The powertrain too has been placed lower and all these changes together have had a significant change in the way it performs. Powering the Prius is the same 1.8-litre, 4-cylinder VVT-i gasoline engine, but in this latest application it has been thoroughly revised and now promises a 18% fuel economy improvement and a 40% increase in thermal efficiency.
Toyota has managed to achieve this because it has implemented a dual cooling system that automatically reduces the volume of coolant flow in the engine to achieve a quicker warm-up. The engine uses low-viscosity oil to lower frictions between the components. The engineers have also fitted a coolant water selector valve that boosts engine warm-up during cold days while keeping the cabin heater performance intact.
The four-cylinder DOHC combustion engine churns out 97 bhp and develops a respectable 142 Nm of torque from as low as 3600 rpm. The people at Toyota have redesigned the transaxle and the electric motor which punches out 73bhp to to lower mechanical losses through friction by approximately 20% thanks to a new multi-axle design.
The Prius comes equipped with a new nickel-metal (NiMH) battery that now sits beneath the rear seats and as we said earlier helps in weight distribution in the car. The trunk capacity too remains at a respectable 502 litres and the auxiliary batteries have been moved from the trunk to the engine compartment.
2016 Toyota Prius
The fourth generation of the Prius is safe too as according to Toyota it uses a higher proportion of high-tensile strength steel in its construction, making good use of high-strength, lightweight hot-stamp materials to achieve rigidity of 980Mpa and higher. The content of this quality of steel in the vehicle has increased from three to 19 per cent. Furthermore, the use of advanced Global Outstanding Assessment (GOA) brings the benefits of light weight, stability and excellent collision safety performance.
The bump in fuel efficiency will mean that the Prius will now be able to return an economy figure of 40 km/l and that is a massive jump. The car will be unveiled at the Tokyo Motorshow and we'll know more about the car then.
