Hello,

I'm trying to decide between getting an Altima Hybrid or a Prius. I test drove both models today and really like the way the Altima looks and feels(love the seat warmers) but felt like the Prius had a bigger trunk and a lot more mileage.

We are a family of 4 with 2 kids still in carseats and do quite a bit of driving around both in the city and also long distance trips like from Nor. Cal to So.Cal. I've read that Prius is very bad with high speeds like 80.

Please help me, need to make a decision by this week.

TIA.

The NAH and Prius are in very diffent classes of cars!

MPG:
Prius will get you about 10-15MPG more than the NAH

Torque and Power:
NAH eats the prius for breakfast without even trying.

Handling:
NAH corners descently, the prius corners poorly, so neither excels in this category.

Interior Space:
NAH is bigger, has more room than the Prius.

Trunk Space:
NAH... what trunk? Prius owns this category.

Looks:
All subjective, but with the Prius you'll be somewhat unique and everyone can tell that you are driving a hybrid from miles away. NAH, looks just like the regular altima, so the to untrained eye, most drivers on the road will ignore you as an altima.

Price:
About the same, though Nissan still has tax incentives while Toyota does not.


The bottom line is that its nearly impossible to compare these 2 cars as whatever category you pick, one will completely own the other. There are just no variables that you can compare these 2 cars on as each excels in vastly different category.

So, decide for yourself whether you want a super-efficient car with practical cargo storage and absolutely 0 sporty factor, or an efficient sporty car that doesn't drive like a box and still gets very descent mileage, though at the expense of tiny storage.

I have the NAH, and will need to trade in my minivan soon. I think I will get the Prius. Remember, when gas is $10 a gallon, even the Prius won't be economical enough.

Don't forget about safety!

The Prius only has 4 star ratings on a frontal crash.

The NAH is 5 star all around.

A good compromise is the Honda Civic Hybrid, which has better safety but still gets MPG close to the Prius.

Safety Ratings can be found at: http://www.safercar.gov

If you ask me which is the better all-round car, I would have to go with the NAH, but the Prius is technically the better hybrid per-say. The Prius certainly has the best milage, and in this day and age that may trump all. It also has the best cargo space and a great company backing it up.

The Prius does, however have things that annoy me. I'm 6ft+ and the NAH is much more comfortable. The Prius lacks telescopic steering which is a crime in $22,000+ car. The Prius lacks the horsepower of the NAH and you can tell. The Prius has a very quirky bladder filled gas tank that can cause all kinds of headaches while the NAH has a standard tank and 20 gallons to boot. Every Prius or Camry hybrid I have test driven have had harder times going to EV mode. This may be my driving, but the NAH seems much easier. The Prius uses many unique parts other then just the hybrid stuff, including things like LED lights. These things help increase MPG by a small amount but also increase price for replacements.

This is more a question than a comment. I have read that the Prius only stays in EV mode up to 25mph. Is this still true or was this a limit in earlier models? If this is still the case, The NAH's ability to stay in EV up to 43mph seems an advantage. Although I guess the proof is in the ultimate miles per hour ratings.

It gets late early out there. - Yogi

I don't think that's true anymore. As far as I know, the Prius, Camry, and Altima all share a very similar system, and the top 'electric-only' speed is determined by the gear ratios (and the max speed of the electric motor). I think it's the same for all of them.

I could be wrong, since I haven't driven a Prius recently.

For safty i got the NAH... esp. u have 2 kids.

My Altima kicks out at 40mph, even if I am going down hill. I can not crack 40mph without the engine coming on. I am hoping someone more technologically advanced than I, will come up with an engine override switch or chip that lets us more venturous types push the EV to 45-50mph

Larry Jensen
St. Lawrence Properties
Real Estate Center

2008 Nissan Altima Hybrid
Tech Package Best MPG to date: 42.5

Put it in neutral just before the engine comes on, and the engine will stay off even if your speed increases. Just remember that you'll only have friction brakes in neutral. So, put it back in D if you want your brakes to regen.