Supercharger

Toyota Prius

"We realize the selection of a hybrid vehicle is going to stir controversy, but we believe the performance, engineering advancements, and overall significance of the Toyota Prius merits the distinction of Motor Trend's Car of the Year," said Kevin Smith, editor-in-chief of Motor Trend. "The Prius is a capable, comfortable, fun-to-drive car that just happens to get spectacular fuel economy. It also provides a promising look at a future where extreme fuel-efficiency, ultra-low emissions, and exceptional performance will happily coexist. That makes it meaningful to a wide range of car buyers."

After weeks of exhaustive testing, Motor Trend editors found the Toyota Prius to be a user-friendly gas/electric hybrid capable of delivering an impressive 60 miles per gallon in city driving. It is the first of such vehicles to move into the automotive mainstream, with performance, style and quality. Spacious enough to be classified as a midsize sedan, the Prius' futuristic bodywork, innovative Hybrid Synergy Drive, pleasing interior and five-door hatchback design, clearly placed it above the competition.
This year, the editorial staff of Motor Trend conducted testing on 26 new vehicles, from sports cars to minivans, searching for the automobile that best represented exceptional value, superiority in its class, and the most significant development on the new-car scene for 2004. All truly new or substantially revised cars were considered with the condition that they be available for public sale by January 1, 2004.

For the 2004 Car of the Year competition, the following models were included:
Acura TL, Acura TSX, Audi A8 L, BMW 5 Series, BMW Z4,
Cadillac XLR, Chevrolet Malibu, Chevrolet Maxx, Chevrolet Aveo,
Chrysler Crossfire, Ford Freestar, Jaguar XJ8/XJR, Mazda RX-8,
Mitsubishi Galant, Mitsubishi Lancer/Ralliart/Evolution,
Nissan Maxima, Nissan Quest, Pontiac Grand Prix, Pontiac GTO,
Scion xA/xB, Subaru Impreza/WRX/STi, Suzuki Verona,
Toyota Solara, Toyota Prius, Toyota Sienna, and Volkswagen Phaeton.

Supercharger

For those who are concerned with flooding their RX-8s, get a Prius as a second car.

You can't flood the Prius.

Gord96BRG

I'm damn glad those losers didn't pick the RX-8 - aside from probably wanting to charge Mazda too much for the award (if you don't believe the MT CotY can be bought, then explain the 1991 Chev Caprice?), the MT award is often the kiss of death for a car (not to mention making it a laughing stock).

Regards,
Gordon

wakeech

it is a real POS of an award... only unknowing Ford truck buyers think it's a good thing.

in any case, is this year's Prius drivetrain any different from the one they've been producing for years now?? i mean, if not, this is probably the stupidest CotY award they've ever given out (and boy oh boy, have they given out some pretty effin' stupid awards).

grogiefrog

I recall that the 3rd generation RX-7 was MT's car of the year in (I think) 1993.

cueball

And look what happened to it.

6speed8

the MT COTY is a joke - the Chevrolet Vega won it, and I think the Mustang II won it... Two total turds of a car. MT is a useless guage for a car.

GodWhomIsMike

Something eerie about the Prius being CotY, I been hearing rumors circulating that all these awsome performance cars that are all coming out is gonna stop in a few years because of a lot of talking about much heavier and stricter emmisions and mpg requirements. Scary thing is crap like that happened before in the automotive world, after the muscle cars died it was **** bangers with no performance for several years. Just think if in a few years the Prius will be considered one of the only "performance cars" because of heavier government restrictions and requirements and that nothing like we are seeing today will be getting made. Happened before.. and history does have a way of repeating. Just a thought.

oh btw how the hell do you see over the dashboard in that, it seems like in that pic the dash is really really high. and what a disappointment to see that car being named CotY. Such a same. Technology is kinda cool, to bad it is wrapped in such a god damn ulgy package. Well to each their own.

wakeech

the 2nd gen won it in 1986, but i'm not sure about the 1st gen... that won something, probably... my RX-7 trivia bank is getting a little rusty.

the thing is though, that there aren't many things the 1993 FD RX-7 didn't win... the last few years there have been considerable deviations between major publications as there aren't any really great stand out cars being produced.

Tamas

iTrader: (1)

No, the MT CotY in 1993 was the Ford Probe GT.
Dunno how much did that help or not - fact is, the Probe is dead since 1997.
I still have a '94 PGT - it was a great car back in 1993 and it still works just fine, with 127K miles.

wakeech

oh, then it was Import CotY, eh Mr. Know-It-All??

Tamas

iTrader: (1)

wakeech

i can have fun driving in the Echo, it's like a go-kart you'd race at a family fun centre or something like that: not a lot of power, light, and handling full of "character"... but snowy parking lots don't care about all that

but no, i didn't buy it, so don't flip your lid my parents are just nice enough to lemme use it when i want.

FamilyGuy

The new Prius drivetrain is phenomenally improved. The previous version was rated for gas mileage around 50 city/46 highway and had about a 12.5 second 0-60 mph. This generation has more interior space, a bigger trunk, gas mileage rating 60 city/50 highway and a 10.5 second 0-60 mph (which is mid-pack for most compact cars). The price has not changed.

The first generation Prius was a novelty. This one is actually a practical car.

Toadman

Well hurry up and get one, people!!!

Yeah, I thought so... :D

FamilyGuy

Hey, it's an extremely practical car, and there's nothing wrong with that.

It just happens that we're on "RX8forum", which is not primarily a website for practical car shoppers.



What Toyota should really do is add a hybrid system into a car without powering down the existing drivetrain, like the Honda DualNote concept car. If they dropped the Prius' electrical system into the Camry Solara V6, they'd probably get a V6 vehicle with a 6 second 0-60 mph and gas mileage in the high 20s mpg range. Too bad it would still be a FWD car.

Speed-ER doc

The Prius was tested at 9.8 sec to 60, gets 60 MPG in the city, and if you don't go above 40, the gas engine does not come on at all!

It never has to be plugged in, it uses the gas engine to charge the battery at highway speeds and also recaptures energy from braking. Electric components have an 8 year warranty. And there is a one time federal income tax credit - anyone know details about this?

What an ideal car to add to the stable next to the RX-8. I see it used for the short grocery store trip (too far to walk, too close to warm up the RX, and who wants shopping cart dings in your RX anyway?) Could also be used if you anticipate stop and go freeway traffic instead of rowing the gears at 5 to 10 MPH. And it would improve my fleet average gas mileage considerably. Its range is like 700 miles!

Like it or not, this technology is here to stay, and most cars will have some form of electric power in them in a few years.

All this for $20 K? I want one.

zoom44

so if you don't go above 40 the batteries never get charged? :p

Speed-ER doc

I don't know how it all works, but it sure sounds cool. I did read the article.

Rx-Appreci-8

Right on Family Guy!

Toyota deserves their "props" and I'm glad MT singled them out. This technology represents the future. Hybrids used to be goofy but the Prius is groundbreaking technology (IMHO) and is fairly refined too. I drove a Prius for about two weeks in 2002. You just have to drive one to become a true believer. It wasn't a wimpy car at all.

Although I loved the technology - I still don't care for the look, even on the new one! I hope Toyota keeps advancing the hybrid technology until they can offer it as AN OPTION in more of their fleet (Camry?, Corolla?, Sienna?).

Besides, the RX-8 hasn't exactly been neglected in the awards department. :D

FamilyGuy

Yup. I just received the latest Automobile Magazine, and the RX8 was a close competitor for their 2003 car of the year (they give the award by calendar year, not model year). It lost out to the Evolution by a narrow margin.

Keshav

Anyone notice the 295 ft/lbs of torque from the electric engine? Mark my words; it is only a matter of time before they start producing a very fast, very desirable hybrid vehicle. The prius may be pretty dorky, but it is the tip of the iceberg of a potential revolution.

I have seen the future and it is smooth, quiet and loaded with torque.

FamilyGuy

I thought the first generation was dorky. I think the current hatchback looks fantastic. Not RX8 fantastic, but close.

wakeech

yeah, first genereation sucks appearance-wise.

the hatchback (which has been international for a couple years now, just new to NA 'cause we apparently don't take well to hatchbacks?? or is it a rear-crash safety thing??) does look a whole lot better, but i think you don't get as much rear passenger utility (i can sit in either back seat even if i set the front ones for me, and i'm 6'3" 220), but probably a whole lot more trunk space.