Test drive Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid vs VW Golf GTE

Will the Golf GTE win the hybrid patriarch?

Summer in the city. Little pun: here "summer" is not read in English, where it means the warm months between spring and autumn, but in German as buzzers, buzzers like two plug-in hybrids able to drift around the city quietly, powered only with electricity . Hybrid pioneer Toyota Prius plug-in or VW Golf GTE - which is better?

Hybrid pioneer Toyota initially had little desire to talk about plug-in hybrids. But now you can easily buy a Prius with a cable and plug for convenient power from your home outlet or fast charging station. However, this pleasure is not cheap. The Comfort version costs 37 euros in Germany, but the package is really complete and generous; It includes cruise control with distance adjustment, assistants for changing and maintaining lane, LED lights, digital radio and navigation.

If the €36 Golf GTE is equipped at this level, its price will rise to more than €900. So both models are no bargain, no doubt, but with the GTE - what to do, we think, like people with gasoline in their blood - at least the power matches the price. Turbocharger 40 hp and the electric motor develops a total power of 000 hp, while Toyota specifies 150 hp. as the system power of a 204-liter naturally aspirated engine and an electric car. Dynamic versus calm manners? Yes, but more on that later. Because there are more significant differences between these two plug-in hybrids.

Classic versus extravagant design

They start with design. The GTE is all about golf, classic and perhaps showing a certain lack of imagination. The Prius, on the other hand, with its extremely sharp lines and accentuated massive rear end, plays Star Wars and seems to shout to the observer: look at me, I'm different! In the plug-in version, it is, above all, even larger and ten centimeters larger than the regular Prius because the front and rear are enlarged to accommodate the new components. Here, for example, for the first time in the world, a heat pump for autonomous internal combustion of the passenger compartment and a device for preheating the battery for optimal charging even at sub-zero outside temperatures are installed.

The 145-liter, 8,8 kWh Li-Ion package is located under the boot, rather than under the rear seat as in the Prius, while the boot space is reduced to 360 liters instead of 510 liters. However, when you look under the back cover, you wonder if the Japanese liters are not less than the European ones. In any case, the 272-liter capacity VW quoted for the Golf GTE, where the 8,7-kilowatt battery is also in the back, seems more reliable.

With multiple digital displays and a tiny, stubby gear lever, the Prius is futuristic but not as ergonomic as a regular Golf, so it's 37cm shorter than you'd think.

Indeed, there is not enough legroom in the rear of the Japanese (in this respect it definitely surpasses the Golf), but the coupe-like roofline reduces the interior height; In addition, the curved ends of the ceiling are too close to the heads of those in the back. And when you look around, you quickly see that the Prius' low rear side windows and tiny cross-sectional rear window serve only design purposes, not functionality (if anything).

Quiet around town

Time to go. Both models start in electric mode by default when their batteries are charged. Thanks to its purely electric drive, the Prius also has enough traction to let traffic lights play with acceleration. After 49 (with Golf: 40) kilometers, however, the silent operation of all-electric mode ends.

In both models, this mode is just one of several possible – along with Eco and Power (in GTE mode, the steering is tighter on the Golf, the gearshifts are sharper, the 1,4-liter TSI is louder) or with a position in which battery charging is preferred. Switching between modes is clearly felt, and the interaction of the internal combustion engine and the electric motor in both cases is very harmonious.

Transmissions – a continuously variable planetary automatic on the Prius and a six-speed dual-clutch on the Golf – fit very well into the picture of unobtrusive drive systems. With steering wheel plates and a conventional shift lever, the Golf even forces you to manually intervene, and with powerful acceleration, it really does feel more like a GTI than an eco-car.

The Prius, on the other hand, never tempts anyone to drive dynamically as, despite decent initial acceleration, it takes almost 100 seconds to reach 12 km / h. Not particularly encouraging is the fact that at high speeds the desire for even slight acceleration forces the engine to rev up high while the transmission shifts gears and increases speed.

Even so, the Prius can't follow the GTE, which, despite its many modes of choice, functions as a fairly dynamic compact car with a conventional engine. 162 against a top speed of 222 km/h - even these figures show that the two cars seem to be from different worlds.

In turn, the Toyota model reports incredible fuel savings. In purely electric mode, 13,5 kWh per 100 km is sufficient, while in the AMS test profile, 1,3 liters of 95 N petrol and 9,7 kWh are sufficient. Golf also consumes as much power as it moves: 19,5 kWh, as well as 3,5 liters plus 15,3 kWh.

Toyota Prius doesn't know which road dynamics are

However, to achieve all of these savings, Toyota has noticeably abandoned the chassis. The Prius plug-in not only reacts harder to impact than the Golf, but also rocks long waves on the tarmac, while the GTE rides slightly harder than the regular Golf. More importantly, in terms of lateral dynamics, Toyota lags sharply behind. And in slalom and when changing lanes, the Golf, which precisely enters the corners thanks to its effective grip, is so noticeably faster that we can already talk about the declassification of an opponent.

In these tests, the GTE, despite its significantly higher weight, behaves almost as fast as the usual 1.5 TSI, and in the border mode it is gentle as a lamb and quite predictable. The Prius manages to give the driver much less sense of safety when driving faster in corners and even less when maneuvering around obstacles. It tilts more, quickly starts to slide sideways with an indefinite turn, drifts early with the front wheels or takes out the rear until the ESP sharply pulls the reins.

I don’t care, I don’t like to go around corners quickly, maybe the supporters of the model will say. However, they should not remain indifferent to Toyota's pitiful shutdown of the hybrid. While the Prius Comfort, equipped with 17-inch 215 tires, moves very nimble and stops decently, the Prius Plug-in only offers narrow 195 tires on small 15-inch wheels. A Prius-powered cable equipped in this way performs very poorly. Nearly 40 meters of braking distance at 100 km/h is a measure of past decades, and 43,6 meters with heated brakes are criticized. We don't mind fighting for every gram of CO₂but it becomes alarming when this is so obvious at the expense of security.

However, this is not the only reason for the Golf GTE's unconditional victory in this test.

Text: Michael Harnishfeger

Photo: Ahim Hartmann

Evaluation

1. VW Golf GTE – 456 points

The GTE expands the Golf's range of benefits with pure electric propulsion and the cost advantages of a hybrid. Nothing more to say, except that driving pleasure is included in the package.

2. Toyota Prius Hybrid Comfort Plug-in - 412 points

A very well-equipped model for comfortable driving impresses with an extremely low cost. With more dynamic behavior and - very important! – however, with better brakes, he would hardly have been much greedier.

technical details

1.VW Golf GTE	2. Toyota Prius Hybrid Comfort plug-in
Working volume	1395 cc	1798 cc
Power	System: 204 hp	Systematic: 122 k.s. (90 kW)
Maximum torque	System: 350 Nm	System: no data
Acceleration 0-100 km / h	7,6 with	11,9 with
Braking distances at a speed of 100 km / h	36,6 m	39,7 m
full speed	222 km / h	162 km / h
Average consumption fuel in the test	3,5 l + 15,3 kWh	1,3 l + 9,7 kWh
Base Price	36 900 EUR (in Germany)	37 550 EUR (in Germany)