2010 Prius driving review-preview

The morning fog lifts revealing the mountains that surround the Napa valley.

Last week I had the chance to drive the new third generation 2010 Prius.

And while I am thinking about it, let’s call it the 3G2K10P from now on. Ok, that’s a really bad idea.

So Toyota was kind enough to allow me and lots of people much more important than me a chance to drive the new Prius. I’m working on that article and it will be posted here, on the POG, on March 25th. So check back then.

All of which is to say, if this small recap from last week seems incomplete, it is, intentionally so but the rest is coming. I promise.

Before the drive we had the opportunity to hear some information about the new third generation Prius from three people who know a lot about it.

Sitting at the left is Bob Carter. Mr. Carter is Group Vice-President and General Manager of Toyota Division at Toyota Motor Sales (TMS), U.S.A. Seated in the center is the man known simply as “The Chief”. Of course, he is the man behind this new generation of Prius. He is Akihiko Otsuko, Chief Engineer of the Prius. Seated on the right is Chris Risdon. Mr. Risdon teaches at Toyota University and knows way more about technical details than I could absorb in one sitting.

During this lecture and conference I learned the following;

Toyota has intentionally designed and engineered this third generation vehicle to be a “mainstream car”. It’s still a hybrid, of course, but the idea is that it can compete on any level with any other vehicle in that class.

“The Chief” giving us some of the engineering background of the new Prius.

2,000 engineers worked on the 3G Prius under 100 team leaders all coordinated by The Chief who did an average of ten meetings per day to monitor the progress. That is some serious dedication to making something new and exciting.

Here is an example of saving weight and improving power to weight. On the left is part of the old HSD system, on the right, the new one. Smaller, lighter and more efficient. These components contributed to saving 65 pounds in the new HSD system versus the previous version.

The Hybrid Synergy Drive system in the 2010 Prius is 90% new. In other words, only 10% of the old design remains, the rest is new and different. The HSD system itself is 20% lighter than the previous generation and keep in mind, Toyota has upped the size of the ICE in the new Prius to a 1.8 liter motor. The power plant of the new Prius is completely beltless. No friction drag on the ICE means using less gasoline and for the car owner it means one less thing to worry about wearing out. The new HSD system has eliminated the chain, one less thing to put wear on and one more efficiency boost.

Oh, and that 10% that’s the same in the HSD?

It’s batteries. Yes, the new generation has the same batteries as the old one. Why change something that works as reliably as the current battery packs? They’ve proven they’re bulletproof in the face of a storm of mainstream media speculation to the contrary.

The old “thermos” bottle is gone. Now there is an exhaust recirculation system which not only warms the ICE up faster but will help heat the interior space of the Prius more quickly (something those of us in the north appreciate).

The new 11.9 gallon fuel tank, yes, I said tank. The new generation of Prius has eliminated the fuel bladder and is using a tank with a new recovery system for gases.

All of this took four and half years to accomplish.

When you look at images of the new Prius be sure to note the leading and trailing edges. Those sharp angles aren’t just design flourishes, they’re crafted that way intentionally to help reduce drag. To further the point, the current generation Prius has one of the lowest drag co-efficient of any production vehicle at .26. This new Prius, .25.

Toyota has added LED brake lights which are brighter, react faster and use 88% less energy than convention bulbs (and they last longer).

So, to recap what you’ve just read, the whole idea here is to reduce energy and the need for energy. Lighter, more responsive, faster all with less energy.

Toyota has added what they call underbody splitter devices. Think of the tail on an airplane except smaller. These splitters help direct airflow under the car.

On a somewhat trivial note but it’s one of the little touches that I love about this car, there is now a place to stow the rear tonneau cover under the floor of the rear compartment.

The seats in the new Prius are designed to be more comfortable. Toyota has included a height adjustment now and more front to rear adjustment ability which, in addition to the headroom increase, should make the Prius less of a trial for those of you over six foot tall.

As I mentioned a few weeks ago during the rollout, this new Prius has three, well, four driving modes. A standard mode which is the default. This car also has an EV mode which will allow the driver about a mile of pure EV range as long as the vehicle is driven very conservatively and the battery has at least four bars or more S.O.C. The new car has an “Eco” mode which adjusts the throttle and AC to offer better fuel efficiency. And much to the joy of many potential Prius owners the car now has a “Power” mode which enhances the performance of the vehicle. These new controls make it easier to get what you want from the Prius rather than completely dictate the driving experience to you.

The third generation Prius’s interior is enhanced by a “Plasmacluster” which ionizes the interior air while you drive as well as a selectable pollen and dust filter for the circulation system making the interior of the new Prius even more pleasant and relaxing than before.

Along those lines the 3G’s equipped with the rooftop solar panels will, when selected, allow exterior air to circulate through the vehicle reducing the inside temperature during the hot season. For those of you living in the sun belt this is a very cool option. As well, there is now a option which allows you to, through the SmartKey, engage the AC and actually cool the interior completely before getting inside.

Toyota has added a host of new electronic features. I’ll discuss these in more depth when I post the driving review later this month.

Suffice to say, this new Prius is new.

And, as announced formally today, the new Prius has obtained an EPA certified rating of 50 MPG combined. That’s 50 MPG city and 49 MPG highway. I’ll have more to say on that later this month as well.

Toyota announced they will be bringing 150 plug-in Prius test vehicles to be used at universities and for city governments later this year. By 2012 Toyota will add ten new hybrids to their global line and we’ll see a Toyota BEV, and I quote Mr. Carter here, “on the road” in 2012.

Huge news. Great news. Toyota continues to look forward.

Impressions from Detroit

Ok, as I said, I wanted to relate to you as many of my direct thoughts as possible. So here they are, stream of consciousness style, in no particular order. If some of the things seem contradictory then mark that down to the observations any person would make of something as complex as the new 2010 Prius.

-It’s beautiful car. No really. I thought the previous iteration was as well despite a lot of juvenile jibes from the mainstream auto press but I think this new model is more mainstream in its styling while still staying true to what the Prius is supposed to be, first and foremost, a performance* vehicle. It’s sexy.

*and to those of who take issue with my use of performance I would contend the following, as much or more than any other production vehicle on the road, the Prius delivers the performance it promises. While that performance may not be the fuel huffing paradigm of the pro car writers, it is the performance that matters to most consumers. The Prius is and will continue to be reliable, environmentally sound, comfortable, efficient, affordable and technically interesting. As part of this contention I would add that it outperforms, in this manner, anything else on the road. Sure, a Z-06 goes faster but what’s the point? You can’t actually take advantage of that definition of performance unless you own a private track. The Prius does what it supposed to do and the 2010 does it more stylishly than ever.

-The sunroof and solar panels rock. Seamless integration, great idea.

-Are the seats in the 2010 different? I got the immediate impression it’s slightly more comfortable. Maybe it was the blueberry martini gelatin shots.

-Touch Tracer is one coolest innovations since SmartKey. It’s brilliant.

-I’m not sure I like the new display on the dash. This is an early impression and I would drive the car to get a better sense of it but while integrating more information up higher is better in general am I too frivolous if I suggest the old MFD display was prettier? Either way, it’s more ergonomically placed now and possibly more useful. It reminds me, a bit, of the hybrid Camry I drove last year (though much more complex).

-There’s no excuse for a 2010 model not to come standard with full iPod integration.

-Oh, and a CD stacker? That’s so 1990. A single slot in the dash is more than enough for those dinosaurs left reliant on optical discs for music. It’s like putting wooden spoked wheels on the car. To me, a stacker is a liability. I know it will break, it’s just a matter of when.

-I don’t mind the badge on the front of the vehicle being larger but the terrible blue, printed “glow” is, well, terrible. It looks cheap, very cheap. If I do get a 2010 that’s the first I’m going to look around to replace. I know this is trivial but it jumped out at me.

-I’m undecided about the new center console “nose”. At first I loved it. Then, after sitting in the car I wasn’t as sure. I might really like it when I’m driving it but I’m not why it’s there other than for stylistic reasons. It might make a really nice armrest. It might just get in the way.

-And with the above said, I love the shifter on the new center console “nose”. I could live without the rather odd blue carbon fiber embedded in the plastic but I love the positioning of the shifter.

-Big props for the changes to the between front seats center console. I love the new lid mechanism.

-The flipdown cupholders in the back seat rock.

-I love the restyled rear tailights. Can say Batmobile?

-The 17″ magnesium wheels look incredibly cool. I wish I didn’t have to go the full boat upgrade to get them but if you want to talk about going a long way to remove the nerd factor from the exterior, these wheels do it.

-I’m very curious to see real world performance from this new HSD system. Toyota says it’s 90% new compared to the previous generation so I’m quite eager to see how it performs on the road. I would love to see it do better in cold weather. I hate seeing my MPG dive in the winter.

-The LED headlight option is very cool. Unfortunately I’m guessing it’s going to cost prohibitive and porbably very hard to get. It’s still very cool.

-Colors for 2010. Why of why won’t Toyota do one weird color every year? It would be sort of out of character for them. Toyota has always striven to please the broadest range of people possible but these colors are, can I say it, kind of boring? Now, with that said, the new blue (Blue Ribbon Metallic) is OUTSTANDING! It’s beautiful and the new Prius wears it very well. On the other hand, the adult diaper gold (Sandy Beach Metallic) may be one of the worst Toyota colors ever. The new gray (Winter Gray Metallic) is very similar to previous versions and looks nice. I imagine white is white will look mostly the same. The silver, as viewed in the photographs, seems washed out to me but still nice. Avoid the A-D-gold.

-EV mode, ECO mode and standard. I will be very interested to see how these work in practice, especially the ECO mode. EV is pretty obvious and frankly, there’s no ambiguity there but the ECO mode seems a bit more problematic. I’m very curious to see how it plays out in real life. Of course, cheers to Toyota for bring the choice to the American version of the Prius.

-More get up and go? Once again, without driving it I can’t say much other than, I’ve never been disappointed in the way my Prius accelerates. Maybe this one will somewhat assuage the “but it’s no fun to drive” folks. I doubt it. The Prius, by definition, isn’t their kind of car. It’s a new and different paradigm which you either accept and love or resent.

-Yay, they kept the double glove boxes.

-”Plasmacluster”? Just wondering what the heck that means?

-I liked the power button up high better. It’s a very small thing but there it anyway. I’m also not sure about the placement of the “park” button but that’s not a big deal either. It’s probably a good when you have to try this hard to find something to whine about.

-Two words for those us in the north, “heated seats”. Oh yeah!

-No Mo Fuel Bladder!

That’s enough for now and all I can remember or grab from my notes. Have you seen the 2010? What do you think?

2010 Prius debut

Impressions from Detroit

Ok, as I said, I wanted to relate to you as many of my direct thoughts as possible. So here they are, stream of consciousness style, in no particular order. If some of the things seem contradictory then mark that down to the observations any person would make of something as complex as the new 2010 Prius.

-It’s beautiful car. No really. I thought the previous iteration was as well despite a lot of juvenile jibes from the mainstream auto press but I think this new model is more mainstream in its styling while still staying true to what the Prius is supposed to be, first and foremost, a performance* vehicle. It’s sexy.

*and to those of who take issue with my use of performance I would contend the following, as much or more than any other production vehicle on the road, the Prius delivers the performance it promises. While that performance may not be the fuel huffing paradigm of the pro car writers, it is the performance that matters to most consumers. The Prius is and will continue to be reliable, environmentally sound, comfortable, efficient, affordable and technically interesting. As part of this contention I would add that it outperforms, in this manner, anything else on the road. Sure, a Z-06 goes faster but what’s the point? You can’t actually take advantage of that definition of performance unless you own a private track. The Prius does what it supposed to do and the 2010 does it more stylishly than ever.

-The sunroof and solar panels rock. Seamless integration, great idea.

-Are the seats in the 2010 different? I got the immediate impression it’s slightly more comfortable. Maybe it was the blueberry martini gelatin shots.

-Touch Tracer is one coolest innovations since SmartKey. It’s brilliant.

-I’m not sure I like the new display on the dash. This is an early impression and I would drive the car to get a better sense of it but while integrating more information up higher is better in general am I too frivolous if I suggest the old MFD display was prettier? Either way, it’s more ergonomically placed now and possibly more useful. It reminds me, a bit, of the hybrid Camry I drove last year (though much more complex).

-There’s no excuse for a 2010 model not to come standard with full iPod integration.

-Oh, and a CD stacker? That’s so 1990. A single slot in the dash is more than enough for those dinosaurs left reliant on optical discs for music. It’s like putting wooden spoked wheels on the car. To me, a stacker is a liability. I know it will break, it’s just a matter of when.

-I don’t mind the badge on the front of the vehicle being larger but the terrible blue, printed “glow” is, well, terrible. It looks cheap, very cheap. If I do get a 2010 that’s the first I’m going to look around to replace. I know this is trivial but it jumped out at me.

-I’m undecided about the new center console “nose”. At first I loved it. Then, after sitting in the car I wasn’t as sure. I might really like it when I’m driving it but I’m not why it’s there other than for stylistic reasons. It might make a really nice armrest. It might just get in the way.

-And with the above said, I love the shifter on the new center console “nose”. I could live without the rather odd blue carbon fiber embedded in the plastic but I love the positioning of the shifter.

-Big props for the changes to the between front seats center console. I love the new lid mechanism.

-The flipdown cupholders in the back seat rock.

-I love the restyled rear tailights. Can say Batmobile?

-The 17″ magnesium wheels look incredibly cool. I wish I didn’t have to go the full boat upgrade to get them but if you want to talk about going a long way to remove the nerd factor from the exterior, these wheels do it.

-I’m very curious to see real world performance from this new HSD system. Toyota says it’s 90% new compared to the previous generation so I’m quite eager to see how it performs on the road. I would love to see it do better in cold weather. I hate seeing my MPG dive in the winter.

-The LED headlight option is very cool. Unfortunately I’m guessing it’s going to cost prohibitive and porbably very hard to get. It’s still very cool.

-Colors for 2010. Why of why won’t Toyota do one weird color every year? It would be sort of out of character for them. Toyota has always striven to please the broadest range of people possible but these colors are, can I say it, kind of boring? Now, with that said, the new blue (Blue Ribbon Metallic) is OUTSTANDING! It’s beautiful and the new Prius wears it very well. On the other hand, the adult diaper gold (Sandy Beach Metallic) may be one of the worst Toyota colors ever. The new gray (Winter Gray Metallic) is very similar to previous versions and looks nice. I imagine white is white will look mostly the same. The silver, as viewed in the photographs, seems washed out to me but still nice. Avoid the A-D-gold.

-EV mode, ECO mode and standard. I will be very interested to see how these work in practice, especially the ECO mode. EV is pretty obvious and frankly, there’s no ambiguity there but the ECO mode seems a bit more problematic. I’m very curious to see how it plays out in real life. Of course, cheers to Toyota for bring the choice to the American version of the Prius.

-More get up and go? Once again, without driving it I can’t say much other than, I’ve never been disappointed in the way my Prius accelerates. Maybe this one will somewhat assuage the “but it’s no fun to drive” folks. I doubt it. The Prius, by definition, isn’t their kind of car. It’s a new and different paradigm which you either accept and love or resent.

-Yay, they kept the double glove boxes.

-”Plasmacluster”? Just wondering what the heck that means?

-I liked the power button up high better. It’s a very small thing but there it anyway. I’m also not sure about the placement of the “park” button but that’s not a big deal either. It’s probably a good when you have to try this hard to find something to whine about.

-Two words for those us in the north, “heated seats”. Oh yeah!

-No Mo Fuel Bladder!

That’s enough for now and all I can remember or grab from my notes. Have you seen the 2010? What do you think?

tonight and this afternoon

Later this morning, at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Toyota will unveil, by video, the new, third generation, Prius. Then later this evening Toyota has kindly put together a chance for us to, and I quote them, “get up close and personal” with the new Prius. I’ve just learned that this event will be at the Detroit Opera House. Should be interesting.

Check back after 11:00 for a report and pictures from the event.

If you want to see all the pictures I’ve shot (so far)

Follow these links:

morning and afternoon, day one

evening reception, day one

And then there’s this…

The reception

You have to say one thing, Toyota knows how to throw a party. They put nice get together for everyone this everyone this evening. Below some of the images from that get together.

And of course, tomorrow is the big day. At 11:00 we get to see video of the big reveal and then in the evening, as the story, we’ll actually be hands on with the car. Of course, I’ll have a lot of pictures from that (and video). Check back here for more from the Detroit Prius Connection.

Getting here and being there

Well, here I sit in the spiffy leather desk of my marble top desk in my room. Who woulda thunk it?

Here are the shots so far today. They’ll give you an idea of the trip and what’s Toyota has set up for those us here for the 2010 Debut tomorrow.

Look carefully to at the horizon on the left and you’ll see steam from the famous Three Mile Island nuclear power plant. Yes, I’m waiting at the gate to get on that very small airplane.

I guess this site shouldn’t surprise me as we were driving into Detroit.

This is the Prius Connection hospitality suite, sort of our “home base” for the next 36 hours. Free candy bars!

Two legends of the Prius world. John runs one of the pioneering Prius sites on the web and frankly, one of the most informative. John has collected a mountain of data on his Prii and has posted it all to the web. John’s site is one reason I have a Prius today. Michelle is another encyclopaedia of Prius knowledge. I’ve emailed with her a few times and she’s been kind enough to set me straight on facts. Between these two people there is a vast wealth of real world Prius knowledge. I was honored to finally meet both of them in person.

Now I’m heading off to the welcome reception. More stories and pictures later this evening.

flying

After a wonderful customer service experience with a delightful Northwest employee (no sarcasm, she rocked) here I am at the gate. I managed to get all of my camera and computer equipment through security, something which I had imagined would not be simple.

HIA is mostly empty. I guess not a lot of Harrisburgians fly to Detroit on Sunday morning.

Lucky me.

In a little over two hours I should be safely ensconced within Toyota’s arms in the motor city.

On my way

I’m leaving for the airport in a few minutes. I have all my fluids segregated to the checked baggage and everything that could possibly be used for a dangerous purpose has been secured.

It’s a short to Detroit and I’ll check back in here sometime around 3:00 p.m. just to let you know how the venue for the big event looks (or at least one of them).

It’s should be a very interesting next 48 hours.

Below are the officially issued Prius “teaser” images from Toyota. I’m just placing them down here for the record.

What everyone seems to think is the splash screen from the MFD of the new, 2010 Prius.

Posted by Toyota at priuschat.com

What it is I’m not exactly sure but it’s a legit image of some part of the new 2010 Prius. Maybe it’s control for the fully motorized gull-wing doors the 2010 will have? (and of course, that last line is a joke)

Posted by Toyota at Greenhybrid.com

This is billed as a shot of the overhead console but what praytell is an “SOS” button for?

This image was posted on priuschat.com by bossdowner

This image was posted on priuschat.com by bossdowner

This image was posted on priuschat.com by bossdowner

This shot of the console isn’t nearly as cool as the shot from the New Zealand spycar. In this one the center console looks as though a nose as just been stuck on the dash. It had a much more wraparound look in the other images.

This image was posted on priuschat.com by bossdowner

This image was posted on priuschat.com by bossdowner

The Navy takes over

Regarding a visit to Santa Barbara from the USN ship Ronald Reagan…

And the Strange: My neighbor, Paul Krieger, had a problem. “I thought I was in the Twilight Zone for awhile,” he told me. This is his story:

“Turning left onto Rosemary Lane, as I have done for years, I approached my driveway pressing the nifty Homelink [garage door opener] button on my Toyota Prius’s rear-view mirror. Nothing happened. My garage door did not begin to open, as it had always done — a step in coming home as routine as closing the house door. I pressed the Homelink repeatedly. Nothing. As a backup, I always carry a standard garage door opener. I tried it and still no response. Then I exited my car, walked in the front door to the garage, pushing the mounted garage door opener wall button. The door went up fine. After some time checking the batteries of our three garage door openers, I found them all to be fully charged, but none worked. So what was the problem?

I decided to try the Prius’s Homelink again. So I pulled out my Prius remote key in order to open the car door. No response. My Prius doors would not open. Uhhh, now my remote key was not working. On the Prius remote key I tried the ‘unlock’ icon, then the ‘lock’ icon, then the panic button. I also tried the special Prius ‘smart’ lock buttons, which are located on every door. Nothing worked. Hmmmm. Maybe the batteries are bad? I checked the batteries of both remote keys. The Batteries were OK. Homelink does not work, the garage door openers do not work, the remote keys do not work, the ‘smart’ locks do not work. But I can open the garage door using the wall button, which is hooked up directly to an electrical power wire.

I tried everything again multiple times. No response. I could open my garage door using the wall button, but now my Prius was locked. Then I remembered that the Prius remote key comes with a standard ‘pull out’ key, attached specifically for emergencies. I opened the car door, but then a series of beeps sounded. Then I discovered that my remote key was now working, as well as the ‘smart’ lock buttons. I checked to see if the garage door openers were working. No response whatsoever. Now what?

I waited a few minutes, did some things inside the house, and returned to my car. Everything worked, except the garage door openers. So I left the house to run an errand to Smart & Final. After parking, I tried to lock the car door. No response. Again, nothing was working. In fact, my car doors locked (seemingly) of their own volition. I tried to unlock the doors and couldn’t. I was locked out of my Prius. Unfortunately, my cell phone was in the front seat, so I could not call for help. As I walked away from the Prius to find a pay phone I heard a series of peeps. Walking back to check this out, I discovered that all of the doors were unlocked and once again my key remotes worked.

Back at home, nothing worked. This was Saturday. On Sunday I was able to drive using the manual emergency key to lock and unlock the car. As I drove on to Rosemary Lane a neighbor, Chuck Williams, revealed the cause of my problems.

“Oh, I know what the problem is!” he said.

“Yes?”

“It’s the Ronald Reagan,” he explained. “They take over all of the frequencies while they’re here.”

“Really?” I asked.

“Yep, it happens every time the Navy arrives in a big ship.”

I drove off, dumbfounded. Well, nothing worked all weekend. Or, I should say, nothing worked properly all weekend, and by Monday morning I was seriously beginning to believe in ghosts. Then I made calls to Toyota and Consolidated Garage Doors. Toyota said that they knew nothing about a ship’s effect on the Prius. But Consolidated said, “Oh, yes, we’ve gotten dozens of calls about garage door remotes not working. Please wait a couple of hours after the Ronald Reagan leaves this afternoon, and if you’re still having trouble, call back.”

By 3:30 p.m. Monday, all garage door openers worked and all Prius remotes worked perfectly. Everything was back to normal. My neighbor was right. I still don’t believe in ghosts, but I now understand the lingering power of Ronald Reagan.”

I’ve noticed that my SmartKey performance drops off, sometimes becomes completely dysfunctional if it is close proximity to my cell phone.

So I’m always sure to keep them in separate pockets.

Problem solved.

Time to call the village smithy

There’s an element of “things just ain’t the way they used to when my daddy was a boy” to this article that’s a bit more luddite than it should be. Sure, new keys are complicated and more expensive. The other side being, the local hayseed can’t jack your car armed only with a long handled screwdriver. There are few other problems that I’ll detail within the article itself.

Today’s ‘smart keys’ not cheap to replace
By Rick Wagner

KINGSPORT — If you lose a key for your late model car or truck, don’t expect to run out to Wal-Mart, a hardware store or a locksmith for a $1 or $2 replacement.

Put another way, those “smart keys” jingling in your pocket are definitely not like those that started your father’s Oldsmobile.

A 2006 survey of 50 makes and models by the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Auto Safety found the average dealer price of a smart key was $150, more than 12 times the average dealer price of a mechanical key at $12.

But in some cases, the prices can run from more than $200 up to thousands if a computer has to be replaced.

Among the keys of selected 2004 models, the highest total cost for programming and the key from a dealer was $335 for a Lexus IS300, with other pricey keys and programming including a Toyota Landcruiser and Volkswagen Beetle, tied at $290, a Toyota Prius at $278 and a VW Jetta at $238.

The lowest-priced among the group was a GMC Envoy XUV SLE at $53, followed by a Suzuki Verona at $61.

Among mechanical keys without a computer chip, a Saturn Vue was $5 at the bottom end, with a Chevrolet Impala the highest at $25.

“The specter of auto theft does not justify auto companies picking the pockets of consumers by charging hundreds of dollars more for replacement keys than they could in a competitive market,” the center’s letter stated.

Yes and no. The spectre of auto theft is something that raises insurance costs and costs consumers millions of dollars every year. And guess what, when a car is more difficult to steal, thieves concentrate on those easier to steal vehicles. In which camp do you want pitch your tent?

The yes side is, yes, it’s dreadful that Chevy charges $25 for a piece of metal (the Impala key). Yes, it’s a hassle that you can drag down to the local hardware store and have someone cut you a key for a buck. It’s a hassle having your car stolen.

And let me say this now, technology isn’t just about theft. I’ve said this before but I cannot reinforce enough. In fact, driving the kid’s Corolla while my Prius was in the body shop really drove this point home, I love the convenience of SmartKey. never having to take the bloody thing out of my pocket or briefcase means I’m not digging for keys every time I want to get in and start my car. It’s a bit like the old power windows analogy. Once you have them, you never want to crank by hand again. So it goes with SmartKey. It’s one of the most user friendly and convenient advances in car technology in years and you can’t really appreciate it until you have it.

Technology has dramatically changed the way car keys can be copied or replaced, increasing the price to hundreds of dollars or more and forcing some travelers to cool their heels for a weekend or longer to get a replacement, according to local locksmiths and a national consumer’s group.

“I don’t know of many new ones that don’t have some kind of electronic security on them,” local locksmith Henry Peters said in a recent interview at his locksmith shop.

All about the key codes

Peters, an Eastman Chemical Co. retiree who has been a locksmith for more than 33 years, owns White Knight Locksmith Service in Bloomingdale. The proprietor of the business, formerly known as Bloomingdale Locksmith, has invested $7,000 in a machine to make modern car keys. He spent another $3,000 upgrading it and said he needs to spend another $3,000 for the most recent upgrades.

Now, as a small business person I can appreciate having to to upgrade basic gear just to stay in business. That said, I don’t have much sympathy for locksmiths. Times do change and because it costs you more to keep up with those times is not a reason to argue against the changes. And, to be perfectly honest, I’ll spend more than that this year in upgrades and new gear and the technology I use (photo and and graphics computers) and there’s been no revolution to speak in what I do. Upgrade or retire.

He is a member and former president of the East Tennessee Locksmiths’ Association and a member of the Associated Locksmiths of America.

Other machines cost less, as little as $150, but are good only for keys from older vehicles.

Mark Fields, owner of Kingsport Locksmith Service and City Lock Shop, said he probably has $12,000 plus upgrades in his auto keying equipment.

“Technology is changing. The fall of the Berlin Wall brought this on,” Peters said.

He said after the wall fell and communism ended, some poorer people in East Germany envied the vehicles of generally richer West Germans and simply stole them.

“The insurance companies told auto makers to stop or they wouldn’t insure the vehicles any more,” Peters said.

Peters said that set the stage for widespread use of the first generation of keys beyond merely mechanical ones. Called the VATS or Vehicle Anti Theft System, the keys used in many General Motors vehicles starting in the mid- to late 1980s with the Chevrolet Corvette, have resistors of known values that must match what the vehicle is programmed to take, or the motor won’t start.

GM more recently started the Pass Key or PK system, which includes PK1, PK2 and PK3.

The Passenger Auto Theft System or PATS, used by Ford, has a transponder or little radio in the key that sends the signal for the fuel system and/or starter to work.

The PATS2 by Ford uses encrypted transponders that send and receive information. The vehicle sends a new value to the key, generally preventing the use of key cloning machines. He said that system can keep up for up to eight different keys.

Other auto makers have similar smart key systems.

The newest generation of keys aren’t keys in the traditional sense at all but are a key fob that can unlock a car from a person’s pocket. Some new Corvettes have those, which also trigger the seats and mirrors to adjust for the different drivers using their particular keys.

Fields predicted most all vehicles would go to the keyless fobs, although mechanical keys may still exist for manual override.

For instance, Fields said the new Mitsubishi Outlanders electronic fob and optional mechanical key run him about $250.

Getting car keys made

Many owners manuals tell consumers the dealer is the only choice for replacement keys or key copies, but Peters said that is rarely the case.

Current and recent model Mercedes vehicles are an exception.

“Locksmiths can’t do a Mercedes, period,” Peters said. “We can do the mechanical part of the key but not the program.”

The center’s letter urges the FTC “to move immediately against any manufacturer such as Mercedes found to require consumers a new computer or ECM to get a replacement key” and force auto makers to release programming information for smart keys instead of “charging exorbitant fees for nominal programming costs.”

For other vehicles, including Ford, General Motors, Nissan, Toyota, Volkswagen, Audi, BMW and Honda, Peters said a locksmith with the proper equipment can make the keys.

“Most of them (customers) have no idea they have a transponder in their key until they want to make a key,” Fields said at his shop.

As if on cue, a customer came to Fields’ drive-through window wanting three keys for a new Chevrolet Silverado, and was taken aback by the $30 price tag for each key, although a call to a dealer got a quote of $38 each. The customer decided to get the keys but had to go get the truck for the keys to be programmed.

Key cost varies, depending on the make and model. Fields said in the future he expects it will not be uncommon for car keys to cost $400 to $500 to copy or reproduce.

Generally, making a copy of a key if at least one or preferably two keys are available is not as expensive as making one with no key.

But other issues can arise. Some 1990s Mercedes allow only eight keys to be made and then the car’s computer model must be changed. The same was true for certain Toyota vehicles, as outlined in a March 2006 letter from the Center for Auto Safety requesting that the Federal Trade Commission force auto makers to make key code information available to legitimate locksmiths.

The letter, from auto safety center Executive Director Clarence M. Ditlow, recounted the story of Hurricane Katrina refugee Janna Smith. She hurriedly left the New Orleans area in her 2002 Toyota Highlander with only one key, a valet key. Her master keys were lost in the flood.

One dealer told her it would cost $2,200 for a fix since a new key would require a new computer. However, a Washington, D.C., dealer later voluntarily agreed to cover the $650 cost of reprogramming a new key after Toyota agreed to cover the computer cost.

Peters said the Toyota issue has been resolved, in part, by new equipment that allows locksmiths to “reflash” a computer card in Toyotas.

Another issue is with 1998 and 1999 Mercedes M Class vehicles, which have a limit of eight new keys.

Roger Stephens, according to the consumer group’s letter, bought a used 1998 ML 320 sports utility vehicle from a Mercedes dealer, and the keys simply wore out, forcing Stephen to pay just more than $2,500 for parts and labor of more than $1,000 and wait eight weeks for parts to arrive.

But Peters estimated that 70 percent to 80 percent of issues with newer car keys are from Chrysler vehicles that require a PIN code for each car. Since dealers usually are closed on Sundays and have only sales staff on duty on Saturdays, he said the PINs are unavailable until Monday or the next regular business day.

“I can help on the weekend if I had a four-letter PIN code,” Peters said. “It would be a big help for us locksmiths if we could access that information from the manufacturers.”

On the other hand, he said that General Motors has stopped giving out codes for keys. He and other locksmiths still can make the keys, but having to discover the code takes longer, he said.

The Federal Trade Commission has taken no action on the center’s letter, and although some auto makers provide codes, the industry has resisted mandatory provisions, citing security as a chief concern.

A spokesman for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, Charles Territo, told Automotive News recently that the trade commission does not need to intervene and that some auto makers already provide their key replacement information to locksmiths.

Peters said the most expensive key he has ever made cost $250. A customer in Elizabethton had a Ford with encrypted key technology and needed a key on a weekend.

Fields said that he usually makes VATS keys for $20 or $25, but that newer keys can run to around $300. He said prices will vary from locksmith to locksmith and from dealer to dealer.

Fields said keys sometimes are cheaper in larger metropolitan areas, although Wallace said sometimes keys are higher in those areas because of the higher cost of living and doing business.

Peters also said that some car owners don’t understand the importance of keeping an extra remote or not losing one.

For instance, he said on new Chrysler products, if someone locks the vehicle with a remote and then loses that remote, a locksmith can get them back in the vehicle but that the vehicle’s motor will not run until a remote is used to unlock it.

Just how secure are cars?

Peters said sometimes he wonders why it’s so difficult for locksmiths to get into locked vehicles for customers when a thief can get in with using the low-tech method of breaking the glass.

The auto safety center’s letter to the FTC, based on media reports, pointed out that thieves have learned how to hack into a vehicle’s electronic control system using laptops plugged into on-board diagnostics systems and reprogram the vehicle.

Others can pop the vehicle hood and install the factory electronic control module with with another one, and the less-sophisticated can use a roll-back to haul the vehicle away.

And in late August, the news came that a group of Israel and Belgian researchers have found a vulnerability in the algorithm used to secure anti-theft digital key systems used by the likes of Honda, Ford, General Motors, Mercedes Benz and Jaguar.

That allowed them to crack the code of the anti-theft keys using KeeLoq technology, licensed by Microchip Technology.

In about a day, they found 36 or 64 bits they needed to know for particular car makes, which reportedly allowed the researchers to crack the code on an individual car in a few seconds, according to Orr Dunkelman, a researcher at the University of Leuven in Belgium who worked on the project with four colleagues.

“He can do this by reading the keys wirelessly — for example, which sitting next to a patron at a restaurant or standing near a car when the owner opens it and sniffing the communication between the digital key and the car,” according to the Wired Blog Network at http:/blog.wired.com.

“Once he has a key’s unique code, he can encode it to a chip in a remote device which he can do in a couple of seconds in the field and use it to open and steal the car,” the Web site stated.

Thus an unscrupulous valet with some computer know-how could gather information on every car he or she parked.

The group of researchers is waiting to hear from Microchip Technologies before releasing their research paper, discussed at an August conference.

This is really misleading. If you recall this story we published just about a week and half ago, it describes that yes, KeeLoq can be defeated but it’s not a practical usable by car thieves. At least not now. The other thing the story we published points out is, the best way to get into a car, any car, is still to defeat the mechanical system which locks the doors or, just smash a window.

The trick to things like SmartKey is makes it more difficult to steal the car, not impossible, and SmartKey adds a whole new dimension of convenience.

A lower-tech way to get access to a vehicle, plentiful on various Internet sites, is simply to take the VIN or vehicle identification number off a parked car, go to the dealer with the information and walk out the front door with a key.

Peters said that has been done in the past, especially with GM vehicles, but that newer smart key technology won’t allow it.

In addition, he said dealers are supposed to require identification and proof of ownership such as registration or a title.

Ditlow’s letter said that low-tech requirement would help ensure that codes for smart keys go only to locksmith’s authorized by owners, not to auto thieves.

For more information, go to www.autosafety.org and http://www.aloa.org.

KeeLoq and SmartKey

There have been numerous reports on this story and frankly, most of them were bad. This article lays out the risks, in my opinion, quite rationally.

That said, I’m not even positive how this might or might not apply to Toyota’s SmartKey system. So I’m posting with that caveat and, the reminder that as Mr. Sullivan says several times in the article below, you’re at much more immediate risk to the thief with a slimjim or a baseball than you are to some high tech hacker.

Researchers say they’ve hacked car door locks
by Bob Sullivan

A group of computer security researchers in Israel and Belgium say they’ve discovered the electronic equivalent of a Slim Jim — a way to pop the electronic door locks on most cars without ever touching them.

Drivers don’t have to worry about their cars being hacked just yet – a baseball bat is still a more effective auto theft tool – but the announcement shows yet again that newfangled security devices can be more vulnerable than you think.

Most modern cars are now equipped with convenient remote keyless entry systems. Now it seems that tool could be a convenient way for criminals to break into hundreds of cars in an afternoon.

By listening in on the wireless “conversation” between a car and its key, the researchers found they could crack the code that keeps the communication secret. Then they were able to emulate the electronic key and trick the car into unlocking itself.

Nearly all cars with remote keyless entry use an encryption system called KeeLoq. It was developed during the 1980s and purchased by Microchip Technology Inc. in the 1990s. Like all encryption systems, KeeLoq scrambles messages so they can’t be read by anyone who intercepts them. Only someone — or something — with the appropriate deciphering key can unscramble the message.

Eli Biham, a computer science professor at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, says there are 18 billion possible keys for a KeeLoq transmission, making it practically impossible for even the fastest computer to work out the key through brute force.

“But,” he said, “we found a shortcut.”

By intercepting several transmissions from the electronic key and analyzing them, Biham and his colleagues say they were able to eliminate many of those 18 billion possibilities and work out a master key in about one day. All that’s required is remote access to one key for about an hour — say, while a person is sitting in his office with the key still in a shirt pocket.

Then, after working out the encryption scheme, Biham’s group says it can unlock all cars using that master key within a few minutes.

“In modern ciphers, you don’t expect this to happen,” Biham says, noting that carmakers are still relying on 20-year-old cryptography to keep cars safe. “I don’t understand how companies sell cryptography from the 1980s.”

‘Badly broken’
The research paper, called “How to Steal Cars, (PDF)” was presented at the Crypto 2007 conference at the University of California, Santa Barbara, last week. Exact details for exploiting the discovery won’t be published for several months, Biham says, but Microchip Technology was informed weeks ago.

“KeeLoq is badly broken,” the paper says, adding, tongue-in-cheek, “Soon, cryptographers will all drive expensive cars.”

Microchip wouldn’t comment on the team’s discovery.

“Microchip Technology Inc. doesn’t address matters of security in the public domain,” was all that spokesman Eric Lawson would say.

But other cryptography experts said the research was significant.

“This is a very practical application of cryptanalysis,” said Jon Callas, chief technology officer with the encryption firm PGP Corp., who attended the presentation. “There is a larger lesson here, which is some of these devices aren’t as secure as they are being sold to us.”

Slim Jim a bigger threat
Still Callas isn’t worried about his car locks being hacked just yet. There are several barriers to using the technology. While a key hacker would be able to pop the lock on the door and perhaps disarm and alarm, he or she probably couldn’t get the car started without using old-fashioned car theft tools, he said. And even with the most sophisticated computers, hacking the locks still takes over an hour, while a baseball bat can do just as good a job in a second or two.

“There is not a whole lot of threat to the end consumer,” he said. “A guy with a Slim Jim is a bigger threat.”

The method could prove lucrative under the right circumstances, however. A thief armed with a master key could park a car with listening devices in the middle of a shopping mall lot and eavesdrop on every car as a driver parks, walks away, and pushes their key to lock the doors. Within seconds, the transmission could be intercepted, analyzed, paired with information about a known master key and used to pop the locks. A criminal could theoretically open hundreds of cars each day that way, stealing a treasure trove of iPods and GPS gadgets without leaving a trace

“That would be worth someone’s time,” Callas said. Victims “would have a hard time convincing (their) insurance companies that this had happened.”

A simple fix
Modest adjustments to encryption tools would foil such a plot, Callas said. Biham’s method requires tricking the car’s system into answers a long series of questions. But the use of “throttling” — inserting a delay after every three requests, as some Web sites now do – can slow or eliminate such brute force attacks. So Callas has no plans to disable his electronic locks, which could be done by disconnecting the car’s battery while parked.

“I’m more concerned about losing my radio presets than having my car stolen like this,” he joked.

Intense research into Keeloq by several groups began last year after proprietary information about KeeLoq’s cryptography was leaked onto a Russian Web site. Biham said the information aided his group’s research, but argued that properly implemented cryptography should withstand publication of such details.

Both he and Callas were critical of Microchip for not publishing its cryptographic scheme in public earlier, which would have allowed researches to probe it for holes.

“Those of us who are in the field believe that algorithms should be published from the start because an analysis can strengthen them,” Callas said. “We only use public algorithms because in long term they are more secure.”

While the immediate threat to car owners is low, Biham says the research shows the technology used to protect remote keyless entry systems is outdated.

“There are other tools criminals can use today (to steal cars) that are easier,” Biham says. “But we show that it’s possible to (hack the locks) and these systems to be replaced.”

My Prius

Russell’s Prius Pages…

February 26, 2006

It occurs to me I haven’t added anything to this in some time (as the dates above indicates). Of course, if you’re reading the main POG pages, you know that’s not true. But I should record some things here as well. So let’s do a little review of where I am at with regard to my Prius some ten months and 11k miles after getting it.

It’s still winter here in Lancaster though it’s hard to tell sometimes. Today it was 48 and sunny. Tonight, it’s 22. This is certainly the mildest and most snow-free winter since we moved here almost three years ago. But I think it’s reasonable, given the regular email questions that I get, to talk about how the Prius does in winter, and in snow.

If nothing else, the Winter Road Trip to Quebec earlier this month proved to me the Prius can handle whatever Ol’ Man Winter wishes to dish out. It snowed about 40cm during our four days there and we managed to get wherever we needed to go without incident. No sliding. No digging out. All this on stock tires. If nothing else, that’s impressive. And don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a “winter car”. It doesn’t perform like a four wheel drive vehicle. However, it’s not supposed to. I think the important point here is that for the vast majority of owners and potential owners in the wintry realms, the Prius will do whatever you need it to do.

My mileage is down this season. Anywhere from 10-20% depending on the activities, temperature and driving conditions. That’s a bit disappointing but not surprising. I was told and read that the mileage goes down in the winter. Still, I’m maintaining a seasonal average of about strong 40MPG, which satisfies me.

I think the only thing I’m disappointed in is the heater. It’s not electric, it gets warmth, as most heaters do, from the ICE. This means the interior of the car doesn’t warm up until the ICE is warm. For me, who is prone to taking short trips, on the average of a couple of miles or so, most of the time I’m halfway to my desitnation by the time the car warms up. Not a huge deal really. It does make me miss my remote starter (though I’m not sure how that would function, if one could be installed on the Prius at all, anyway).

I guess the thing that still keeps amazing me about this vehicle is that it’s filled such a mutli-function role in our family. Since we got the Prius, a four door vehicle with ample stowage in the hatch, my wife felt as though she could get rid our of our Jeep (and I agreed with her). So she got the car she’s wanted for a long time, an Audi TT. Which means if sometime or someone needed to be hauled around, the Prius was our go-to car. And it’s performed admirably. Whether it was taking five adults to New York City (about three hours each way) or loading it full of firewood, the Prius can do it. It’s comfortable with people in it and it has an amazing amount of interior storage space. So when I needed to haul lumber, I used the Prius.

I think what’s interesting about much of my positive thinking about this car is that it has nothing to do with the prime motivation for getting it, it’s hybrid nature. That’s a given. I don’t even think about it anymore (and not feeling a pang of pain as I drive into a gas station is a nice thing indeed). I just use it and it works for whatever I want. That’s just good basic design that has nothing to do with it being a hybrid. For me, that’s a quite a testament indeed.

August 2, 2005

I know it’s an odd reccommendation but one of the best things I can say about this car is, it’s just a car. Sure, it’s a hybrid. It’s got all this drive by wire, computerized stuff going on it all the time. But day in day out, the really important thing is, it’s a pleasant, fuel efficient way to navigate between points A and B.

As far as observations a few months into my ownership, well, aside from the gushy stuff, nothing. And that’s good. We’ve cut down our family fuel expenditure by a ridiuclous amount. We have a Jeep Liberty and the Prius. The Liberty goes with my wife to work five days a week, the Prius does everything else.

It’s nice to be able to go on driving trips again with my wife. We love to travel by car and Pennsylvania is still new to us so there is always something to see. So our destination is an hour or two away. No big deal We hop in the car and go. There’s a freedom to that you don’t get in a lot of other cars (unless someone else is making payments on your gas card). It gives us time to spend together doing something we love and we didn’t have sacrifice comfort for it.

June 11, 2005

Another week has passed and nothing of note really happened. I put a couple of hundred miles per week on the car and it performs, well, as one would expect a car to perform, just with better gas mileage. And I think that’s the real obvious secret you don’t see mentioned much about the Prius. It is, in the end, a car. That’s the marvel, the triumph of the Prius. It;s an excellent vehicle. That it happens to be fairly radical new technology that uses energy so efficiently is important but it misses the main mission of the product. The Prius is, first and foremost, an excellent car.

Overall, going into my third month of ownership, I’m still very satisfied with the Prius. Its’ mileage is excellent. It’s a fun car to drive and it’s comfortable.

June 6, 2005

Well, we did over five hundred miles in the new Prius over the last 36 hours. My wife and I picked a friend at BWI, then took straight to Manhattan for the evening, then, yesterday (Sunday, June 5) went back home to Lancaster. The golf cart got 51.6 MPG the whole time and performed most adrmiably. I got a little scared getting stuck in midtown traffic on Saturday. A typically hot and sticky New York day where the AC was working overtime. The battery level was down to two purple bars while sitting there. I had no problems mind you, just the anxiety of knowing the batteries were low. Be that as it may, the Prius was a joy in New York. Its’ size made parking and driving simple and while some of the roads in New York were tough on the car (and its’ inhabitants) I know this is equally true of many other vehicles.

One thing of note, we saw of bunch of Prii while there. And I do mean a bunch. Clearly the Prius has proven itself to be a good car for New York, and why not? At one point, parking in Greenwich Village for dinner, we counted two other Prii in the single block stroll to the restaurant (Benny’s Burrito, not bad either). Three Prii in one block. I think things are catching on.

May 15, 2005

Today marks the conclusion of my third week of ownership of the 2005 Prius, now designated, “The Golf Cart” (or more likely, the dirty golf cart attesting to the near constant appearance of any white vehicle even if Toyota does have the hubris to refer to this particular white as “Super White”). I wanted to wait a few weeks into ownership to set down my initial impressions rather than write something, as I was sorely tempted, right away. I’ve just made the appointment for my 1,000 mile service (this Friday, May 20th) so I think now is good time.

Specifics.

Mileage.
No, unless you modify the vehicle or have some extremely Zen-like driving attitudes you won’t get the 55 average MPG the EPA sticker claims. That said, I’ve been driving like shit and I get a strong 44 for the last two tanks. And I’ve done this purposely to see what the car would do when I wasn’t trying to slipstream behind every SUV and tractor on the freeway (which, by the way, works extremely well). I live in downtown Lancaster Pennsylvania. It’s a five to ten minute drive to the freeway (depending on traffic) so the heart of my driving is stop and go. Accelerate and brake. In one sense, this plays to the strengths of Prius and it’s Synergy Drive. For most vehicles, this is the worst place to try to get mileage. All in all, mileage-wise, given the manner in which I’ve had occasion to drive the vehicle, I’m ecstatic about the mileage. At 44 MPG on the low end I know I could get fifty easily but why? I can now drive around like a proverbial banshee and still save a prodigious amount of fuel. Or drive even somewhat sanely and do even better. I think for now I’ll be avoiding the high mileage tricks and just enjoying the vehicle.

Comfort and convenience.
The 2005 Prius is large. It’s not a small car, it’s in the mid-size category and the interior is, by any estimation, spacious. Even with the front seats adjusted fully towards the back of the vehicle I’ve had a six foot four inch individual in the back seat (and another friend) with no problems. The seats are firmly comfortable. The hatchback and folding rear seats mean I can carry very large items in this car with no problem. It compares favorably in every way with our Jeep Liberty, a comparison which, by its size, weight, mileage and price, should have much more room than the Prius. Most amenities are within easy grasp. I’m not a huge fan of the center console. It’s difficult to open while driving (I probably should not be doing that anyway). I wish the car had an ashtray.

I’ve taken the car on four trips in the four-hour range, each time I exited the vehicle not feeling as though I had spent the last few hours in “the rack”. The legroom is ample.

One extremely trivial thing, I hate the little “nub” that the floor mats mount on. I’m constantly dragging my foot across it and of course, since it’s a new vehicle, I figure one of these times I’ll be breaking it off thus sending my floor mats on an endless journey around the floor of the vehicle.

The cup holders are not adjustable but they are well designed if a little bit “floppy” with some beverages. I like the fact that they disappear when not being used and very sturdy.

The upper seat belt has a height adjustment that is nifty.

I’ll include the audio/video system in “comfort” since it is hardly a necessity. I have “package 2″ which means I have the basic Prius plus SmartKey, Anti-theft system and self-dimming rear view mirror. No audio upgrade (more on the other stuff below). It’s a basic Toyota system. Six speakers, tweeters in the front above the dash (in the pillars on each side of the windshield), six inch woofers in the lower front door and something in the back. How would I know what is back there? I’m always driving. Overall it sounds good. It’s not the loudest thing in the world and I would bet money they have intentionally tuned the amplifier gains down to preserve the longevity of the speakers. Single disc in-dash CD with AM/FM radio. The controls are split between the MID and the in-dash unit itself. This can be a confusing at times but neither unit is out of reach. The steering wheel controls are great though I am not all that enamored with their location. This is one area where my wife’s Jeep excels. The steering wheels controls on her Liberty are really more ergonomic in my opinion. Still, it’s nice to be able to fully control the audio system without taking your hands off the wheel even if to does mean some “full octave” reaches.

SmartKey is the best thing since cars themselves. No question about it. While it’s not an enormous or vital thing it’s one of the most convenient and subtle improvements on a vehicle I’ve ever seen. So far, I’ve never inserted the key in the dash to operate the vehicle. I love the fact the key can sit in my brief case (or in my pocket) and the car senses it. I never have to fumble for the key. This is especially convenient when your hands are full, let’s say coming out of a store. All one need do is stand by the door, wait one to two seconds for the beep and voila! The door opens. SmartKey is great.

The anti-theft system is nice for two reasons. So far, it’s never falsed on me yet and so far, no one has stolen the vehicle. A more elaborate or effective anti-theft system I could less about.

Finally the highlight, at least visually, of the interior of the Prius is the MID or “Multi Information Display” as Toyota rather haltingly refers to it. This six inch LCD, touch screen, display panel is centrally mounted in the dash, well within easy reach of the driver. You control the climate controls through the MID. You control the balance, fader, bass and treble of the audio system with it (as well as your station presets for the radio). It also displays the mileage computer information. While some have derided the little animation detailing where power is going to and from, I’ve rather found it informative. At least early on it’s objective and direct feedback on how to alter one’s driving habits if one wishes higher mileage. Or, perhaps more to the case point, just how detrimental some driving habits are to mileage. I like it. It’s simple. Easy to use. And while full, mid-day sunlight can wash out the display, I’ve only had this occur briefly once or twice. It’s not a problem in general.

It’s the little things.

Visibility.
Front visibility is good though it takes some getting used to not being able to see the front projection of the vehicle. The slope of the hood makes it appear there is nothing in front of the driver but we all know, that is not the case. Rear visibility, while adequate, is just that and no more. I may be more of a stickler on that than most. In fact, I’m pretty sure I am. I diligently check my mirrors and what not whereas I know people who can cross entire states and not look “back” once. Be that as it may, the pillars of the Prius make for, to a favorable face on it, a very “focused” view to the rear. It’s not bad mind you and I’m surely more used to my previous Volvo and my wife’s Jeep but the Toyota’s field of view to the rear is a bit narrow for my tastes. So far though, it’s not proved to be more than a very trivial annoyance.

Overall bad.

Since my wife rarely deigns to wear her seat belt, I’m often left with the annoying blinking passenger seat belt warning light. It really should turn itself off after 30 minutes or so.

While the overall acceleration of the vehicle is fantastic (due to the Synergy Drive train) there have been a few instances where I’ve “punched it” and there was a slight delay before anything happened. Not a good feeling especially when one is used to a gas vehicle. That said, given the overall superior performance, a couple of glitches I can live with.

Other than these things, I have not found a bad thing about this vehicle. No problems with construction, no “bugs”. Nothing badly made or poorly engineered. Nothing broken. Sure, you should be to say that about any new vehicle. Exactly, you should be able to, but many new car owners can’t say it.

Overall good.

The best way to say it, I love this car. And I’m a car hater. I love motorcycles. Cars have never been something I’ve yearned to own and enjoy. They were tools, a means to an end, no more. I’ve come to really enjoy this vehicle. Cruising silently through the tree-covered streets of downtown Lancaster to my home is blissful. I love the idea that gas is not a major expense and now we can consider taking long road trips in a comfortable car (not that the Jeep wasn’t comfortable but it sure isn’t cheap to drive). I would highly recommend this vehicle to anyone considering a new car purchase. I did a lot of research and while I was initially attracted to the Honda Insight with it’s higher mileage rating but the overall more flexible utility of the Prius really won me over. That and Toyota’s (thus far) well earned reputation for building a quality vehicle and providing strong service after the sale.

The cool factor.

If there is something cooler than silently blasting out of your parking spot then I’m not sure what it is (at least with regard to cars). If there is something cooler than the large round “Power” button on the dash used to start the vehicle, I sure haven’t seen it in another car. And for coolly weird, the joystick “gearshift” is as disconcerting initially as it cool later on. No clunky gears, no linkage, just flip it into gear and go. The Prius has cool factor in spades. Say whatever you want about hybrid vehicles, the Prius has everything I’ve seen in its’ price class smoked for cool. Add to which, the ongoing cost of this cool is not being penalized for driving your car. The Prius certainly doesn’t make me cooler but I certainly do enjoy its little features and idiosyncrasies.

What are you waiting for? Go get on a Prius waiting list.

Russell Frost
Lancaster, Penna

Thanks very much for taking the time to visit.

(c)2005 the prius owners group retains all rights reserved,
no material may be copied or used in any way
without the express written permission of the prius owners group