Prius vs Auris Hybrid

Today I had the chance to drive an Auris Hybrid w/Navi and winter tires for about 1 hr in city and highway traffic (where I could reach the max. speed).In no particular order, the differences and impressions I got:

1. the boot is not at all deep – if you think the Prius’ boot is not deep enough, you haven’t seen an Auris…
2. you can see the current fuel consumption in numbers, rather than in a bar –> consumption during full acceleration from 100km/h to max, on flat, around 17-19L/100km (12-13mpg); consumption at a traffic light accelerating in ECO mode at the limit of the PWR area, around 25L/100km-9mpg (which slowly goes down when gaining speed!); compared to the EU Prius this is much better since all you can see is a full bar = >10L/100km, but you don’t know how much up you are really…
3. the energy monitor is Camry Hybrid style – it does not show arrows going from the engine to the battery, thus inaccurate – on the Prius you can see arrows, going from the engine to the electric motor and/or directly to the wheels *and* to the battery via the motor (describing accurately how it works).
4. the current fuel consumption reports 0L/100km when standing still with the engine running – though formally correct, it does not switch to L/h like, e.g., on VW cars
5. rear visibility is not much better than on the Prius
6. overall behaviour of the powertrain practically the same as on the Prius (no reason to be any different, since both cars also weigh essentially the same, i.e. about 1440kg)
7. maybe due to the tires, tends to lean to a side when taking bends “fast” – the Prius seems to be less prone to leaning and seems to handle better the road – still, depends on the tires used…
8. average fuel consumption seems to be in line with the Prius – no noticeable differences
9. navigation system somehow confusing – happy I didn’t take take the Prius with embedded navi – I am so happy of my TomTom and it costed a fraction – not to mention that a Navi in the middle console is more difficult to look than my Navi sitting exactly in front of me behind the steering wheel.. (matter of personal preference, of course); the navigation commands are not replicated in the instrument cluster
10. no head-up display – I *really* missed it
11. conventional speedometer with pointers (?), instead of numbers – difficult to understand at what speed you are travelling – I am not used to those anymore – I like to see a number – much easier and faster;
12. MFD is small and a lot of clicking to see the information needed – the average fuel consumption is “generic” and not linked to Trip A/B – can be useful, but at the beginning I was wondering why it wouldn’t change after resetting Trip B and when switching between A and B
13. switching between Trip A and B only via mechanical switch on the instrument cluster (OMG)
14. available in MFD travelled time (also not related to Trip A / B) – I miss that on the Prius
15. FM radio works! on my Prius instead…
16. the Navi has a CD player sitting on top of a (blu-ray?) smaller slot for the Map…no SD card slot to be seen
17. also in the Auris, no way to know where the front of the car ends…
18. the switch to day/night illumination is somewhat slower than the Prius (i.e. when running into tunnels)
19. somewhat smaller inside, more “snug”
20. better look&feel of plastics
21. no historical fuel consumption “statistics” – the Prius is more geared at showing you what you are doing and “teach” you how to save gas
22. the HSI is easier to “see” on the Prius – on the Auris a gauge moves at the border of the left round instrument and there is little difference or feedback in which region you are – the Eco light monitor is a pretty small light in the center of the instrument cluster; somehow the Power area is just as wide as the hybrid+eco hybrid area – why?

Read here about my Prius vs Lexus CT200h impressions.

Read here about my Prius vs Honda Insight impressions.

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