Prius pricing still under wraps

Toyota's third-generation Prius goes on sale Down Under in July. But while the world's largest car company and Aussie number one is telling all and sundry about many of the technical aspects of the new car -- some of which are world firsts -- it's keeping its powder dry on the most important data... Pricing.

The Carsales Network had a one-on-one 'walk through' of the new Prius this morning at Toyota Australia's Carringbah (NSW) headquarters (more here), but Toyota insiders studiously and steadfastly avoided all discussion around price, standard equipment and the new Prius model 'walk'.

At this stage we can confirm there will be at least two model grades -- matching the current second generation car. The base grade will get cloth trim and the higher grade a "leather appointed cabin". In essence, that translates to leather trim for the seats, steering wheel and door trims.

What is still up for debate is how Toyota will package some of the new generation ECO icon's more expensive add-ons.

With a high-level touch-screen satnav system available, plus new features such as solar-powered ventilation and remote aircon (they use a roof-top 59W solar panel) and millimeter-radar crash sensing technology and adaptive cruise control, the door is open for Toyota to deliver a Prius with the lot... The Prius Ultima, perhaps?

And will Toyota Australia offer less fuel-efficient, but better looking, low profile tyres and alloys seen on some US-market Prius variants? The standard 15-inch alloys (with integral aero wheel covers) on the pre-production cars we saw make a substantial contribution to cleaning up airflow around the wheel arches, helping the Prius achieve a remarkably low drag coefficient, but they're hardly high fashion.

For the record, Toyota Australia is yet to confirm ADR fuel economy figures, but is "very confident" that the Euro cycle claim of 3.9L/100km combined will be matched locally.

It's also confident that the new car will appeal to a wider cross section of buyers. At first view in the flesh, we'd agree.

The cabin itself is larger and thanks to new, conventional proportions (that move the car to a more traditional wedge profile), there's better headroom -- especially in the rear. Toyota's claiming up to 30mm more shoulder room and important improvements such as better rearward and rear three-quarter vision.

Gone is the plank-like dash of the old car, replaced with a more driver focused layout that is divided into 'Command' and 'Display' zones. There's a flying centre-console a la Corolla twixt driver and passenger and a more conventional gear selector. A heads-up display is available -- though it's unclear whether that will be standard on all model variants.

Claimed as a world first is a system which projects a schematic of the steering-wheel-mounted controls onto the main display momentarily, when the former are in use. Called Touch Tracer, it means less time for the eyes away from the road, says Toyota.

Perhaps to underline the (claimed) more sporty, more "athletic" stance of the third-gen Prius, the abovementioned steering wheel is chunkier and gets a flat bottom... True! Audi R8, HSV W427, Golf GTI, Prius... Umm pick the odd one out.

There are no hard performance stats for the new Prius yet -- at least from the local Toyota scions. They're espousing markedly better real world performance, however, thanks to the new 1.8-litre petrol engine and more powerful (60kW, up from 50) but more compact electric drive system. Total combined power is now 100kW.

There's no information on combined torque -- but torque and electric motors go together, so it should be plenty. A new Power mode sharpens up the throttle response and tweaks the petrol/electric torque distribution curve for better acceleration, the company says.

In another departure from the second-gen car, the CVT gearbox/hybrid drivetrain now has also a 'B' mode that delivers a higher degree of regenerative braking. It's handy in traffic -- from what we could deduce from our chauffeured drive in urban conditions -- and has the added benefit of charging the battery pack quicker.

There's an ECO mode -- a counterpoint to Power -- plus the new-gen Prius driver can opt for pure EV [electric vehicle] mode. This delivers zero-emission electric-only drive when battery conditions allow.

Prius uses aluminium in its construction (for example the tailgate) and much of its lighting has moved to LED (less drain on the batteries means more km per litre). The hybrid system is 90 per cent new. There are clever, though subtle aero tweaks like the sharp facet on the edge of the rear fender and stabilizers as part of underbody measures. The use of new plant-based plastics is pioneered in the car. Attention to detail is a given from Toyota, but it's magnified in its eco-flagship.

Toyota claims the new car is the subject of more than 1000 patent applications worldwide...

So how much would you pay for this technological wonder? Yep, that's the question we're all still asking...

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