It’s true. You get what you pay for, and when it comes to Toyota’s Prius it’s long offered a premium-like, high-quality experience

World's best selling hybrid is not only clean and fuel efficient, the Prius is a good car too. (Photo: Canadian Auto Press)

in a convenient, commodious package. The icing on the cake is that it keeps getting better and better, but oddly costs less and less with each new iteration. Indeed, it appears you certainly get what you pay for with Prius.

Case in point, I just got out of a certain lookalike Japanese rival and climbed into Toyota’s Prius, and while the upstart mimics the world’s best-selling hybrid in profile it really doesn’t come close in any other way. Where the Prius is finished off beautifully inside with nicely textured albeit not soft-touch plastics, superb switchgear, upscale features and midsize interior dimensions, the new wannabe is smaller, makes do with cheap-feeling hard plastics, offers an audio nav system in top-tier trim that looks like an aftermarket add-on, and doesn’t drive nearly as well.

I don’t

Stylish profile is now taller towards its back making for better rear headroom. (Photo: Canadian Auto Press)

normally beat up on a specific car and wouldn’t want to sound too harsh when it comes to that unnamed Prius competitor, but for the sake of giving insight to how the two cars stack up it helps to compare Macintosh apples to, well, Spartans. The Prius is larger and therefore offers better ride and handling, much better, while its advanced Hybrid Synergy Drive system, which allows propulsion on electric power only, is ultra-smooth in operation compared to a rival that hiccups at idle-stop startup and buzzes away anemically when attempting to accelerate.

Yes, with 0 to 100km/h taking 9.8 seconds compared to the old model’s 10.9, the new Prius, 22% more powerful, gets up and goes quite reasonably, especially when Power mode is

Prius interior is miles above closest rival. (Photo: Canadian Auto Press)

actuated and performance takes priority over efficiency. This is just one of three modes, however, with ECO designed for regular driving in which it will switch between gasoline and electric power as needed, and EV specifying electric power until it runs out of juice in about 1 to 2 km. Sure its 1.8L four, Toyota’s first beltless engine, is no 3.5L V6, but that’s not the purpose of this car, now is it? Its engine produces a combined gasoline and electric output of 134 hp and 103 lb-ft of torque, allowing it to cruise comfortably at 120 km/h or higher, if your local constabulary allows, and it gets 7% better fuel economy to boot.

On a comparison test featuring hills and curves we managed 2.8L/100km in the Prius, whereas Honda’s new Insight could only achieve 3.9, the same figure as Canada’s most

Midsize interior space makes for comfortable rear seating. (Photo: Canadian Auto Press)

fuel-efficient midsize sedan, the Ford Fusion Hybrid. On that note, Toyota would want me to tell you that the Prius is classified as a midsize car too, and therefore if you take the sedan aspect out of Ford’s equation it’s actually the most fuel-efficient midsize model on the market. The official numbers for the new Prius are 3.7L/100km in the city and 4.0 on the highway, with 3.8 combined. It’s Tier 2, Bin 3 Emissions compliant, which means it emits at least 75% fewer emissions than an Ultra Low Emissions Vehicle (ULEV) and will be certified as a Super Ultra Low Emission Vehicle (SULEV) and an Advanced Technology Partial Zero Emissions Vehicle (AT-PZEV) in California.

When tackling curves, the Prius is actually pretty sporty, all things considered. Compared to that

Serious space and flexibility, the Prius is a good family hauler. (Photo: Canadian Auto Press)

unnamed competitor it feels solid and planted, totally stable and confidence inspiring. The same goes for highway driving, where the smaller rival feels edgy and nervous, requiring constant correctional steering input; you can take your hands off the Prius’ wheel at 120km/h and it tracks straight.

Maybe the best part of all this is a sticker price that’s only $500 more than the outgoing 2009 Prius, at $27,900. More? But I said it costs less and less with every new iteration at the beginning of the article. True. While $27,900 is a lot less than the near $30K needed to buy a first generation Prius, you need to factor in the 2010 car’s bevy of additional standard features such as a proximity sensing Smart Key access, auto up and down on all windows, active headrests, standard knee airbag, side airbags, and dual front of course, plus ABS, VSC, EBD, and BA. It also has Touch Tracer Steering Controls – touch sensitive info/audio/trip computer/energy monitor/ECO Support monitor that give it an iPhone feel. There’s more, of course, but I’ll leave a few surprises for you to learn about yourself.

I don’t have room to go into detail with every new option offered either, so instead of listening to me yabber on, check out prius.ca for an impressive virtual show of features such as automatic parking assist with sensors in the front bumper and rear view camera that allow it to park itself either parallel or into a regular parking spot, dynamic radar cruise control with pre-collision (a Lexus trickle-down) that will flash a warning light, buzz an alarm, pretension seatbelts and, if the driver doesn’t respond, hit the brakes automatically to reduce impact or miss the accident entirely.

Nice detailing sets the Prius apart. (Photo: Canadian Auto Press)

There’s also DVD-based voice-activated navigation available, a solar ventilation system that removes some of the unbearable heat while parked in the sun, a remote A/C system that gets it cooler still before you get inside, and more.

I only have one complaint, and it’s a minor one. An “Airbag ON” warning lights up in orange right in the middle of the dash, and it’s bright. At night it’s really annoying, as it never goes out. I’m wondering why Toyota doesn’t reverse the light so that it only tells you if the airbag is off, as this is when it should be brought to your attention.

Lastly,

All-new and better in every way! (Photo: Canadian Auto Press)

the Prius is a good-looking car, better than its forebear and in my opinion much more attractive than its most obvious competitor. Its Matrix-like snout is sportier, scalloped headlights cooler, sculpted bodywork more stylish with sharper edges to improve airflow and make it look more distinctive, the roof’s high point has been moved rearward adding to the look and improving headroom in back, plus its clear-lens LED rear taillights are more upscale. It all results in an attractive package with a wind-breaking Cd of 0.25… form and function working harmoniously together to improve the Prius ownership experience as well as everyone’s air quality.

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