front.


Another tip: Falcon wagons are big, bluff objects that also provide some aerodynamic drag benefits for the following Prius -- not that this is an economy run per se... How ironic; a car named from the Latin word that translates as 'to go before', actually trailing a Ford.


Left to its own devices, the active cruise control (or Dynamic Radar Cruise Control, as Toyota describes it), will reduce the speed in a surging progression. It's not linear deceleration, and will be disconcerting for first-time users, but it worked very well until quite low speeds, at which point it sounded an alarm that a vehicle in front was too close and the driver needed to brake manually.


At highway speeds, the low-rolling-resistance tyres fitted to the Prius were noisy and not especially capable in corners or for directional stability.


But the steering in the Prius was much better. Well weighted, the steering certainly provided better feedback than in the previous model, although it showed signs of slackness at the dead-ahead. The Prius also turned in quite well with very slight initial understeer before settling into an attitude closer to neutral. For a car with an aerodynamic coefficient of 0.25Cd, the Prius was buffeted by stronger winds encountered on the run into Canberra -- and that wouldn't help the economy either.


An hour and half into the trip, the seats were given the thumbs up. In fact, they were good enough for the entire journey, as it turned out. They were comfortable and supportive, albeit possibly a little short in the base.


The Grand Prius arrived in Canberra well before sunset, the driver took a few pics and then set course for Yass.


Here's where the satnav let the side down. McDonalds is NOT a place of interest in Yass, according to the nice-sounding lady. Maybe not to her, but that yawning chasm in the stomach held a different view. Fortunately, the Yass Maccas is not what you'd call hard to find. Personal fuel supply replenished, it was time to hit the road again.


So many roadworks on the leg from Yass to Albury. Frequent long stretches of 80km/h zones with nobody working there -- it was past 7pm by this stage. Truckies were occasionally frustrated by the Toyota when they wanted to be running a bit faster, only to be overtaken again on the first hill. Fortunately, by just maintaining a steady average pace, the Prius put distance between itself and the trucks. The Toyota offers adequate power for overtaking.


On the approach to Albury (still 12km to go), the Prius sounded an audible alarm and the last bar on the LED graph for the fuel tank began to blink. Plainly, the car was in need of more fuel, with still 373km to Melbourne remaining.


Average fuel consumption to Albury -- and bear in mind the average started from a high of 5.7L/100km at Camden -- was 4.7L/100km. Over the 586.4km distance from Camden via Canberra, the Prius had averaged a speed of 80km/h. The tank accepted 36.91 litres of premium fuel, which cost $1.35 per litre.


The run to Melbourne was a pretty straight 110km/h drive, with a brief stop in Violet Town at 10pm, when the driver pulled over to conserve some energy of his own.


Back on the road, the Prius completed the final 160km to Melbourne in easy time -- encountering a little fog along the way -- and arrival at the family domicile occurred around 1am. Said family remained undisturbed as the electric-only mode provided the means for the Prius to sneak into the driveway. Any time you arrive home without waking the family is a good time.


It's not altogether a surprise that the journey from Albury to Melbourne saw a higher average fuel consumption figure, according to the trip computer, of 4.9L/100km. Open-road driving alone proved less economical for the hybrid than the driving for the first part of the trip, which included some stop/start and heavy traffic in Sydney. Using the headlights probably contributed to the worse figure for the latter part of the trip.


But in the final wash, a figure below 5.0L/100km for such a run is a strong result -- however you cut it.


Has this journey been one of the road-to-Damascus kind? Well, here's a scenario to consider: If you only need to go to Aunty Flo's place up the country once a year and the Prius is the only car available, it's certainly up to the job. And if Aunty Flo lives at the end of a 100km/h-limited freeway, rather than one limited to 110km/h, you could put decent tyres on the Prius, enjoy steering and handling benefits -- and still conceivably do your sub-5.0L/100km bit for the environment.


The Prius is a car that appeals to a narrower section of the community, but this trip has highlighted one thing above all else: it's a car that deserves respect.


Further reading:
Techno-cred for new Prius
Toyota's hybrid onslaught
Eight-year hybrid battery warranty for Toyota, Lexus
Hybrid innovation drives new Prius
Diesel is dead say detractors
FTHS still on the cards?
Toyota answers hybrid sceptics


Read our launch review of the new Prius

.


As well as the car itself, the pictures here show the Prius in Canberra; a windfarm on the road into Canberra; moon over the Prius and the head-up display in action.


Read the latest Carsales Network news and reviews on your mobile, iPhone or PDA at www.carsales.mobi

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Written byKen Gratton
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