Next-gen Prius semi-officially leaks out: yep, looks like a shoe
By Nilay Patel 
posted Oct 19th 2008 2:09PM
posted Oct 19th 2008 2:09PM
[Thanks, Miko34]
Read - 2010 Prius photos on Prius Chat
Read - Toyota corporate blog
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i don't see the shoe-like resemblance. The front kinda looks like a scion though.
i don't see the shoe either...
agreed. this is actually an improvement in their design, though still isnt up to par. if engadget thinks this looks like a shoe, i'd hate to know what they think the previous models resemble.
Here you go.
http://www.featurepics.com/FI/Marked/20070925/WOOD-CLOGS-464307.jpg
There is nothing toyota could sell me. Nothing short of an LS460 Lexus and even then I wouldn't trade my S550 for it.
My girlfriend just purchased a Honda Accord Coupe V6 fully loaded and I have to say, for the money, honda is WAY better than Toyota Corrola and Camry. She paid $30,800 cash for a car fully loaded with GPS, alarm, remote start,heated seats and moonroof. Toyota can't touch that.
I'm not hurting from the gas prices (which I promise you - will rise after the election ends) but If I were choosing an economy car, I'd go for the Volt.
the first pictures that were leaked months ago were from bad angles that looked shoe-like
@ Flashpoint
Too bad Mercedes are absolutely horrible for reliability, I've never been to the service center so often in my entire life. I'd bring a laundry list of issues to their attention, they would take 3 days to work on it, and then when it came time to pick the car back up half of the parts were back ordered from Germany. They'd always respond with, "What's the problem, we're going to fix it for you!" - nevermind the fact that it was a huge pain in the ass to bring it in every time there was a problem. I have to say they treated me really well, but it wasn't worth it.
Our Lexus GS430 (two years old) has been nearly flawless, there was a single preemptive recall that was fixed in a matter of hours but that is it. As much fun as the Mercedes was to drive, they need some serious quality control changes before I'll ever reconsider buying one.
Toyota and Honda have their quality under tight control!
And this Prius doesn't look like a shoe, I don't know where that came from.
Cheers
+1 Vote on the not looking like a shoe thing. My shoes get flat towards at the tip. I think it looks more like an astronaut boot.
looks like a Megazord shoe to me
no improvement here I can see. Still a sloping back. Same ugly design they have sat on for ages. About time they had a new body shell if they really want this to catch on, in a mass-market kind of way.
The editors must wear really ugly shoes.
Flashpoint and Andrew, arguing for the common man.
[1990 grand prix ftw]
can we just ban flashpoint? my 27 year old toyota corrola-tercel has over 200,000 miles and keeps running withought any major problems, its a tank! and once i get the carb set up right it should get about 50mpg. get a toyota before you tell me their crap.
My Z3MC looks like a shoe. This does not.
All it needs is the nike check.
Its the 'swoosh'...not a check
and NO, it has no resemblance to a shoe...
Nillay needs a lesson or 2 in both automotive and shoe design...
and probably some corrective eyeglasses as well!
I like the look of the current Prius, but this new one looks nice as well.
The current Prius is the most hideous car on the road today. But at least this one looks better.
this car has the exact same c-pillar, therefore = shit
@ happy_penguin
It's not a Pontiac Aztek.
@waiownsyou
I'll agreed the aztek is the most ugliest car ever.
civic hybrid looks 1000x better though
I agree, I really like the look of the current Prius and the new one looks nice too. They look futuristic, like Disney would have them running around Tomorrowland. Lots nicer than a lot of the joke little square boxes you see running around with the 4 foot tall spoilers on the back thinking they look cool.
I dunno guys, the brand new TL is giving the Aztek a run for its money in my book
Front:
http://image.motortrend.com/f/10662384/112_0810_20z+2009_acura_TL+front_view.jpg
Back:
http://image.motortrend.com/f/10662387/112_0810_19z+2009_acura_TL+rear_view.jpg
@waiownsyou, uhh..... you should look again. I bet if I lined five Priuses and five Azteks side by side in a room and adjusted the lighting so that all you would see is their silhouettes you wouldn't be able to figure which one was which. The Prius is an Aztek, except it's a hybrid.......which means it is one of the ugliest cars ever made, and the newer one isn't much better.
An Aztek isn't a car.
Welcome to last week.
You must have really strange looking feet.
At least this Prius actually looks good.
Just wait until you see those god damn bats.....
PLEASE. Tell me you got the fucking golf shoes!
Looks like a Toyota Auris at the front and a Prius at the rear.
I think the appropriate title is that it *Still* looks like a shoe.
For the love of God, can we please have a Prius version that looks good?
It's called a Camry Hybrid.
When the Camry hybrid has the same fuel economy specs, call me.
How does this look like a shoe? This looks really sleek.
It still has a fat ass.
@ happy_penguin
Yes, in some cultures this is also referred to as a "trunk" or "boot," the back location on a car used to store things for safe transport. Typically this should be as large as possible so that one can fit more than a very small midget inside of it.
He means you can fit more junk in the trunk.
I will take two of those for my unnaturally large feet. thanks
Does it come in an 8?
I don't get it... it looks like the old one to me...
The interior looks horrible. You can tell Toyota is really trying to cut costs. I guess they want to sell it for a lower price.
Volt>Prius
they have always cut corners with the Prius interior. Apart from the powertrain, the Prius is a seriously ugly car.
The body style is fine i think it needs some ground effects , and different rims and it would be ok
Why? So you can screw up the aerodynamics? Look, as ugly as the Prius is, Toyota knows what they are doing from a standpoint of efficiency. The car's shape is what it is because it needs to be as economical as possible from a standpoint of MPG. The only reason to buy a Prius is MPG.
Stop complaining about car design, If you want a sports car that gets you girls... (or guys) get a 69 GTO... otherwise just drive the thing, maintain it and scrap it when the car is finished...
You cannot have a car that gets rediculous mileage and looks like a ferrari, those are called kit cars and it is embarrasing when you hear a tiny whimper coming from a car that should put out a roar...
or just get an iPhone if you want to feel special...
of course you can get a car with good mileage that looks good (ie TESLA) its just a matter of consumers telling them they dont want to drive a shitty looking car. all you need is a sleek design with a good drag coefficient.
shove the iphone up your ass please.
No one's saying that it has to look like a ferrari. I'm more than satisfied with the Volt's appearance, for example. I have yet seen any research that indicates this hideous design is the most optimal design, either.
Ok, so iEye demonstrates his characteristic ignorance by confusing sports car with muscle car.
But, he redeems himself by pointing out that getting an iPhone is on the same level of patheticness as kit-car exotics.
How the hell does apple fit in to this conversation. Other than that, you have brought up a good point for once.
Why use a car to pick up girls? Prostitutes are way cheaper than flashy cars, and they probably have fewer deseases than any girl that would actually sleep with you just because of your car.
I actually kinda like the one from the April 29th design sketch:
http://www.engadget.com/2008/04/29/next-gen-toyota-prius-bigger-stronger-more-prius-like-than-ev/
But, more than looks, I care about the plugin. Flexfuel would be cool too (if Chile can change the entire country to plugin flexfuel vehicles, why can't we? and they did it a LONG time ago ... oh, right, their leader at the time wasn't in the oil company's pockets).
What about their hybrid Camry? They have a new version of that coming out too? With plugin?
It looks just like the rest of the prius's, ugly. Though I have to agree, it looks nothing like a shoe.
I think it looks more like a cheese wedge.
i would like to see this car covered with solar cell
i would like to see said solar car in a wreck and the glass cover the freeway and kill the driver
@Lowdef: That makes no sense.
First of all...they probably wouldn't even use glass in a solar panel for a car...there are much lighter and more durable materials (such as duralite).
Second of all, the glass from a windshield would be more of a concern to me...since that is what you might come in contact with.
Third of all, if you're thrown out of a car onto a road from an accident, you're fucked. Solar panel on the road or not.
Fourth of all, you're a dumbass.
Wow nice to see the new 2010 Geo Metro.
they just need to give the car a more arc type look, the back is what looks the weirdest. A gentle arched back shouldn't have any effect on the aerodynamics of the car.
No, you know what this looks like? An '07 Civic sedan. Wow, that's quite a resemblance, actually.
http://blog.vehiclevoice.com/Honda%20Civic%20Blog.jpg
(picture)
Hmmmmm not really, no.
Well, they both have....wheels?
Toyota is very secretive, what I and everyone else want to know is ...MPG. Current one gets 46 total, Toyota promised an increase, if it will get 50 MPG at the same price, this car will be HUGE.
I have a Prius, and I get an average of 51mpg. Bath, the area that I live has a lot of hills, and consequently the combustion engine is used a lot more that in a flat area. Diesel engined cars average 35mpg in this are. I've tested the Prius in London (quite flat). For 40 miles of London driving, the car came back with 65.3mpg. Driving style has a lot to do with it. If you drive around like a maniac, expect low mpg, but if you use hypermilling techniques, and are aware of traffic situations ahead of you, you can significantly reduce your car's fuel consumption.
It still looks like a fish
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says who?
LOL nt
For the people saying this is ugly: have you SEEN most of the boxlike, bulky SUV eyesores on the road today? How can you complain about this when abominations like the 4x4 and Ford F150 still exist?
Anyway be happy it is a Toyota, when GM and Chrystler merge, expect to see some serious scrap buckets... GM's fit and finish combined with Chrystler... um mini fridge glove box... oh yea...quality at its best...
"you americans and your utter lack of knowledge about cars that are any good, you are so funny!!! ;o)"
Well I see that FORD/MAZDA has improved much...
by the way, unfortunately not everyone can fit in a Toyota echo/honda civic, those cars are made for a population of small people.
And not everyone wants car that is "any good"
I would take this prius car for general transportation and winter, then bring out a '72 Roadrunner for fun...
I'm 6'3, and I'm more comfortable in my hyundai accent hatchback than I am in the cramped front seats of most SUVs (especially american made ones) on the market. Seems to be that the bigger the car/truck, the more room it has for a beer belly, but even the smallest cars make room for taller folk. Once again, engineering triumphs over brute force.
you americans and your utter lack of knowledge about cars that are any good, you are so funny!!! ;o)
you foreign people and your utterly uneducated generalizations of Americans, you are so NOT FUNNY!!
Give me solar or give me death!
Hybrids are a (somewhat) good middle step towards sustainable transportation, but what we need is to dump fossil fuels completely...I guess that's a pretty obvious statement.
I honestly feel like hybrids are helpful more in their action of attracting attention of the general public of the necessity of environmentally friendly options than they are in actually helping the environment. Yes, they get better gas mileage therefore reducing emissions, but they also use Nickel batteries. The production of these batteries creates a huge amount of sulfur dioxide emissions which offsets most if not all the good that the better gas mileage got you.....
I thought you said it was the next generation?
Dunno what kind of shoes Engadget writers wear... Front looks ok, they need to fix up that back though.
I don't really understand why they are releasing a new model when in
another year they'll have plugin, LiPo batteries and perhaps solar
cells. I would be happy to get a good hybrid but I don't see the
point in getting one that is due for a major change within a year.
I realize that there are many alternatives for better gas mileage but
I'm eager to see the new completely hybrid (not a converted model)
lexus. I think it is coming out next year.
I have an old 2001 acura and even though they botched the
transmission since they replaced it for free I'd consider another
acura if the new model got better gas milage than my 8 year old car -
not sure why they needed closer to 300HP - is anyone else here in the
US driving their street car on a racing track or live in a place
where the cops don't mind you driving at 140MPH or to tow a yacht?
I appreciate HP - wouldn't want to drive a car with 80HP but at some
point when does enough HP become enough where you might want to
consider concentrating on MPG.
This does not look like a shoe, nor is it the same body style as the blue one in the link.
Sorry for the anti-American car crowd but the Volt looks better
But what about services? It is important part, also what if roof broken? does it have petrol option?
The roof needs to be "broken" when enabling shoe mode, so you can fit your foot in it.
Light grey? (amusingly called silver sometimes) Over here that deep grey veering towards black is the new fashion color for cars. Light grey is getting a bit stale.
Hmm. Well, it does not look bad, but far from good.
Why is Honda able to make near-futuristic car design when the worlds biggest car maker cant?
Come on, what a misleading title. This is the electric car that looks like a shoe:
http://www.myersmotors.com/
My shoes have 4 wheels each, too. http://www.rollerblade.com
I say this looks better than the current one, but in my opinion, is still pretty unattractive. The Civic Hybrid or upcoming Honda Insight are much better in my opinion. But if Toyota keeps selling these at the speed that they are, then more power to them.
Why not leave it 85% looking like a Matrix?
I dont get the bashing of the Prius styling, this car is designed to be aerodynamic and the teardrop design it sports is about as aerodynamic as you can get. Buy a Prius if you really want good gas mileage, that is its purpose. You want a more eye friendly design buy something else.
Fugly ugly!
@Totalfixation:
For ugliness, I have to go with the Edsel (an Oldsmobile sucking a lemon) and the AMC Gremlin (Where's the rest of your car?). The Prius is gorgeous by comparison.
If it wasn't for the front grill/bump... it looks a lot better then the old prius... though... still not attractive. I wonder if people who want to "look" green will buy it less though cuz it looks a tad more normal.
Seems to still have the horrible back window. Can't see anything out of it.
Not the best looking thing on the road, but they sure are selling a lot of them. I had to wait 7 months to get mine.
And I agree the back is really messed up. Had to go with the rear view camera option so my wife could see to back up.
Still like our Honda Jazz/Fit but the name sucks.
I would love to have a Volt but they really have changed the design so much I am starting to have doubts about it as a "cool" looking car.
Anyway if the US government doesn't bail them out we may not have much of a choice except to be driving foreign cars.
do want!
I like it. I would cruise around and totally pick up unshaved hippie chicks.
I think the author must have some pretty funky shoes.
Do they think that they must make it ugly for it to get good gas mileage? If they make it look halfway decent then they think they have to charge a higher price for it?
Boggles my mind...
I don't really see much difference in the design. If people liked the old version they'll probably like this one...