@bisco, yeah based on the visual tables, looks like there's no full size spare happening, at least not in North America. Personally I'm fine with a temp spare. It's less onerous for manufacturers to include, and (as John Candy once said), it isn't pretty, but it gets you where you want to go. @David Beale, I'd say Team Prius weren't listening that hard, what with the half the models without a spare.
Short of shredding a tire you can usually get where you're going if you have a pump. It would be nice if there was room to store this. I carry a tire inflator, snow brush, blanket, gloves, and hat in my gen 2 storage.
I would say Gen3 had about 1-ft3 more than Gen2 (that's what Toyota said in 2010 Gen3 vs. Gen2 presentation). Looks to me like Gen4 with spare has about same as Gen3, whereas no spare option may add 1 ft-3. Gen2 and Gen3 some of the space was below the fake floor. whereas no fake floor on Gen4.
"Usually get where you are going" is OK for many purposes. It's not so good when you lose a tire 50 miles from Far Far Away while on a 1500 mile winter road journey with a time constraint. Only having a pump doesn't cut it for this kind of situation and even the donut spare is a poor solution Funny enough its the options with the spare that look as though they may have space for a tire inflator and some other useful stuff.
...but there really is not "extra space" in a Gen2 or Gen3...when I say Gen3 seems to be equal to Gen4 I am including the space under Gen3 floor. so Gen4 probably has better quality (undivided space).
Gen 4 cargo space seems likely to be better for: Items like suitcases when back seats are not folded (eg taxi use) Long wide items with the rear seats folded (maybe) Gen 4 cargo space seems likely to be worse for: Items you want concealed (eg you want to leave items in the car and want the car to still look empty) Long high items with the rear seats folded Sliding in long heavy items
On my C I threw the foam filler out and filled that space with usable items. Fortunately the C has a spare.
I use the 3rd gen underfloor tray for: jump pack, first-aid kit, wheel chocks, tire plug repair kit, battery charger, small bag 'o tools, a board for putting under the scissor jack base, a collapsible orange hazard cone, an old towel, and oh yeah: a roll of toilet paper.
keep in mind there are 2 gen4's. with spare, floor is level. about same cargo space above decks as gen3? without spare, floor 2" lower, more above deck space, but fairly useless. except for fertilizer bags.
With our 3rd gen I find the level floor has benefits, both for sliding things in, and if you want to somewhere to sit, say putting on snow boots or similar. Ours has the black rubber strip on the top edge of bumper, that gives a little protection too, should have been a standard item, on all the levels.
i suppose that may affect peoples choice, but it won't be that hard to come up with a filler, for those who buy the non spare model and want a level deck.
We just have the inflation kit in our 2016 Prius. But if you removed all that insulation, you'd have the storage compartment that our 2nd gen 2004 Prius had, under the rear deck. I wonder if anyone makes a liner for it?? I'd trade any impact absorption for the extra storage space on long trips. Our 2004 Prius had the under-deck storage and a spare tire all in the back. Has anyone modified their 2016 for more storage space?
