Ugh. Picture a Nissan Rogue, only smaller, with less power and...
Had to put many thousands of miles on this little underpowered, CVT equipped thing. I thank the powers that be, it goes back to Hertz tomorrow!
OK, it's 1.6L, 125HP of 13 second 0-60 fun. Sure, I understand that one cannot expect much from such a small engine. But the CVT and tiny engine combo is tough to live with on long highway trips. The highway RPM ABSOLUTELY WILL NOT remain steady at high speeds. Most of the time hovering around 2700 +/- 300, with extremes between 2500 and 4000 at steady state speeds, with the big factor being wind from trucks. This means that cruise control is absolutely mandatory on long trips, as it's difficult to maintain speed without concentrating on the speedo.
Also the "off the line" performance is so slow due to the initial gearing of the CVT, every Prius in sight is 8 car lengths ahead, despite full throttle at every stop light. Actual HP was barely adequate to climb long highway hills without losing speed. RPM varying annoyingly around 5700 +/- 300 on some long grades, sometimes dropping to 4K and jumping right back up to over 6000. With a load of people and bags, it really struggled.
However, seats were comfortable, noise level was OK, engine was smooth, steering was crisp, suspension was capable, and MPG was 33.
Bottom line, it's not "punchy" enough for city use, and it's underpowered for high speed cruising. I hated it.
Had to put many thousands of miles on this little underpowered, CVT equipped thing. I thank the powers that be, it goes back to Hertz tomorrow!
OK, it's 1.6L, 125HP of 13 second 0-60 fun. Sure, I understand that one cannot expect much from such a small engine. But the CVT and tiny engine combo is tough to live with on long highway trips. The highway RPM ABSOLUTELY WILL NOT remain steady at high speeds. Most of the time hovering around 2700 +/- 300, with extremes between 2500 and 4000 at steady state speeds, with the big factor being wind from trucks. This means that cruise control is absolutely mandatory on long trips, as it's difficult to maintain speed without concentrating on the speedo.
Also the "off the line" performance is so slow due to the initial gearing of the CVT, every Prius in sight is 8 car lengths ahead, despite full throttle at every stop light. Actual HP was barely adequate to climb long highway hills without losing speed. RPM varying annoyingly around 5700 +/- 300 on some long grades, sometimes dropping to 4K and jumping right back up to over 6000. With a load of people and bags, it really struggled.
However, seats were comfortable, noise level was OK, engine was smooth, steering was crisp, suspension was capable, and MPG was 33.
Bottom line, it's not "punchy" enough for city use, and it's underpowered for high speed cruising. I hated it.