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2010 Toyota Prius to debut Touch Tracer Display to help you keep your eyes on the road
Toyota's getting tricky with its upcoming Prius for 2010. Besides getting 50 mpg and sporting a solar roof, it'll have a new kind of indicator overlaying its digital speedometer mounted just below the windshield, called the Touch Tracer Display. The idea is to keep your eyes on the road, or as close to it as possible.
When you touch the steering wheel-mounted controls, a yellow indicator lights up on that speedometer just below the windshield, showing you what you're touching without the need to look all the way down at the steering wheel. Nice, but it would have been better if it were projected over the windshield itself, as the Corvette does with its head-up display.
Now if Toyota could just get people to start buying cars again, it might be onto something here. And, as the price of gas stays low, hybrid vehicles are sluggish sellers, too, so this new Prius might not be as big a hit as its predecessor. Guess we'll wait for the all-solar Prius.
Via Autoblog
By xTdub at 3:09 PM ON 03/09/09
I just had the best idea ever. A car GPS that measures your speed then uses your speakers to shout at you saying "YOUR GOING TO F***ING FAST". That way you won't have to bother watching the gauges. Also, I like this concept too. Looks nice.
By jpl1040 at 4:59 PM ON 03/09/09
I drive a Corvette with a HUD. I don't know that it would make sense to add a HUD to the Prius. There are a couple of drawbacks: The windshield is more complex and expensive because it is 2-ply and has a special reflective insert in the HUD area. So, you can't fix the glass with the cheap glue/suction technique if it gets chipped, and it costs $1200 to replace if it is damaged. This is probably too much for a Prius owner. Also I think the projector itself is not cheap and would also boost the car's price too much. So this seems like a great way to offer much of the value without pricing the Prius too high for its market.
By smurf at 11:10 PM ON 03/09/09
UM, did'nt the prius from last year get 70 Mpg where did the other 20 go. Who cares about dumb crap like this. WHERES THE MPG????????? we are going backwards here people the more electrical garbage you add to any car the worse the mpg's how about a car with no AC, GPS, IPOD, butt heating seats, heated mirrors, or any of that dumb crap. YOU USE A CAR TO DRIVE FROM ONE PLACE TO ANOTHER NOT LIVE IN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
By George Olduvai at 12:43 PM ON 03/10/09
Where's my auto-park system???
@XTDUB: I would prefer a slightly shrill female voice going, "What were you thinking???"
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George Olduvai:
Where's my auto-park system??? @XTDUB: I would prefer a slightly shrill female voice going, "What were you thinki...More »