Like a confused teenager, the Toyota Prius C seems to be searching for its identity. Last year, Toyota’s littlest hybrid received a minor update that included the addition of a racy lower body kit; this year, the Prius C adopts a more SUV-like look.
Marked by a new front end that includes redesigned headlights and a reshaped hood, the 2018 Prius C’s mug adds crossover-like design features such as silver accents on the front and rear fascias that mimic skid plates and black wheel arches that appear to convey a more off-road-ready attitude. Additionally, there’s a lightly revised interior includes a refreshed center stack and an updated steering wheel.
In spite of the 2018 Prius C’s new look, the model’s gasoline-electric powertrain is left unchanged. All Prius C models once again utilize a 1.5-liter four-cylinder engine and two AC motor/generators that produce a combined 99 horsepower. The larger motor/generator is geared directly to the final-drive differential to provide propulsion and to generate electricity during deceleration. The smaller AC unit collaborates with the combustion engine through a planetary gearset to power the wheels with electronically controlled drive ratios, often called an electronic CVT. In our testing, this powertrain dragged a 2015 Prius C from zero to 60 mph in a lengthy 10.9 seconds.
Although the top-of-the-line Prius C Four’s cost of entry holds steady at $25,850, the rest of the Prius C lineup sees a modest $480 price bump for the 2018 model year. The base Prius C One now starts at $21,515, while the mid-level Prius C Two and Three trims sticker at $22,315 and $23,740, respectively. Like last year, every Prius C comes standard with active-safety items such as forward-collision warning with automated emergency braking, lane-departure warning, and automatic high-beam headlights. A backup camera is newly standard.
While the EPA has yet to release fuel-economy figures for the 2018 Prius C, Toyota expects they will be the same as the 2017 model’s 48 mpg city and 43 mpg highway.
No matter how it styles itself, though, Toyota Prius C’s subpar driving experience means we’d happily take a mileage hit to spend our time behind the wheel of more engaging and less expensive subcompact hatches such as the Ford Fiesta or the Honda Fit.
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