I mentioned Toyota's claim that sales are down because production is down.Maybe it is actually true.I don't doubt that eventually TCH will drive down the demand for high end Prius.A high end Prius is ~$27000-pretty much TCH price land for a car 13" shorter,narrower etc.The Prius does beat it in carrying capacity however,but the TCH is faster and no doubt safer, probably slightly more comfortable.I sure with Toyota made a TCH hatchback.The 6 cyl HCH just isn't what I had in mind;ever with a 4 cyl HSD it would still be too tall and blockyfor max mpg.
I know that on this forum the HCH does about as well as the Prius in mpg.However, this forum doesn't have normal drivers on it.I would go further and speculate that HCH drivers are more fanatic-in respect to mpg-than Prius drivers. Now, my only hard evidence is the MPG data base-the HCH 2 does TOO WELL in respect to how it does when driven by non partisans-Edmunda,or CR, or even Car and Driver.The HCH 2 responds very well to all the tricks we/you learn here.The Prius on the other hand will deliver great mpg in anyones hands.
.Luck,Charlie

Huh? Lots of bad info here. Edmunds Inside Lines forums are an exact match as far as "real World MPG" ( one of their forum threads) as what we report here. Even better as there is a higher percentage of 50+ milers there.

There isnt anything special or unusual about the 220 cars reporting on this forum. The HCH II gets its EPA estimate. No biggee.

We can see the TCH taking shape in the mid 30s and a little higher. AS far as "tricks", Its just a matter of realizing that the engine is designed well for the HCH II, nothing more and nothing less. The Prius is a different design as its basically electric motor at low speeds and gas at high speeds thats it. I don't think that the HCH II being designed in a bit more clever fashion makes it tricky. Silly!

Couldnt let this go unaddressed-- Car and Driver tested the Prius acceleration and found 0 to 60 to be 12.5 seconds. The 1/4 mile and 0 to 90 data are worse still.

I have no idea how the prius got a 0 to 60 rating of 10 seconds initially; it ain't happenin. The HCH II has better accelaration, and particularly between 50-70 miles per hour- leaves the Prius in the dust, which is exactly what I do driving around and by Prius' here in Houston.

Interior room- actually for the driver the HCH II has as much room as the Prius. MPG- In highway driving the HCH II gets better mileage.