Rendered Speculation: Injecting excitement into Toyota with a Prius Coupe
Rumors of a Prius coupe from Toyota have been floating around for at least a couple of years – to no avail. However, now that new Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda has decreed that Toyota needs some excitement in its lineup, and Honda has announced that the production CR-Z coupe will debut this fall, a real Prius coupe may finally gain some momentum. A new rendering that has popped in Japan shows a hybrid coupe with more resemblance to the new Hyundai Genesis coupe than any current Toyota.
If the Prius coupe does become reality, it could get a more powerful version of the powertrain from the current 5-door hatchback, possibly with as much as 134 hp from the 1.8-liter engine. It's also possible that Toyota could just drop in the powertrain from the Lexus HS250h, which uses a 2.4-liter engine based on the Camry. There's no word on whether the coupe will come stateside although if the CR-Z succeeds, it seems a good bet.
[Source: 7Tune]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Rain 12:50PM (7/25/2009)
Prius Supra,the next rival for the 350Z.
Prius CelicaSS,for the Tuner People.
These two should open up potential markets.
Reply
stevezilla 1:31PM (7/25/2009)
I like this render a lot, but I wonder -- if they want to add 'excitement' to their line-up -- why would they add a sporty coupe based on the Prius, rather than re-introduce a hybrid Celica GT? It wouldn't be as efficient as the Prius sedan which would erode the Prius brand. The Celica has been gone for 3 or 4 years and this would be a great way to bring it back.
Reply
downtoearth 2:31PM (7/25/2009)
stevezilla:
> It wouldn't be as efficient as the Prius sedan which would
> erode the Prius brand.
These "Prius Coupe" or "Lexus Prius" (as about Lexus HS250h, which has nothing to do with the Prius platform) things are just naming gimmicks used by journalists, possibly to draw more traffic.
> to their line-up -- why would they add a sporty coupe based on the Prius,
> rather than re-introduce a hybrid Celica GT?
That's exactly what is planned as far as speculation says. The earlier prototype of the Celica is known as Toyota FT-HS http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=toyota+ft-hs and looks a bit edgier than the rendering above.
By the way, everyone will now start repeating the "Toyota needs to add excitement" mantra. I bet Toyota needs to do a lot of more defined improvements to their line of their cars:
1. Improving fit and finish, swapping hard plastics with soft ones, adding lots of aluminum design touches, a bit more sophisticated styling of buttons, controls, dials with the "design touch".
People (and motoring journalists) judge on superficial factors only cause there are the one they can see and evaluate. Creating a "quality feel" in a car cabin is often just as relevant as creating true quality (expressed by dependability and low ownership costs) as at the start the latter cannot be seen. I frequently see evaluation of cars by pressing their plastics to see whether they are hard or soft.
2. Improve the steering feedback. This is another this that's very easy to evaluate so everyone brags about it over and over again when sharing experiences with a new car. It's also a pretty important characteristic.
3. Improve their four cylinders gasoline engines. The 3.5 V6 family is one of the best of the breed, in some versions matching even twin turbocharged BMW gasoline 6s. V8 are fine as well, the Sequoia V8 kills the Audi Q7 4.2 V8 in both performance and efficiency. But the small four bangers are behind its competition, especially in Europe. Valvematic is fine, makes those engine one of the most fuel efficient but still they cannot compare with small turbocharged/twincharged engines in terms of everyday low down performance and driving pleasure.
4. Possibly add a standard damping control, switching the suspension among sport/normal/comfort mode. Toyotas are fine as far as smooth cruising is concerned but need less body roll and more planted feel when doing evasive driving. In case of ordinary coil spring suspension, this can only be achieved (and to limited extend) by introducing adjustable dampers.
Tohe 2:45AM (7/29/2009)
So GM's Volt will get its Toyota counterpart (or rival) after all.
Reply