Toyota Prius: Day One

The first thing that strikes you when you step into the vehicle is how much the interior looks like a standard car, but also how different it is. There is no metal key for ignition, and there is no emergency parking brake. The metal key has been replaced by a digital key contained in a plastic box. Insert the box into the slot, wait for the car computer to boot up and press "Start". It starts quietly without the usual noise of a petrol car. You can now shift into drive. The gear shift lever is this sideways T with the shift mounted on the dashboard. The speedometer and related instrumentation are moved forward, so rather than looking down at your speed, it's constantly in front of you.

The center console contains a touch screen LCD which displays what your car is doing -- whether it's using gasoline or electricity, and what your estimated miles per gallon is on the car. Driving in some ways has turned into a game with the Prius -- how can I get the highest MPG? The trick it seems is to use the technique of coasting. Doing city driving, I was averaging about 54-55 miles per gallon. I wasn't long enough on the highways to really explore the fuel efficiency of the Prius, but I'll get that chance when I drive home tonight.

Driving the Prius seems to automatically confer the status of safe, environmentally-concious driver.
When I pulled into my office, my co-workers were shocked. Where was Mike's Celica? Ironically the co-workers who pulled up to work at the same time were driving a gas-guzzling SUV - the Dodge Durango. One of the guys told me: "If you had traded in your Celica for this piece of [expletive deleted] I would have beat you up!" It seems for the SUV driver, instead of having hatred for SUVs, they hate hybrids...

Driving quality wise, the car is a full size sedan. It drives like one, but lacks the torque on the front end, which makes starting from a stop a slower process than I'm used to. In braking, stopping the Prius seems to be more sudden than I'd expect it to be, but I think part of that may have to do with all the weight momentum shifting to the front while braking. It is not an exciting car to drive, but it can get you from point A to point B in comfort and with a substantial savings in gasoline. It is at it's very core, a very practical car.