Hey guys, I have a 2-week old Prime in the cool blue color. I traded in a 2016 VW GTI and it is a huge difference in drive feel. I've absolutely loved the learning curve with the transition to the Prime. Saving gas feels so sweet here in CA where premium is almost $4 (I only ever used premium on the GTI). I did immediately notice that the panels are super thing. The hood warps with what feels like a slight press of my finger. Gas savings=weight shaving. Is the windshield thinner in these car than other non-hybrids? I drive 37 miles one way on mostly highway and country roads and would get rocks fly up to my GTI all the time and I never had a chip. My 3rd time going to work had someone flick a rock that skip 3 times on my hood and landed on the bottom left of my windshield creating a dime sized bulls eye crack. Over night that bad boy extended both ways. To the left it traveled maybe 4 inches to the base of the windshield and to the right that sucker is now almost a foot and a half or more. I'm getting it replaced with an aftermarket Pilington or something like that. Are those thicker? Are there any other tips and tricks to this sweet but fickle car? Highway travel and wind just buffet me around like I'm in a leaf. I am planning on getting some 17x7 17lb wheels to try and get a more stable ride. Thanks
Congrats and welcome to PriusChat! That would be a big difference but fortunately the TNGA platform didn't make that difference even larger. (Toyota was targeting a standard Golf when tuning this generation's suspension. The previous generation Prii had softer suspension, a cheaper torsion rear suspension and a heavily front-biased weight distribution). I don't know if they're thinner (they are acoustic and laminated) but I'm starting to notice more forum members talking about windshield chips on the Gen 4 and Prius Prime models compared to previous generations. It could be the glass composition moreso than thickness. The Prius uses more ultra-high tensile steel which allows for thinner steel panels while retaining the same strength as high tensile steel, thus saving weight.
I remember folks complaining about rock dings back in the gen 2 days 2004 over on Toyota Nation. I’ve not had one but I don’t typically tailgate gravel trucks either.
You don't need to tailgate to get rock chips. I've had trucks gun it from a stop light, spraying my car with winter road sand.
Yeah, there is a 3-way intersection where the main road curves 70 degrees left. There is a gravel road that intersects from the right on the curve. So in between both lanes there is a 4 foot litte island of gravel. This is what a corolla picked up and flung at my car. No speeding or anything happened and no trucks where around
