Top Car

January 2016|TOPCAR.CO.ZA 31

W

E’VEBARELYalighted

from the futuristic

new Prius before

we’re bundled into

the evenmore futuristic Mirai. This

one is prop erly ‘science-fictio n’

being powered by hydrogen , with an

emis sions payload of just a couple of

milliliters of pure water. First, just

look at it. To call it edgy would be

an understatement. To call it ugly,

well I’d see your point. I just think

it’s awkward. Awkward to lookat,

awkward to get yo ur head around–

clearly someoneat Toyota felt that

to be cutting edge your styling needs

to comprise edges that can

cut. In profil e it looks less

unhinged, the front-end,

in good lighting and in a

complementary shadeof

paint (the darker the better)

is pa ssable, but then there’s

that wonky rear-end I

cannot defend.

Normal ity returns when

you get inside. It’s a

pleasant space to live in and

ergonomically abandons

Toyota’s need to surprise,

so that’s good. Thumb thestarter

into a mild thrum, notch the shifter

into D and the drivingexperience

is identical to what you’d find inan

elec tric vehicle, including copiou s

amounts of torque from the fuel-cell

system. It’s comfortable, planted and

eerily sil ent desp ite being pedaled

(ironically) through the short handling

circuit of Fuji Speedway. Hydrogen

power works well in the motorcar,

but early adopte rs will suffer a lonely

existenc e and face the challeng e of

sparserefueling venues. So, sadly, yo u

can forget about owning one in ever-

progressive Mzansi.

Hydrogen power is the bomb

NowToyota, the arch-planet-saverbehindthe firsthybrid,

bringsthe fuel-cell car toyourstreet(ifyou live inSwindon)

TOYOTA MIRAI

Toyota Mirai

>PriceN/A>EngineToyotaFuel-Cell System,113kW, 335Nm >Single-speed, front-wheel drive

>Performance9.6sec0-100kph, 180kph, 760gofhydrogen/100km, 0g/km CO 2 >Weight1 850kg

>On saleElsewhere

Abittoomuchsaké

methinksduringthose late

eveningstrategysessions

MacPherson struts while a superior

doub le wishbone arrangement at the

rear repl aces the old car’s torsion

beam. Having the prev ious-gen

Prius available for unusual ba ck-to-

back comparisons drove home the

new car’s greatly improved ability to

iron out stacca to bu mps as well as

provide a much moreenga ging drive

on the circuit. This won’t matter

much to the average Prius buyer, of

which there are 3.5 million orso.

They’ll want to know about its green

credential s, but let’s unpack the oily

and wiry bits first.

Hybrid Synergy Drive again

combines a 1.8 litr e inlin e four-

cyli nder pe trol motor with two

electric motors and a CVT

transmission, much as it did in the

Mk3. Gone though, is the old nickel-metal

hydride battery, repl aced by a lighter

lithium-ion hybrid. It’s smaller and flatter, so

better stowed under the rear seat and that

means a larger bo ot. Toyota suggests a

combined fuel economy of 4.2ℓ/100km in

Eco grade, which is comparable to the

current car, but then this one comes with

TSS. That’s Toyota Safety Sense to you and

me, a multi-feature safety suite that

incorporates pr e-collision braking,

pedestrian detection, lane departure alert

with steering assist and full-speed dynamic

radar cruise co ntro l. Forgive me for noticing

that seems a hell of a lot like well-laid

groundwork for Toyota’s autonomous

future. Moreabout that on page 99. The new

car then, not just a better Prius – but also a

better ca r.tc

Interior leftover fromStar

TrekVI: the Searchfor a

FillingStation. ‘Shecannae

handle 15 3kW, Cap’n!’ etc