2007 Toyota Prius Hybrid Review
This gas/electric hybrid car adds a sport-themed Touring model and more standard safety features for 2007. Prius has a continuously variable transmission (CVT). Newly standard are front side airbags and curtain side airbags; they had been optional. Touring models have a sport suspension, fog lights, and alloy wheels.
Compact Cars comprise popularly priced sedans, hatchbacks, and wagons with wheelbases 100 inches or longer.
The 2007 Toyota hybrid lineup gets a little racier, as Toyota adds the Prius Touring model, which has a sport-tuned suspension, 16-inch alloy wheels, foglamps, xenon headlights and a larger rear lip spoiler.
Few cars of the last decade have had the impact of the "Toyota Prius hybrid". The heart of the original Toyota hybrid car is a gas-electric drivetrain the company calls Hybrid Synergy Drive. In the Toyota Prius, the setup consists of a 1.5-liter four-cylinder gasoline engine paired with an electric-drive motor that draws power from a nickel-metal hydride battery pack (mounted under the car's rear hatch area) -- together they make 110 hp. As technologically sophisticated as the Toyota Prius is, it's a remarkably practical car to drive on a day-to-day basis. A midsize four-door hatchback, the 2007 Toyota Prius hybrid is available in two trim levels: base and Touring. The Prius Touring model adds 16-inch wheels, a sport-tuned suspension, xenon HID headlights and foglamps.
There is only one engine and transmission combination available on the Toyota Prius. Called Hybrid Synergy Drive, the drivetrain consists of a 1.5-liter gasoline engine and two electric motors, one of which drives the front wheels and the other of which functions solely as a generator (recharging the car's battery pack). The Prius features an elegantly simple continuously variable "transmission" of sorts. Toyota calls it a "power split device." Every 2007 Toyota Prius comes standard with antilock brakes with brake assist, traction control, front-seat side airbags and full-length side curtain airbags. In NHTSA crash tests, Toyota's hybrid car earned four stars out of five for driver and front-passenger protection in frontal impacts.
Driving a Prius takes some getting used to since it doesn't have a conventional transmission that shifts gears, but most owners grow to like the car's smooth power delivery.
The 2007 Toyota Prius is a hybrid 4-door sedan that comes in 2 trim levels, 4-Door Liftback, and Touring versions. This combination produces a net 110 hp. The 2007 Toyota Prius offers a number of option packages that include: 6 speaker AM/FM stereo with CD, backup camera, and vehicle stability control.
No sense in saving all that money on fuel if you drive an unsafe vehicle, so Toyota has built its reputation on automotive safety. Among the standard safety features that grace the 2007 Prius, are the driver and front passenger airbags, traction control system, child safety rear door locks, front and rear crumple zones, and anti-lock brakes (ABS).
