Things you cant do with a Prius

Own a hybrid? Don't feel left out; heres a little corner just for you.
marktime
Posts: 179
Joined: Thu May 10, 2007 11:36 am
Location: Littlehampton, West Sussex

Things you cant do with a Prius

Postby marktime » Thu May 24, 2007 10:47 am

I feel it's good to own up to your weaknesses before someonelse points them out. There have been instances of Prius buyers not finding out until after the cheque is cashed that you can't tow with it.

I imagine that the original design brief for the developers had a few comprimises in it and if you consider the 1.5 engine in a car where you might expect to see an 1.8 or 2.0 litre engine you can see how towing might be an issue.

For this reason you wont find a 'type aproved' towbar and this can be a problem if you want to use a towbar mounted load carrier. The folks on the Prius forum know of a source for an apropriate towbar assembly.

That said the Prius has no problem carrying loads, the boot/ hatch is a good size and the rear seats fold down and there is a false floor to the boot with a suitcased sized compartment underneath.

It will also take a roof rack and I am able to fit 4 bikes mounted vertically on the roof without a problem but this does muck up the aerodynamics a lot and it clobers the MPG.


MarkTime

User avatar
aminorjourney
Posts: 1084
Joined: Thu Sep 14, 2006 5:24 am
Location: Bristol
Contact:

Postby aminorjourney » Thu May 24, 2007 1:33 pm

I can't get our Prius between bollards or park it completely on the pavement in an emergency like I can with the Cityel! :)

marktime
Posts: 179
Joined: Thu May 10, 2007 11:36 am
Location: Littlehampton, West Sussex

Postby marktime » Fri Jun 22, 2007 5:16 pm

Well, this has become a very long list :D :lol:

Mark
Soft as Graphite, Hard as Diamond, Black as Coal & clear as CO2, It's a Carbon thing!

User avatar
qdos
Posts: 2089
Joined: Fri Apr 27, 2007 10:26 pm
Location: Dorset
Contact:

Postby qdos » Fri Jun 22, 2007 6:48 pm

You can't tow with a Ford Ka either. It's got nothing to do with the engine size or power these days it's to do with bureaucracy. Nowadays 'they' have decided that a manufacturer needs to get a kind of type approval for towing and obviously car manufacturers really can't be bothered to go to the expense for a handful of people who might or might not buy one of their cars, so you will see fewer and fewer cars 'approved' to tow anything with. Basically you'll be left with the big SUVs and perhaps the odd Volvo although I wouldn't be surprised that the Ford Focus may get certified given it's popularity.

Who else has seen a trailer attached to a motorbike? I saw one the other week and there's also the ones for push bikes which my next door neighbour has too.

User avatar
retepsnikrep
Posts: 1387
Joined: Sat May 26, 2007 4:50 pm
Location: North Yorkshire England
Contact:

Towing

Postby retepsnikrep » Mon Jul 30, 2007 11:56 am

Can't tow with my Honda Insight either.

User avatar
ChrisB
Posts: 4657
Joined: Fri Jul 14, 2006 11:33 am
Location: Hampshire on the Southcoast
Contact:

Postby ChrisB » Wed Aug 01, 2007 8:23 am

Can I play to with the cant tow bit ??

Cant tow with a Berlingo EV either as the rear battery is in the way of the towing bracket.

ChrisB
I reject reality and substitute my own !!!!!!


Return to “Hybrid's Corner”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 17 guests