2012 Toyota Prius c earns IIHS Top Safety Pick Award

[xcel]

The c joins the rest of the Prius family as IIHS Top Safety Pick award winners.

Wayne Gerdes - CleanMPG - May 19, 2012

2012 Toyota Prius c - $18,950 to start and a 53/46 city/highway rating make for an impeccable choice for those just entering the automobile marketplace.

Toyota’s Prius “c” was designed to be an inner city vehicle providing a unique driving experience thanks to its lightweight design (2,500 pounds) and downsized hybrid drivetrain allowing an unprecedented city fuel economy rating of 53 mpg. This is the best rating of any non-plug-in vehicle in the world!

At Toyota, Safety is Standard

The Prius c’s body structure makes extensive use of lightweight, high-strength steel to help reduce vehicle weight which not only improves fuel economy but also provides a passenger cell capable of absorbing and dispersing impact energies thus enhancing occupant safety.

The Prius c is also equipped with nine airbags including driver and front passenger, driver and front passenger seat-mounted side airbags, driver knee airbag, driver and front passenger seat cushion airbags (for positioning) and front and rear side curtain airbags. In addition, the c arrives equipped with the Toyota STAR Safety System which includes Vehicle Stability Control (VSC), Traction Control (TRAC), Anti-lock Brake System (ABS), Electronic Brake Force Distribution (EBD), Brake Assist (BA), and Smart Stop Technology (SST) or brake override.

With the active and passive safety equipment standard, the 2012 Toyota Prius c, the most affordable B-Segment hybrid on the market today, was just awarded an Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) - Top Safety Pick. The Top Safety Pick award recognizes vehicles that do the best job of protecting driver and passengers in front, side, rollover, rear impact evaluations and assessing whiplash protection and a roof strength test to measure occupant protection in rollover crashes.

While the NHTSA has yet to crash test the c, with an IIHS “Top Safety Pick” award in its toolbox, it has a pretty darn safe starting point.

For more on the c, consider the CleanMPG Preview of the Prius c.

[Harold]

Man, this car just keeps on getting better! Any competition for it ? H

[MaxxMPG]

Originally Posted by Harold

Man, this car just keeps on getting better! Any competition for it ? H

Unadjusted CAFE numbers for the 'c' - 71.8mpg city, 69.5mpg highway, 70.7 combined.
The closest would be the Prius hatch, which is almost exactly the same, but has different official EPA numbers due to different results on the 5-cycle testing.

The Volt's CAFE numbers are 47.5/53.6, 50.1 combined. Not even close to the 'c', although when driven properly on short trips and properly charged, it will use less fuel. The only elephant in the room - you can buy a Prius c-2 and a Prius c-3 for the price of a popularly-equipped Volt if you're not counting the Volt's tax credit. And I don't count the tax credit if it can't come off the price of the car when you buy it instead of waiting until next year to get a check.

[MikeMarsUK]

...designed to be an inner city vehicle ... lightweight design (2,500 pounds)...

... is it just me or does that sound heavy for a city car? I have a normal vehicle (designed for the motorway as well as town driving), with a heavy diesel engine and it's 2,300. The petrol variants are lighter (and the diesel 1.2 is also lighter, at 2,000).

Originally Posted by Harold

Man, this car just keeps on getting better! Any competition for it ? H

How about 78mpg (us) on the NEDC combined cycle for a 10 year old car (the 1.2L TDI variant of the A2)? Does any manufacturer currently produce a non-electric/hybrid car with better MPG?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audi_A2#1.2_TDI_.223L.22

[EdwinTheMagnificent]

MikeMarsUK , you are lucky to live in a country with many choices of cars. In North America , we have three sizes : Fat, Obese , and Super-Tanker. We're mostly thrilled that a "heavy" car like the Prius c is available here.

Does any manufacturer currently produce a non-electric/hybrid car with better MPG?

That's a good question. I am too lazy to look it up , but a Kia Rio with 1.1 diesel is very close. It has taken everyone else a long time to catch up to VW/Audi.

[xcel]

Hi Mike:

The Prius c is an 87 cu. ft. passenger volume that does the 0 to 60 dance in 11.5 seconds or so and the Audi A2 would not want to go up against it in any around town jaunt let alone compare the emissions or a proper NHTSA or IIHS crash test profile. Just like the EPA is a bit tougher than the NEDC, NHTSA and IIHS are a bit tougher than Euro NCAP.

I have not looked up the A2 specs but post them when you can as I have to hop on a plane in a few minutes to Nashville.

Wayne

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

Originally Posted by MaxxMPG

The Volt's CAFE numbers are 47.5/53.6, 50.1 combined. Not even close to the 'c', although when driven properly on short trips and properly charged, it will use less fuel. The only elephant in the room - you can buy a Prius c-2 and a Prius c-3 for the price of a popularly-equipped Volt if you're not counting the Volt's tax credit. And I don't count the tax credit if it can't come off the price of the car when you buy it instead of waiting until next year to get a check.

I know it's annoying, but you can get your money back faster by adjusting your taxes so you pay less for the rest of the year. (Oh the US tax system sucks hard.)

Anyway, getting Top Safety Pick is just something to be expected. Whoever came up with the Top Safety Pick rating idea must have earned a huge bonus. We've now reached a point where there should only be articles about new vehicles that aren't a Top Safety Pick.

[MikeMarsUK]

Hi Wayne,

Originally Posted by xcel

The Prius c is an 87 cu. ft. passenger volume ...

Hmm, I have no idea, I can't find this. It has more interior space than you would expect but I can't put a number to it.

... that does the 0 to 60 dance in 11.5 seconds or so and the Audi A2 would not want to go up against it in any around town jaunt ...

For the 1.2 super-economic variant ... yes, the performance picture is firmly in favour of the Prius:
61 hp in a 2,000 lb body - the Prius has a 28% power-to-weight advantage.
14.9s 0-62 time
103 lb-ft torque ... (OK, no particular surprise that a diesel beats a petrol on torque).


For the 1.4 TDIs that is not the case. Mine (which I should point out is remapped) is 103 hp in a 2,300 lb body compared to 99 hp combined (engine + electric together) in a 2,500 lb body. That's a 13% higher power-to-weight advantage. The standard (non-remapped) 1.4 TDIs are either 75hp or 90hp as standard - the 90 having an equal power-to-weight compared to the prius, and the 75 being lower.

Also the prius has 87 ft-lb torque versus 143 ft-lb torque for the standard 75hp TDI.

After remapping the 75hp, torque is 200-205-ish ft-lb. Remapping the 90hp is not necessarily a good idea because the torque exceeds the clutch rating (but if you did, you'd end up with ~120hp & too-much-to-use torque).

... let alone compare the emissions or a proper NHTSA or IIHS crash test profile. Just like the EPA is a bit tougher than the NEDC, NHTSA and IIHS are a bit tougher than Euro NCAP.

Yes, I agree there - it's usually about 18% difference between NEDC and EPA isn't it?

I have not looked up the A2 specs but post them when you can as I have to hop on a plane in a few minutes to Nashville.

Wayne

The numbers for the standard (non-remapped) vehicles (petrol & tdi):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audi_A2...al_information
http://www.ukmotorists.com/car_data....A2%201.4%20TDi

For the 1.4 TDIs:

* 0-62 time - 10.9s for the standard 90hp tdi, and 12.5s for the standard 75hp tdi. I don't have the times for the remapped vehicles (I don't drive them like that anyway!!)
* HP - 75 & 90 are the standard. (Remapped up to 100-105 and 120-125).
* Torque - 144 lb-ft for the standard 75hp and 170 lb·ft for the standard 90hp (remapped - 200 for the 75hp & who-knows-what for the 90hp).
* NEDC combined cycle: 54.7 mpg (us). So dropping that by 18% to estimate the EPA = 44.8mpg us. Recently I have been exceeding this estimated EPA by about 40% (nowhere near to how much you are exceeding EPA on your accord :-))


For the 1.2 TDI:

* 0-62 time - 14.9s
* 61 hp
* 103 lb-ft torque
* NEDC combined cycle: 78.4mpg (us). Dropping that by 18% to estimate the EPA = 64.2mpg us.


General articles
http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/review...atchback-2000/
http://www.audiworld.com/model/a2/news/091499.shtml
http://www.a2oc.net/forum/attachment...9&d=1193173538
http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/...t-drive-review
http://www.top-best-cars.com/2010/09...ute-small-car/


Keep in mind this is a vehicle sold between 1999-2005, the design is 13 years out of date... we should be seeing vehicles which are significantly better now. This was the hidden thrust of my original post ... Why aren't the manufacturers building 1900 lb vehicles with 20% better mpg than the A2? Materials science has improved, engines have improved, design has improved, ... where is the successor?

The same is true for the Mk 1 Honda Insight. They made an amazing car, but the later versions & successor cars have all been really weak in comparison, frankly.

I get really frustrated whenever I see some brand new car being introduced with a great fanfare, and it is second-rate compared to what was available a decade before. They could do so much better, but they compromise everything. I want to see vehicles which do NOT compromise ... they should aim for a single goal with ruthless focus.

[CitrusYellow]

Originally Posted by MaxxMPG

Unadjusted CAFE numbers for the 'c' - 71.8mpg city, 69.5mpg highway, 70.7 combined.
The closest would be the Prius hatch, which is almost exactly the same, but has different official EPA numbers due to different results on the 5-cycle testing.

The Volt's CAFE numbers are 47.5/53.6, 50.1 combined. Not even close to the 'c', although when driven properly on short trips and properly charged, it will use less fuel. The only elephant in the room - you can buy a Prius c-2 and a Prius c-3 for the price of a popularly-equipped Volt if you're not counting the Volt's tax credit. And I don't count the tax credit if it can't come off the price of the car when you buy it instead of waiting until next year to get a check.

The "c" is smaller than and lighter than the Prius III. Since city fuel consumption is directly proportional to weight, it's hard to be thrilled that the "c" merely equals its heavier brother. It is obvious that Toyota crippled the HSD as part of its cost reduction effort. When the Insight II came out, its mileage was inferior to the bigger Hybrid Civic of the time, and for much the same reason: The battery had been shrunk, and 2-way VTEC was substituted for the Civic's 3-way.

I do expect that championship economy runs on the "c" will exceed regular Prius numbers by >20%, the ratio of their weights. These runs consist of VERY low speed glides on gently rolling hills in rural Oklahoma, in a way that avoid serious use of the crippled hybrid system.

[seftonm]

I would expect the A2's interior dimensions to be very comparable to the Prius c. The A2 was ahead of its time in a lot of ways, unfortunately it doesn't seem like it was very popular though.