INGO BARENSCHEE

It’s not that we dislike fuel-sipping cars. Quite the opposite. To achieve high-mpg numbers, economy cars generally possess properties we laud, such as a low curb weight and a manual transmission. Low grip and meager horsepower are part of the eco-friendly bargain, but they also mean the car’s limits can be fully exploited within the legal speed envelope. And they’re affordable. There are plenty of fuel-efficient cars on the market that we’d wholeheartedly recommend to a gearhead friend.

The Toyota Prius C is not one of those cars. It’s efficient, with EPA ratings of 53 mpg in the city and 46 on the highway. It’s light, at 2597 pounds soaking wet. And starting at $19,710, it’s affordable. That’s where the similarities between other fuel misers and the Prius C end. It doesn’t have the best-of-both-worlds persona—excellent mileage numbers and all the chuckable fun—that defines our favorite economy cars. The Toyota Yaris, which shares many of its underpinnings with the Prius C, is much more rewarding from behind the wheel.

View Photos PATRICK M. HOEY

Saving Fuel, Skipping Fun

Like the size-regular Prius, the Prius C uses an Atkinson-cycle gasoline engine mated to two electric motors and a planetary gearset that acts as a continually variable transmission. In this smaller Prius, the engine is downsized to a 1.5-liter inline-four making 73 hp. Add in the 60-hp drive motor, and total system power is 99 peak horses, one fewer than in the (nonhybrid) Mazda 2. The electric motor, which produces peak torque instantaneously, ought to make the Prius zippy off the line, but strangely, it doesn’t. As we mentioned in our first drive of the Prius C, this is a car that resists all efforts to increase forward velocity. Floor the accelerator pedal, and it seems as though nothing happens. Our test-track numbers—0 to 60 mph in 10.9 seconds and the quarter-mile in 18.1 seconds at 76 mph—are certainly on the slow side (consider that our long-term Mazda 2 managed 60 in 9.2 seconds and the quarter in 17.0), but more than that is how slow the C feels. We’d characterize it as “painfully.”

And unlike the standard Prius, the Prius C doesn’t offer any reward for playing the mpg game. Try to maximize the eco-score ratings for acceleration, braking, and cruising on the in-dash display, and your only payoff is a much longer trip to your final destination, assuming you have the patience to get all the way there. We did see indicated economy of more than 60 mpg on one 15-mile lunch run, but that required driving so slowly that even the traffic in our hometown of Ann Arbor, a locale well known for its lethargic road pilots, stacked up in our wake.

Corners As If It Were On Ludes

Nor does the Prius C reward momentum conservation, something that’s valuable when cornering. Tire grip is slight, and the suspension leans over in protest during directional changes. No fun here, it seems to tell you. The brakes are similarly frustrating, offering a combination of spongy, nonlinear feel and little perceived stopping power, although the C’s 70-to-0-mph stopping performance of 175 feet is actually respectable for a small car.

View Photos PATRICK M. HOEY

Our test car returned 39 mpg over 464 miles while in our care. That’s well below the EPA numbers, but such is usually the case for hybrids motivated by our lead feet. As the aforementioned lunch trip illustrates, you can probably achieve close to (or better than) the window-sticker numbers if you want, but please send us a carrier pigeon ahead of time so we know to steer clear of your route.

Even if you manage to hit the Prius C’s high-mpg numbers, it will take years to pay back the price premium over a standard Yaris. Option up a Prius C to our test car’s loaded $25,140 total, and, well, why are you buying a Prius C again? The standard Prius starts at $24,760, returns two fewer mpg in the city but two more on the EPA highway cycle, and is far less frustrating to drive (which is saying a lot). We’ll confess that the interior of the Prius C is sharp-looking, and the electronic eco coach is as intriguing as it is in the rest of the Prius lineup, but that doesn’t make the C a good car. For most drivers, even ecoconscious hybrid shoppers, there are choices worth the extra money or cheaper and just as effective, depending on what you want—and all are more enjoyable.

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