Toyota Prius 2005 review

It's one of those new-fangled hybrid cars that run on a combination of petrol and electricity.

Toyota has given us one for three months so we can get better acquainted with the technology.

A week, which is the normal amount of time we spend in test cars, is just not long enough with this one, especially as we failed to run our first Prius dry.

Given our experience with other hybrid and diesel-powered vehicles, we were half expecting to get 1000km out of a single tank.

But surprisingly the low fuel light starting flashing long before this at 770km to be exact.

Disappointing? No, not if you put the figure in context. The Prius only has a 45-litre fuel tank.

Filling the tank to the brim, it took 39.36 litres – which means we still had a bit left in the kit.

If you do the maths, that puts our fuel consumption at 5.1 litres for every 100km, or about 55 miles per gallon in the old money.

Now, that's a bit more impressive.

As well as a smallish 1.5-litre petrol engine, the Prius has an electric motor that provides extra power, especially during acceleration.

The petrol engine delivers 57kW of power at 5000rpm and 115Nm of torque at 4000rpm, while the electric motor generates 50kW between 1200 and 1540rpm. Maximum power output, however is restricted to 82kW because the two don't hit their stride at exactly the same time.

More interesting, is the torque output of the engine which is a combined 478Nm, giving the car some real punch off the line.

The petrol engine automatically switches off when the car is stationary or coasting. You can even run the car for short periods and at low speed using just electric power, kind of a "stealth" mode – although we can't see any great call for this.

Power is fed to the front wheels through a continuously variable (CVT) automatic trans- mission. There are no gears and therefore no discernible change points.

The transmission performs the dual role of splitting the delivery of energy between the front wheels and generator which powers the electric motor.

Any surplus energy generated is stored in the extensive battery system for later use.

Braking also regenerates power, so stop-start city driving is not necessarily a bad thing.

Toyota claims the Prius uses up to 50 per cent less petrol than an equivalent-sized conventional car and emits about half the carbon dioxide.