how do toyota prius handle driving in the mountains?
i live in the mountains of north carolina & im interested in buying a used toyota prius. i am wondering how they
handle curvy and sometimes steep mountain roads, gravel driveways, & snow? i am hoping to replace my AWD
subaru (23mpg) with a more gas efficent vehicle that can handle mountain driving. i see people driving them
around here but havent been able to talk to a prius owner yet.
Since they are light, have less power and they are two wheel drive, I would guess that they are not as good as your Subaru.
The Prius REALLY is NOT the kind of vehicle that is ideal at all for mountainous driving. It's low in horsepower, low in torque. Handling is probably numb at best...Plus, as mentioned earlier, it's a very lightweight car. You'd be much better served on a curvy, snowy mountain road by an AWD/4WD car...I'd stick with the Subaru. There are a LOT of other AWD cars out there though...Not sure how big a concern the higher center of gravity is for an AWD SUV on these types of roads...if not a huge concern, CR-V, RAV4 or Mitsu Outlander Sport all have AWD as options.
Just FYI, Prius owner here with news for you Subaru fans. They are coming out with a Subaru XV hybrid :) Not as good gas mileage as a Prius, but more power and torque than one. Oh and to answer your question about Prius driving in mountains, I just got done with a trip from Provo, UT to Denver, CO on I-70 then back on I-80 and it sucked. I got about 50mpg going from Provo to Denver cause most was downhills, but going back I got like 27 mpg average and it whined going up the climbs and I'd be doing 55 or 60 mph while everyone else was passing me doing 75.
Your Answer
|
Looking for a Used Prius in your area?
CarGurus has 35,070 nationwide Prius listings
starting at $3,495.
|
| #1 |
|
tenspeed
Reputation
100
|
| #2 |
|
Tom Demyan
Reputation
50
|
| #3 |
|
LouB
Reputation
40
|