prius

All-new 2023 Toyota Prius arrives with sleek design, TNGA platform and 223 PS

Gokul — Thu, 17 Nov 2022 06:28:41 +0000

All-new 2023 Toyota Prius arrives with sleek design, TNGA platform and 223 PS Gokul Thu, 11/17/2022 - 14:28

Toyota and Lexus have sold 15 MILLION hybrids

topgear — Mon, 04 May 2020 06:43:27 +0000

Toyota and Lexus have sold 15 MILLION hybrids topgear Mon, 05/04/2020 - 14:43

Good lord, it’s a Liberty Walk Toyota Prius

topgear — Thu, 27 Jun 2019 10:39:10 +0000

Good lord, it’s a Liberty Walk Toyota Prius topgear Thu, 06/27/2019 - 18:39

New Toyota Prius is less scary looking, drives more of its wheels

topgear — Thu, 29 Nov 2018 11:06:48 +0000

New Toyota Prius is less scary looking, drives more of its wheels topgear Thu, 11/29/2018 - 19:06

Special Service Campaign: Toyota Prius 1.8 Hybrid

ahmadzulizwan — Fri, 05 Oct 2018 12:04:21 +0000

Special Service Campaign: Toyota Prius 1.8 Hybrid ahmadzulizwan Fri, 10/05/2018 - 20:04

This is what a Toyota Prius lowrider looks like

topgear — Mon, 23 May 2016 00:07:18 +0000

This is what a Toyota Prius lowrider looks like

The new Toyota Prius is many things. It is cheap to run, it is very worthy, and it is also somewhat challenging to look at it.

Japanese tuner Wald International has given itself the task of fixing that latter issue with this really very distinctive body kit. It has slammed a Prius, and we really don’t know what to make of it.

Wald has a long history of tuning the Prius, but for Toyota’s mk4 hybrid, it’s gone wackier than usual. So as well as some ginormous 20-inch wheels (different each side, see, to show off two of Wald’s designs), there’s some extended side skirts and many extra aesthetic elements both front and rear.

Among the more incongruous additions are dive planes at the front – like a Porsche 911 GT3 RS 4.0, or many racecars – and a third brake light reminiscent of Formula 1 rain lights. There is also a massive diffuser, which you could safely describe as over engineered for a car with 121bhp and a 180kmh top speed.

Then, of course, there’s its (ever so slightly) dropped suspension. The Prius maybe the first choice of the Uber driver, but your late-night chauffeur will be struggling to navigate his best shortcuts in this when it can’t negotiate even the littlest speed bumps.

Still, there’s something endearingly Japanese about a car tuned to such inappropriate, off-the-wall levels. And one which is taken so far from its maker’s unwaveringly sensible design brief. And given the Prius has rather a lot of styling to begin with, where’s the harm in lobbing even more at it?

topgear Mon, 05/23/2016 - 08:07

Uber X drivers, rejoice! It's the new Toyota Prius!

topgear — Wed, 09 Sep 2015 19:42:39 +0000

Uber X drivers, rejoice! It's the new Toyota Prius!

This is your first look at the new, fourth-generation Toyota Prius, a ground-up rework of the hybrid superstar that propelled dual-fuel into the Big Time back in the late Nineties.

Taking aesthetic inspiration from its gawky Mirai hydrogen fuel-cell sibling, the new Prius is quite an, um, arrestingly complex thing to behold.

The front is pointier and lower than the last generation, with new, sharper headlights that make it look rather furrowed and angry. The Prius's slabby side incorporates a few slashes and sculpts, with a blacked-out C-pillar to create the in-fashion 'floating roof' effect. At the back, you'll find tall 'boomerang' taillights integrated into a glass hatch that doubles up as a spoiler.

Underneath, the MkIV Prius's chassis and double wishbone rear suspension system is all-new, part of Toyota's 'New Global Architecture' (TNGA) platform. Think of it as Japan's answer to VW's highly successful MQB structure.

Like MQB, TNGA allows for a universal modular set of components to used on diverse cars. As VW has proved, this helps to cut down on development time while offering cost savings by effectively buying in bulk. Costco of the car world, if you will.

Beyond that new platform, Toyota is remaining tight-lipped about the new Prius's running gear and numbers. It's more than likely that a revised and more efficient version of its 1.8-litre petrol engine is under the bonnet, coupled to a smaller but more energy-dense hybrid battery, all running through a CVT transmission.

For better or worse, there's no denying that the Toyota Prius has caused a seismic shift in the motoring landscape. When the first rolled off the line in 1997, few would have thought that over 3.5 million would have followed. But they have. And with Priuses now forming a family of products, expect plenty more plug-in and flexible-seating variants to follow.

We'll see this new fourth-generation with our very own eyes at next week's Frankfurt motor show. You'll be seeing them scampering around cities picking up iPhone-enabled octogenarians or app-happy drunkards via a certain controversial taxi service early next year.

topgear Thu, 09/10/2015 - 03:42