Frankly, the three most interesting things in this autonews article about the new Toyota "Prius Wagon" are: 1) the totally implausible claim that a 1.2-inch increase in driver's seat height produces a "more vanlike command"; 2) the use of the ridiculous plural term Prii; and 3) the apparent secrecy, despite that fact that it goes on sale in a matter of weeks, around this barely bigger Prius's name.
All that really matters, I think, is that it's not the 7-passenger Prius+ that Europe's getting. In 2012.
Don't you see? That claim is entirely plausible no matter how much higher they make it. A phrase like "more van like" means that even if they only increase the height by .00001 inch, it is still technically correct to say, "MORE" van like. Marketing 101 my friend!
taking a cue from Steve Jobs and his iPad2 scam...
I think for these to be Prii the singular would have to be Priam.
Is that the old one or the new one? It really needs screen-printed red graphics saying "VAN" on the side, like a G-body Monte Carlo SS or El Camino.
I think it's only fair that a family with 2 Priuses/ Prii/ Prion should be known as "Priapic".
So I go looking on Toyota's site to see that there's something called the Prius Five (maybe just a trim level of the current Prius we all know) which is different from the Prius V. Maybe we look forward to the Prius V Five at some point.
Ever sit in a Scion xB? Very comfortable, very van like and tons of room. I have no clue how they do it, and why every car on the market can't do it, but I don't doubt that Toyota could make the prius like that as well.
Interesting. the xB is a pretty impressive for what it is. At least the first generation was. I'm not sure what good the current version is. In any case, I'm not sure the roominess (and corresponding square box shape) of the xB would lend itself to the Prius lineup that needs super low drag coefficients in the name of efficiency.