Toyota Prius (2010)

2008 Prius Touring Hatchback Handling, Ride & Braking Standard Features
• Four-wheel ABS
• Brake assist system
• Two disc brakes including two ventilated discs
• Electronic brake distribution
• Electronic traction control via ABS & engine management
• Immobilizer
• Spacesaver steel rim internal spare wheel
• Strut front suspension independent with stabilizer bar and coil springs, torsion beam rear suspension rigid with stabilizer bar and coil springs

2008 Prius Touring Hatchback Exterior & Aerodynamics Standard Features
• Body color front and rear bumpers
• Driver and passenger power heated partial-painted door mirrors
• External dimensions: overall length (inches): 175.0, overall width (inches): 67.9, overall height (inches): 58.7, wheelbase (inches): 106.3, front track (inches): 59.3, rear track (inches): 58.3 and curb to curb turning circle (feet): 34.1
• Front fog lights
• Complex surface lens Xenon bulb headlights
• Luxury trim alloy look on gearknob, alloy look on doors and alloy look on dashboard
• Mica paint
• Fixed rear window with defogger and intermittent
• Trunk/hatch spoiler
• Tinted glass on cabin, rear and side
• Weights: curb weight (lbs) 2,932
• Windshield wipers with variable intermittent wipe

2008 Prius Touring Hatchback Interior Standard Features
• 12v power outlet: front and 2
• Air conditioning with climate control
• Roof antenna
• Manufacturer’s own RDS audio system with AM/FM and CD player
• Automatic drive indicator on dashboard
• Cargo area cover/rear parcel shelf
• Cargo area light
• Cargo capacity: all seats in place (cu ft): 14.4
• Clock
• Computer with average fuel consumption and instantaneous fuel consumption
• Partial dashboard, floor and overhead console with covered storage box
• Delayed/fade courtesy lights
• Cruise control
• Front seats cup holders fixed, rear seats cup holders pop out
• Door ajar warning
• Door pockets/bins for driver seat and passenger seat
• Nickel metal hydride electric Power source
• External temperature
• Driver front airbag with multi-stage deployment, passenger front airbag with occupant sensors and multi-stage deployment
• Bucket driver and passenger seat
• Height adjustable 3-point reel front seat belts on driver seat and passenger seat with pre-tensioners
• Front seat center armrest
• Two height adjustable head restraints on front seats, three height adjustable head restraints on rear seats
• Illuminated entry system
• Internal dimensions: front headroom (inches): 39.1, rear headroom (inches): 37.1, front hip room (inches): 51.0, rear hip room (inches): 51.6, front leg room (inches): 41.9, rear leg room (inches): 38.6, front shoulder room (inches): 55.0, rear shoulder room (inches): 52.9 and interior volume (cu ft): 96.2
• Low tire pressure indicator
• Remote power locks includes trunk/hatch
• Power steering
• Front power windows with one one-touch, rear power windows
• Front reading lights
• 3-point reel rear seat belts on driver side, passenger side and center side
• Rear seat center armrest
• Three asymmetrical bench front facing rear seats with zero adjustments
• Rear view mirror
• Steering wheel mounted remote audio controls
• Remote fuel filler door release
• Front and rear side curtain airbag
• Front seat back storage
• Upgraded cloth/velour seat upholstery with additional upgraded cloth/velour
• Seating: five seats
• Service interval indicator
• Front side airbag
• Six speaker(s)
• Plastic multi-function steering wheel with tilt adjustment
• Illuminated driver and passenger vanity mirror
• Ventilation system with micro filter

Toyota Prius Touring Hatchback

For these reasons, hybrid cars have experienced a sharp increase in sales and more car manufacturers are joining the hybrid vehicle arena with their own versions. For those who are planning to buy a hybrid car, the choices are numerous, thats why you have to compare hybrid cars with one another to see which one would go perfectly well with your needs.

Two of the top hybrid car manufacturers are the Japanese giant’s Toyota and Honda. They are credited with producing many innovations in the hybrid technology and their hybrid cars are the most acclaimed, most sought after and most awarded hybrid vehicles today.

Here we will compare the hybrid cars they are offering for 2007, these will include the Honda Accord Hybrid, Honda Civic Hybrid, Lexus GS 450H, Toyota Camry Hybrid and the Toyota Prius.

Their fuel efficiency can be compared through their average consumption per mile in different situations, like; City Driving where the traffic is constantly stopping, Highway Driving where the engine can freely operate at maximum level and their combined average usage.

Miles Per Gallon Average Miles Used Per gasoline of Fuel

· Honda Accord Hybrid 28 MPG (city), 35 MPG (Highway) and 31 MPG (Combined Average)
· Honda Civic – 49 MPG (city), 51 MPG (Highway) and 50 MPG (Combined Average)
· Lexus GS 450H – 25 MPG (city), 28 MPG (Highway) and 26 MPG (Combined Average)
· Toyota Camry Hybrid – 40 MPG (city), 38 MPG (Highway) and 39 MPG (Combined Average)
· Toyota Prius – 60 MPG (city), 51 MPG (Highway) and 55 MPG (Combined Average)

But before you just pick out the one with the highest MPG average, you still have to consider and compare a couple of aspects as well. This includes the fuel type. All of these vehicles use regular gasoline except for the Lexus which uses Premium Gasoline that is pricier.

Then you also have to compare the size class of each hybrid car and their engine size and liters. The Accord Hybrid is a midsize car with a 3 liter – 6 cylinder engine. The Civic Hybrid is a compact car with a 1.3 liter 4 cylinder engine. The Lexus is another compact car with a 3.5 liter 6 cylinder engine. The Camry Hybrid is a midsize sedan equipped with a 2.4 liter 4 cylinder engine and the Toyota Prius is a compact car with a 1.5 liter 4 cylinder engine. The more powerful the engine is, the more fuel will be consumed.

Considering this aspects and others is needed when comparing hybrid cars. You have to put considerations to see why there are differences. So before purchasing a hybrid car, compare first and do your research. Find one that would suit your needs and your personality best to get the perfect hybrid car for you.

Try to Compare Each and Every Hybrid Car with One Another Before Choosing

A hybrid car is a means of transportation using two power sources; it uses a rechargeable energy storage system found on board and a fuelled power source as the vehicle’s driving force. The hybrid car pollutes less and uses less fuel.

Back in 1899, Ferdinand Porsche have developed and led the way to the very first working hybrid-electric vehicle. Other people followed suit in Ferdinand Porsche’s invention. Many people who became interested in the hybrid-vehicle concept have been continually making hybrid cars. However, there was no major car manufacturer who invested in the hybrid concept and mass produced hybrid cars until the late twentieth century. The hybrid technology was mainly utilized in developing diesel-electric submarines during that interim period.

The diesel-electric submarines mainly operate very much the same as a hybrid car. However, the submarines main goal was to conserve oxygen rather than spend less fuel. During the later years, submarines have evolved and have begun using the nuclear power as a substitute for diesel.

During the 1990′s, the Toyota Prius and the Honda Insight were the first successful hybrid cars available in the market. It was two of the pioneers in the hybrid car concept which virtually changed the way the world thinks about cars.

An idealistic inventor, Victor Wouk, manufactured a hybrid electric and gas motor vehicle that siphoned fuel at half the amount as practically all the other cars being built then. He built the hybrid car thirty years before the Toyota Prius got the attention of the U.S. as an energy-anxious nation.

The account about the hybrid car and its inventor, who died in May, 2005, at age 86, is unfamiliar among even the most avid fans of the growing hybrid car association. In terms of hybrid car knowledge, it is in fact America that should have led all other countries. Wouk said that the government program that he developed about hybrids was unknown to everyone.

Victor Wouk founded and sold two successful electric industrialized companies in the late 1940s and 50s and in 1962 he was approach by Russell Feldman, one of the founders of Motorola, who recognized the pollution from the automobile as one of the biggest problem of the environment and he wanted to discover the possible solutions with regards to this problem. But his experiment did not work much for the possible solution.

Having an idea, Wouk pondered the problem throughout the 60s and ultimately reached a clever solution. He combined the low-emission benefits of an electric car with the power of a gasoline engine to produce a hybrid vehicle. But Wouk did not get any response to his ideas for creating a hybrid car; in fact he was heavily criticized for not believing in a full-electric system.

With the help of his colleague, Charlie Rosen, who shared his belief about hybrid cars, gave him the chance to prove his ideas of creating the hybrid car as one of the solution to the rapid health cost of auto-pollution. And now the impressive capabilities of the invention of Wouk, the hybrid cars, can now be a very great help in terms of less fuel consumption and less air pollution.

Wouk and Rosen put up a new company particularly to developed their hybrid car idea and make it possible to be in the market and be used as an everyday car that belched far less harmful vapors than contemporary vehicles.

The Prius
Ever since the Toyota Prius was released in the market, it has been able to remain as the premier choice of hybrid cars available. It is true that old hybrid cars looks more like an alien car and cost far more than the conventional car. However, because of the latest technology installed in newer versions of hybrid cars, it looks more like a conventional car and is far cheaper than its predecessors. It is a fact that hybrid cars today looks very much like conventional cars. However, it will enable you to cut fuel consumption in half.

For example, the Honda Civic Hybrid car looks very much like its conventional version. However, when you look at it closely, the hybrid version of the Civic is able to conserve fuel much better than its gasoline counterpart. The Civic Hybrid can get you 50 miles in just one gallon of gasoline.

During the year 2004, Ford has developed and introduced the very first hybrid SUV, which is the Ford Escape Hybrid. A year later, Toyota also introduced their line of hybrid SUV called the Highlander Hybrid.

Because of the growing demand for hybrid cars, other car manufacturers are now following the footsteps of the other companies who already released a version of their hybrid car in the market. For example, Nissan is now planning to develop and introduce a hybrid version of the Nissan Altima.

Nowadays, over 300,000 hybrid cars are running on American roads wherein 95 percent of them are Japanese made. The hybrid vehicles are truly very different technology that can both save money and our environment.

The History of the Hybrid Car: An Evolution for the Future