FIRST DRIVE- New Toyota Prius + Stig Breaks Longest Uber Ride Record

This is the new Toyota Prius, a car that's had a proper Cinderella moment and gone from dowdy to delightful in one fell swoop. And I've been tasked with testing it in the most Prius way possible. So I've decided to ball up all of the Uber cliches and become a non-Uber Uber driver. I've got to pick up my first rider here at London's Heathrow airport at 9am. Though obviously I'm not a real taxi, I'm more of a fake one. I hope it's a celebrity. Actually, I just hope it's Dua Lipa. Hello? Where are we going then? That's outside the M25, mate. Are you sure? Well, I guess we're going then. So, how's your day been? Alright? Have you come far? His headroom looks a little bit tight in there as well. I'm going to need a lot of Haribo. But when you need the money, you don't shirk a ride. So with our very untalkative passenger stowed in the back, off we went to Scotland. So what have we got here then, I hear you ask? Or not? Well, this is the new Toyota Prius, a car that wasn't going to come to the UK and then we all saw it, thought it was beautiful, everyone made a noise and now, good news, it's going to be on sale here in England. And that's great because this isn't like any Prius that has gone before it. I actually remember testing the original Prius and that looked like a deformed turtle. It was not pretty. But this new Fev is super slinky and we're going to get it in the UK in two different grades, but both with a 13.6 kilowatt hour battery and a two litre combustion engine. So it's a proper hybrid. Now that will make it fairly nippy, which we'll talk about later, and it'll be really good for efficiency. This is all good news. That battery should allow for about 40 odd miles of electric only running, though I've been getting about 30, which is handy for town and, you know, your usual commute. If you're a bit leery of full EV, then I think this could be partially an answer. I do not think the plug-in hybrids are the spawn of Satan that everybody says they are. Are they? Fun fact, the longest ever Uber ride was actually from Heathrow to Loch Lomond. So if we go further than that, we actually have broken the record. If I was a real Uber driver. Yeah. Shall I put the radio on? Having dealt with the interminable hellscape of the M25 and the lack of Dua Lipa without significant problems, the litre of coffee I'd consumed needed to see the light of day. So we stopped for a quick refresh. Hello, Moto Rugby. Although the passenger didn't seem too happy about it, I don't think he understands human biology. You know what? Every time I walk back to this thing, I'm genuinely surprised that this is a Toyota Prius. I think it's hugely good looking and I'm saying that about a Toyota Prius. Now, there's cheaper versions globally. There's one in the States that's a non-FEV that's about 25 grand, but the ones that are coming here are going to be around about 40,000 pounds. The first generation, the really ugly one, came out in 1997 in Japan, a couple of years later globally. That's 27 years ago. And it was arguably one of the biggest game changers in a generation, being realistically the first mainstream hybrid passenger car. This one is the fifth generation, and it's the only one that has looked desirable. I mean, the others were fine, but you'd never show off about owning one. I mean, just drink this in. It's got this kind of wide light bar that wraps around the front and it's got the headlights and the kind of sensors in it that makes the car look not exactly aggressive, but kind of sophisticated. And then as you move down, it's got a long, low, coupe-ish shape with the door handles that are actually up here in the C pillar. So it keeps the lines nice and tidy. It's also got the same kind of thing going on at the back. So it's a long, wide light bar that makes it wider and lower than it really is. And obviously, it's really practical because it's a hatchback, except for the fact that it's not actually practical. There's less headspace front and rear. The boot is really small compared to the old one. And even in the back seats, there's a lot less legroom. This is not a better Uber. Headroom is definitely lacking, but I can't stand around here talking all day because we've got places to be. I have no idea how an expressionless helmet can be so accusing. I think it's a pretty good trade-off, actually, a bit of style for a little bit less practicality. Although if you were an actual Uber driver, that might be a little bit annoying. Other than that, though, the inside is a lot more practical than you think in terms of the function. It's a bit less stylish than the outside, but it does a good job. So you've got a big touchscreen here, some physical buttons and rocker switches in the middle for things like the aircon, heated seats, all that kind of stuff, wireless charging pad, conventional gear select, a little slot for your phone, all the usual things that you need on a long journey. And it has got lots and lots of advanced driver assistance systems like lane keep assist. And generally, it seems to work really well. It just takes a little bit of the stress out of a long journey. And this being a Toyota, it just kind of works. What do you think about it, mate? And all of that meant we were making pretty decent progress, albeit not hugely conversational. We were a good few miles north and into proper country. The Prius was managing pretty decent MPG, even though I hadn't managed to plug it in. But some traffic avoidance measures meant that I had to abandon the motorway in an effort to keep moving. On a back road, this is not bad. Total system output for the Prius FEV is 223 brake horsepower, which is hot hatch kind of speed. 0-62 in 6.8 seconds. That's pretty quick. And there are driving modes. So you can have it in normal, eco or sport or just full EV. So full EV just uses up the battery until it's all gone. Normal is a bit of both. Eco extends the range. So it'll do things like knock back the air conditioning and slacken off the throttle response. And sport, it isn't really. It's not very sporty. I mean, the steering is accurate, but a bit numb. It's got low rolling resistance tyres. So even though there are 205 section, quite wide section, they don't feel like they've got an awful lot of grip. But it's got good body control. It feels a little bit firmer sprung than any Prius I've driven before. And it's well damped. So it feels more expensive. The only things I really don't like is the Prius FEV only comes with a CVT gearbox. So I know it's more efficient, but when you floor it, the engine will go to a torque peak and then hold that rev range. So it's a bit droney, kind of. It just makes my teeth itch. It's got pace, but not the feel, if you get what I mean. There's also brake regen that works. Pop it back into B mode, then every time you lift off the throttle, the car will slow down, put some more energy back into the battery. It's not as strong as it could be, though. So it's not a proper one pedal car. Generally, though, this is a bit of a revelation compared to other Priuses. So even though it's not a sporty car, it's got a bit more feel, a bit more body control, a bit more kind of conviction and intent. It's fine. I think the way it looks makes you think it might be a bit more sporty than it is. But generally, I really enjoyed driving it. And to be honest, it's been getting 60 plus mpg and we've not plugged it in. So that's pretty efficient, too. The way it drives, it feels like it's cutting through the air. It feels aerodynamic, which is quite nice. Though when you go too fast, it will just understeer. It's not really got much going for it in the sporting department. But then it's not a track car, is it? So who's going to take these to a track? Only an idiot. But then the sat-nav decided to add a stop, or the Stig did via some sort of wireless transfer. And it soon became clear that someone needed some exercise. Um, well, here we are. Are we swapping seats then or something? OK, so I guess we are actually going to test the Prius on a racetrack. On you go, Stig. Oh, so that's a CVT gearbox. I mean, old Priuses used to be a lot worse. Sugar. Oh, my God. Two wheels. Am I enjoying this? No. Oh, and they're sideways in a Prius. OK, Stig. Stig! Jesus Christ. There's ones in the world that have an electric back axle, so they're four-wheel drive. I think I'd prefer that one. I've never seen a Prius do this. Is it terrible at going around a racetrack? No. Am I enjoying this? Also, no. Well, I am, kind of. I mean, oh, my God. But once the Stig had been let out and exercised, we had to keep going. And going. Until finally, it was time to rest. We tried to book him a room. We really did. And the next morning, once we realised how far up we'd come, we realised just how spectacular Scotland could really get. If you'd asked me 10 years ago which car I'd least like to drive on these roads, I'd have probably said a Toyota Prius. But not anymore. But finally, we reached our destination. Which didn't actually appear to be a destination. Well, this is where we said. I mean, are you sure this is where you want to be? Are you? Hang on. Oi. What about my star rating? What about tip? Well, I guess that's him gone then. Thing is, most people know the Toyota Prius as a private hire vehicle because it's reliable, frugal and relatively spacious. But really boring. Or it was. Now it's reliable, frugal, pretty quick and really good looking. It makes it a truly desirable car. It's probably the biggest glow-up we've ever seen in the automotive industry. It makes it a much worse Uber, but a far, far better car. Oh, I've just realised I've got to drive home. See you, mate. Thanks for the conversation.