WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.600 How do you take a car that is notoriously uncool and suddenly 360 make cool? 00:00:05.600 --> 00:00:08.720 Well, a good start is nearly doubling the horsepower. 00:00:08.720 --> 00:00:15.600 That's exactly what Toyota has done here. This is the 2023 Prius Prime and it is up 99 horsepower. 00:00:15.600 --> 00:00:19.440 And in a car that started with 120, that is a big difference. 00:00:19.440 --> 00:00:25.840 And the good does not stop there. Let's have a look. Starting with the looks, this thing is fantastic. 00:00:25.840 --> 00:00:29.520 I don't know how they have been able to take the Prius body language 00:00:29.520 --> 00:00:33.680 and turn it into something that looks good, but they certainly have managed it. 00:00:33.680 --> 00:00:37.360 You can see right here, this windshield is raked so low 00:00:37.360 --> 00:00:40.880 and it really adds just the low nature of this car. 00:00:40.880 --> 00:00:47.120 Like if you look here, it only comes up to like my nipples or so. 00:00:47.120 --> 00:00:51.760 This thing is a very low to the ground car and I think it looks great. 00:00:51.760 --> 00:00:57.280 Like look at that headlight. We've got the top of the range model with the 19-inch rims, 00:00:57.280 --> 00:01:00.880 although you might want to consider stepping it down to the 17s 00:01:00.880 --> 00:01:07.120 because those get you 72 kilometers of range. Whereas these 19-inch rims, because the arrow is worse, 00:01:07.120 --> 00:01:10.480 only net you 64 kilometers of all electric range. 00:01:10.480 --> 00:01:14.800 That said though, you have a gas engine too, so you're not too concerned about that. 00:01:14.800 --> 00:01:19.440 Now for the door handles, we get just normal ones right here, which work just great. 00:01:19.440 --> 00:01:24.640 That isn't something that I should have to point out, but a lot of car companies really like screwing them up. 00:01:24.640 --> 00:01:27.920 Like Toyota did on the back of this. These are kind of weird. 00:01:27.920 --> 00:01:34.880 That said though, they're easy enough to operate and there is another one right here if the electronic opener doesn't quite work. 00:01:35.600 --> 00:01:39.440 For charging, you only get to use AC and not DC, 00:01:39.440 --> 00:01:47.200 although it has a 13.6 kilowatt hour battery. So with 240 volts, you're able to charge it all the way up in only four hours. 00:01:47.200 --> 00:01:53.600 That's pretty reasonable, I think. Around back, the excellent looks continue with the only problem being 00:01:53.600 --> 00:01:58.400 that we don't have a massive wing. I'm sure the aftermarket's already on that one. 00:01:58.400 --> 00:02:04.800 Also, we have a power lift gate. I don't know if that's entirely necessary on a Prius, but this one has it. 00:02:04.800 --> 00:02:08.640 And we do not have a whole lot of cargo space back here. 00:02:08.640 --> 00:02:13.680 You're able to fit like maybe six backpacks from LTTstore.com, 00:02:13.680 --> 00:02:16.960 maybe a checked luggage and a carry-on and that's it. 00:02:16.960 --> 00:02:21.440 Toyota, please bring back the Prius V. That was a real good one. 00:02:22.400 --> 00:02:26.400 Hopping into the back seat, there is more than enough leg room, 00:02:26.400 --> 00:02:30.640 although I do not have anywhere close to enough headroom. 00:02:30.640 --> 00:02:34.080 This right here with the sort of tear dropy, swoopy shape. 00:02:34.080 --> 00:02:38.560 If you're any taller than about five-eight or so, you're going to have a bad time. 00:02:38.560 --> 00:02:42.240 If you are on the shorter side, though, these are very comfortable seats. 00:02:42.240 --> 00:02:46.080 We've got a nice little armrest here, as well as on this top trim model. 00:02:46.160 --> 00:02:51.440 We've got heated rear seats, as well as two USB type Cs and a 120-volt AC. 00:02:52.720 --> 00:02:56.320 Hopping into the driver's seat, this is an excellent spot to be. 00:02:56.320 --> 00:03:01.120 The headroom problems are more than solved and these seats are exceptional. 00:03:01.120 --> 00:03:04.800 You have all of the adjustments that you expect and on this one right here, 00:03:04.800 --> 00:03:08.720 they are all electric and just every single bit that you touch, 00:03:08.720 --> 00:03:13.520 like the steering wheel, this right here, that, all of it just feels great. 00:03:13.520 --> 00:03:20.560 That said, a lot of the stuff that you don't does not. Like right here, oh man, that is some cheap feeling plastic. 00:03:20.560 --> 00:03:29.600 These right here visors, and this bar in the middle, man, what is on the go with that? 00:03:29.600 --> 00:03:33.920 That said, I don't really care about any of that because at the end of the day, 00:03:33.920 --> 00:03:37.360 none of that really matters for your driving experience. 00:03:37.360 --> 00:03:42.560 Now, one thing that you might have seen is that this is offered in the US and some European 00:03:42.560 --> 00:03:48.240 countries with a solar roof. We cannot get that in Canada and there are two reasons for that. 00:03:48.240 --> 00:03:52.960 First of all, winter. You don't get a whole lot of sun then here. 00:03:52.960 --> 00:03:57.760 But also in Canada, apparently sunroofs are way more popular than in other places and 00:03:58.560 --> 00:04:03.280 I just really wish that this one would open. It's really too bad that you only get sort of like a little 00:04:04.240 --> 00:04:08.320 half sunroof thing. It's strange. In here, the storage is good. 00:04:08.400 --> 00:04:13.280 We've got our hashtag wireless charger or hashtag hidden compartment. 00:04:13.280 --> 00:04:18.480 Another little compartment there, two cup holders and a nice bit of space in here 00:04:18.480 --> 00:04:21.200 with loads of USB-C all over the place. 00:04:21.920 --> 00:04:27.040 Toyota has maintained buttons where you want them, even though we don't have dual climate, 00:04:27.040 --> 00:04:32.400 which is kind of strange given how well option this is in basically every other way. 00:04:32.400 --> 00:04:37.680 Also on the steering wheel, we have some nice buttons and they don't have piano black over 00:04:37.680 --> 00:04:41.120 the whole thing. So it doesn't look horrible. 00:04:41.120 --> 00:04:45.520 Nice. There is a bit of 2023 car nonsense in here. 00:04:45.520 --> 00:04:49.920 Like we have the nice big 12 inch touchscreen, which works fine. 00:04:50.560 --> 00:04:55.760 But it's just annoying because they have all of these nice buttons on the left until you 00:04:55.760 --> 00:05:01.120 go to Android Auto, where if you need to access any of the cars functions, you need to go here, 00:05:01.120 --> 00:05:04.320 here, back to Toyota and now you have it. 00:05:04.320 --> 00:05:07.360 They just had this bar stay here all the time. 00:05:07.360 --> 00:05:13.040 That would be great. What also is really annoying is that you have settings for all kinds of stuff in here, 00:05:13.040 --> 00:05:19.760 like a vehicle customize. But what is notably missing are the safety features. 00:05:19.760 --> 00:05:24.160 If you want to do any of that, you need to come into this right here. 00:05:24.160 --> 00:05:29.360 They're a MID. It is somewhere between a dash and a heads up display. 00:05:29.360 --> 00:05:32.960 And although it looks pretty good, it is annoying as hell to use. 00:05:32.960 --> 00:05:39.440 So we can go in here to the menu, use this control down to settings and everything. 00:05:40.320 --> 00:05:43.360 It's like a first gen GoPro over here. 00:05:43.360 --> 00:05:48.640 It's just all like PCS, PDA, parking assist, RCTA. 00:05:48.640 --> 00:05:52.240 If you know what that stuff means, like rear cross traffic alert, 00:05:52.240 --> 00:05:59.120 it's not all that bad. But if you don't, for every single thing in here, you'll need to go to the owner's manual. 00:05:59.200 --> 00:06:04.880 If only they had a massive 12 inch touchscreen right here where they could be like RCTA, 00:06:04.880 --> 00:06:12.640 that is rear cross traffic alert. And it does this and this and have a nice little blurb right here compounding that problem. 00:06:12.640 --> 00:06:16.080 Half of the settings in here are in settings sub menus. 00:06:16.080 --> 00:06:19.520 I constantly have an issue with the front cross traffic alert. 00:06:19.520 --> 00:06:25.440 It is terrible. And every single time that I turn the car on and off, it gets reset. 00:06:25.440 --> 00:06:30.240 I have to come all the way in here, three menus deep to turn it off. 00:06:30.240 --> 00:06:34.720 20 button presses to get that every single time. 00:06:34.720 --> 00:06:41.120 Overall though, this right here shockingly looks better than what they had in the Lexus RZ. 00:06:41.120 --> 00:06:44.480 Well, in the RZ, it does not make a bad car good. 00:06:44.480 --> 00:06:48.080 But in the case of the Prius, this does not make a good car bad. 00:06:48.080 --> 00:06:52.240 Chucking it in reverse first, we have quite a nice 360 camera. 00:06:52.240 --> 00:06:55.680 Not sure that's required, but if you want it is available, 00:06:56.400 --> 00:07:00.640 let's go for an actual drive now. Foot on the brake, foot on the gas, it gets mad. 00:07:01.200 --> 00:07:02.480 Oh, there we go. 00:07:05.280 --> 00:07:15.440 That poor CVT. We now have a zero to 60 of 6.8 seconds, which is not particularly rapid, but compared to the 10 00:07:15.440 --> 00:07:25.360 that it had before, it is a massive difference. You can do things like merge on a hill with this now, and it's not absolutely terrifying. 00:07:25.360 --> 00:07:30.960 And the best part is that if you want to be going into a corner, it is heaps of fun. 00:07:30.960 --> 00:07:32.080 I'm going to just come in here. 00:07:35.920 --> 00:07:44.800 Those poor tires. This came on Michelin premises all seasons, and these poor things cannot keep up with the torque 00:07:44.800 --> 00:07:52.880 that this has. You are just going around any sort of a tight corner, and it is just one tire fire all the time. 00:07:52.880 --> 00:08:01.440 I never thought that I would be wanting a limited slip differential in a Prius, but here we are. 00:08:03.040 --> 00:08:06.720 Andy, I am driving a Prius right now and we are laughing. 00:08:08.720 --> 00:08:13.840 There is a good chance that the vast majority of your driving in the Prius Prime 00:08:13.840 --> 00:08:21.920 will be spent like this in EV only mode. You have 64 kilometers of range, which chances are is good enough to get you to and from work 00:08:21.920 --> 00:08:30.240 without burning any petrol at all. This is great because this arrived with a full tank of gas two weeks ago, and I have got, 00:08:31.280 --> 00:08:35.440 well, basically a full tank of gas still. It has been awesome. 00:08:35.440 --> 00:08:40.800 That said, though, if you really want to get into it, that gas engine can come in handy. 00:08:41.360 --> 00:08:46.160 Now, shockingly, even though they have this red interior trim here, 00:08:46.160 --> 00:08:50.880 they've managed to keep the suspension just, it's like perfect, guys. 00:08:50.880 --> 00:08:57.120 They have hit such a good balance of comfort, even on these 19-inch rims, and good handling. 00:08:57.120 --> 00:09:04.240 So you can sort of just dip it into corners. It's very planted, feels great on the highway, great at low speeds. 00:09:04.800 --> 00:09:06.320 Excellent job, Toyota. 00:09:08.320 --> 00:09:16.000 Tires. The most hilarious part of this is that I have just been press carhooning this the entire time 00:09:16.000 --> 00:09:20.320 that I've had it, and I'll arrive home and it'll just be like, trip summary, you used 00:09:20.320 --> 00:09:27.920 4.5 liters per 100 kilometers. Guys, that's like hypermiling almost every single other car. 00:09:27.920 --> 00:09:33.600 They say that you can do 1.5 liters per 100 kilometers, and I believe them if you aren't just 00:09:35.600 --> 00:09:42.000 all the time. One thing that also adds to the sportiness of this is that it has quite a low seating position, 00:09:42.000 --> 00:09:49.120 especially with the way that the windshield is raked back. So it does actually kind of feel like a sports car. 00:09:49.120 --> 00:09:51.200 It's neat. It's nice for it for you guys. 00:09:55.440 --> 00:09:59.440 Now, one thing that isn't very sports car-like is that engine sound. 00:09:59.440 --> 00:10:05.360 It has a CVT transmission, and it's just with the whole time. 00:10:05.440 --> 00:10:08.800 But whatever. It's torquey. 00:10:08.800 --> 00:10:13.440 I still like it. Chances are also you'll just be drowning it out. 00:10:13.440 --> 00:10:18.720 Now, on our top trim model, we have the JBL sound system, which comes with some of the 00:10:19.840 --> 00:10:24.720 least well-integrated tweeters that I have ever seen in a car. 00:10:24.720 --> 00:10:27.680 But fortunately, it does sound pretty good. 00:10:28.480 --> 00:10:38.640 Play Crab Rave. Now, here we have eight speakers, six up front, two in the back, no subwoofer, and you do certainly 00:10:38.640 --> 00:10:44.160 miss that lack of sub-base. It rolls off somewhere right around 45 hertz. 00:10:44.160 --> 00:10:48.000 So anything that's really low, you are not going to get. 00:10:48.000 --> 00:10:53.520 Also, they have really boosted the mid-base, so I had to knock it back a bit. 00:10:53.520 --> 00:10:56.640 But once I did, it sounds really quite good. 00:10:56.640 --> 00:11:00.320 We have a solid phantom center image, so it's sort of like there's 00:11:00.320 --> 00:11:05.680 a center speaker when there actually isn't, and it's just quite satisfying. 00:11:10.400 --> 00:11:14.400 Well, it is until you turn it up. 00:11:14.400 --> 00:11:21.440 At lower volumes around town, it's fine. But if you're on like a rougher highway road and have to turn it up a bit, 00:11:21.440 --> 00:11:24.640 there is quite a bit of dynamic range compression, 00:11:24.640 --> 00:11:27.600 and the whole thing sort of just bounces. 00:11:28.560 --> 00:11:33.360 It's not fantastic. I would happily live with this sound system every day though, 00:11:33.360 --> 00:11:38.240 and it isn't the sort of thing that makes me just hate it like I did with the Lexus RZ. 00:11:38.960 --> 00:11:42.800 One thing that would be a huge upgrade in this car would be improved sound deadening. 00:11:42.800 --> 00:11:46.640 Added to like the doors under the floor, it would be night and day. 00:11:46.640 --> 00:11:51.600 There is almost no wind noise in this, so if you're able to cut down on the tire noise, 00:11:51.600 --> 00:11:58.080 it would be serene in here. Also, I forgot to mention it before, but if you pull back on the little lever right here, 00:11:58.080 --> 00:12:03.840 you get regen braking. Now to adjust it, you have to go into that really stupid MID thing, whatever. 00:12:03.840 --> 00:12:08.320 There are clearly spots here for where there could be paddles, but they don't exist. 00:12:08.880 --> 00:12:14.240 But oh well, I just always whack it to full braking and have not looked back since. 00:12:14.240 --> 00:12:19.520 It improves the feel of driving a car so much in my opinion, 00:12:19.520 --> 00:12:24.400 because you're able to sort of just balance the car around corners with the throttle, 00:12:24.400 --> 00:12:29.280 sort of like a manual transmission car, and it just makes driving so much more engaging 00:12:29.280 --> 00:12:32.080 than just like a normal automatic slash box feel. 00:12:32.640 --> 00:12:36.160 The Prius Prime is equipped with Toyota Safety Sense 3, 00:12:36.160 --> 00:12:39.920 and that comes with some really cool stuff like traffic jam assist. 00:12:39.920 --> 00:12:44.720 That lets you do basically full autonomous driving up to 40 kilometers per hour, 00:12:44.720 --> 00:12:47.920 so if you're stuck in some really slow traffic, 00:12:47.920 --> 00:12:54.000 it'll basically just do the job for you. This also has some of the best adaptive crews on the market, 00:12:54.000 --> 00:12:58.560 so you can really easily just come up on someone that's sort of stopped in front of you 00:12:58.560 --> 00:13:03.600 and trust that the car is going to figure it all out, and it's just very confidence inspiring. 00:13:03.600 --> 00:13:07.040 But isn't as confidence inspiring as the Lane Centering Assist, 00:13:07.040 --> 00:13:13.280 which is a more middle of the road? Well, it's sort of all around the middle of the road. 00:13:13.280 --> 00:13:18.640 But whatever, I turn that off in almost everything because I sort of like driving my car still. 00:13:19.280 --> 00:13:24.880 So the 2023 Prius Prime, I think it is freaking fantastic. 00:13:24.880 --> 00:13:28.080 If you're looking for something that is really fuel efficient 00:13:28.080 --> 00:13:34.000 and you aren't quite ready to go full electric, this thing is just exceptional. 00:13:34.000 --> 00:13:37.600 They have given it enough power that it is now fun to drive. 00:13:37.600 --> 00:13:43.120 It is exceptionally comfortable, and if I had a long old commute every single day, 00:13:43.120 --> 00:13:48.320 I would be getting this thing. The Prius Prime starts at $40,000 Canadian, 00:13:48.320 --> 00:13:51.680 although fully specced like what we have, it goes up to 50. 00:13:51.680 --> 00:13:54.720 That said, though, it now qualifies for EV rebates, 00:13:54.720 --> 00:13:58.320 so depending on where you are, it might be quite a bit less. 00:13:58.320 --> 00:14:01.280 I just think you did a great job, Toyota, yay. 00:14:02.080 --> 00:14:05.200 Just like you did a great job watching this video, hit like, 00:14:05.200 --> 00:14:08.800 get subscribed, and just have a great old day. See you later.