5 Favorite Things After 237.7 Miles - 2016 Toyota Mirai Long-Term Road Test

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5 Favorite Things After 237.7 Miles - 2016 Toyota Mirai Long-Term Road Test

Five favorite things after driving our 2016 Toyota Mirai test car.

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prndlol

6) It has a face like a dropped pie.

throwback

Does it have to be so ugly? What has Toyota said about the styling influences?

markinnaples_

That wins my award for the ugliest new car. Bravo. Now let me go lose my breakfast...

willin58

I'm not surprised its looks didn't make the top five.

kirkhilles1

Definitely annoying how auto makers are intentionally making these cars unappealing (just like the funky i3). I don't know if its because they tell their designers to go hog-wild or if they want something so different that it doesn't risk cannibalizing their bigger profit models. I still would bet that the i3 would sell like hot cakes if it looked like a 3 series.

Still, looking forward to hearing about any mechanical issues. I wonder how much it shares from traditional ICE vehicle.

thepuff

Where has the world gone when we're comparing 0-60 drag performance between a Mirai and a Prius...now I know why kids don't cruise the strips any longer...the Americana passion for driving is gone; thanks Toyota (I guess revenge is bittersweet).

ebeaudoin

thepuff said:

Where has the world gone when we're comparing 0-60 drag performance between a Mirai and a Prius...now I know why kids don't cruise the strips any longer...the Americana passion for driving is gone; thanks Toyota (I guess revenge is bittersweet).

Millenial here, thought I'd chime in. I've been a car geek all my life and I love driving. That doesn't mean I love driving FAST or at a car's limits. I certainly enjoy rowing through the gears in a powerful sports car, but for a daily driver, I want comfort, reliability and fuel efficiency. My commute doesn't exceed posted speed limits of 45 MPH and the roads are pretty awful; ride quality is much more important to me than 0-60 times. My ideal garage would be a Mustang GT for fun and a Lincoln MKS or something similar for commuting.

Just had to put that out there. If I'm buying one do-it-all vehicle, it would probably be something like a Fusion 2.0T. Quick yet comfortable and practical, with acceptable MPG. Just sayin'

markinnaples_

Man, I came back to this page almost accidentally and saw the picture of that horribly disfigured vehicle. It reminds me of a bastardized version of some crappy Subaru or Isuzu or something from the 80's. Blech.

darthbimmer

thepuff said:

Where has the world gone when we're comparing 0-60 drag performance between a Mirai and a Prius...now I know why kids don't cruise the strips any longer...the Americana passion for driving is gone; thanks Toyota (I guess revenge is bittersweet).

I didn't read Scott's line as comparing drag-strip performance of two slow cars. I read it as saying that despite unimpressive 0-60 times the Mirai is a) quick to accelerate to city street speeds and b) beats the Prius doing so. Thus it's suitable for performance conscious drivers who don't want to be reminded they're in an eco car every single time the light turns green.

bankerdanny

thepuff said:

Where has the world gone when we're comparing 0-60 drag performance between a Mirai and a Prius...now I know why kids don't cruise the strips any longer...the Americana passion for driving is gone; thanks Toyota (I guess revenge is bittersweet).

Because that is the apples to apples comparison in terms of the market.

thepuff

For those defending this "rotten apple" thanks for reinforcing my comment. My major point was most of these long-term reviews are in regards to MPG, bicycles fitting, child seats fitting, and the functionality of one's smartphone with the navigation. Rarely do we see a car "driven" for fun which is the reason cars like this and most Toyotas exist....practical transportation. Remember, this is under the "what's hot" category, not "what's practical or vanilla." In the last few decades, since when is 8.6 seconds "quick."

mercedesfan

@thepuff,

Um, 8.6 seconds from 0-60 was still considered mighty quick into the early 1990's. Even until the late 1990's it was still considered above average. We have just gone acceleration crazy in recent years and it has warped our perceptions. In truth, anything doing 0-60 in under 8 seconds is way faster than the normal driver will ever use. A car can be an absolute blast to drive and be slow 0-60 anyway. Slalom performance means far more for driving pleasure than acceleration times.

stever

If I was driving in SoCal every day, I'd be more interested in the 35ish to 60+ performance for all the freeway mergers.

Hm, then again, merging in all that 5mph traffic could be done on one cylinder.

What were we talking about again? Oh yeah, fun driving. Maybe if you head out Mulholland.

5vzfe

Haha, this car would probably outrace my 4Runner 0-60, so I think I could live with driving it, especially if it doesn't ride poorly.
And as far as the "passion for driving" comment, I disagree strongly. There are plenty of performance cars for sale in the US - from little japanese two seater convertibles to german/italian supermachines, pony cars and freaking grand cherokee srt's. Pick any car and you'll probably find an enthusiast forum on the internet that covers any kind of performance or customization project imaginable for that model. The "americana passion for driving" is not dead at all, it's just more diverse now. Cars like the Mirai are not challenging that concept, they're just an alternative. The Mirai's price point and fuel source drive home that point.

uncanny_man

It looks like jeremy clarkson when he drives a car without windshield; jowls blowing in the wind and everything. That's one way to convey speed I suppose.

longtimelurker

uncanny_man said:

It looks like jeremy clarkson when he drives a car without windshield; jowls blowing in the wind and everything. That's one way to convey speed I suppose.

Great - can't unsee that now. Thanks!

kirkhilles1

LOL, it's tough to say the words "fit and finish" when the design looks like the hood isn't closed all the way. Looks like a huge gap!

henry4hire

Why do cars with "futuristic" technology have to look like it came from some fugly future where cars look like crap? Acura and Toyota should get together and design the worlds ugliest car of the future with a horrible beak nose and predator jowls and 8 eyes per side...but it gets 50 mpg!

wheelmccoy

markinnaples_ said:

Man, I came back to this page almost accidentally and saw the picture of that horribly disfigured vehicle. It reminds me of a bastardized version of some crappy Subaru or Isuzu or something from the 80's. Blech.

I thought the Mirai was in an accident!

moparfool

First time I've seen this car - like some others, I thought it had some problem with the hood getting popped up and dislocated. .

Hydrogen? How expensive? Takes a lot of electricity to generate hydrogen, or is it derived from natural gas? This thing makes the Hindenburg look sleek and sexy. Oh! The horror! Well - time to read the latest about flying cars in Popular Mechanics.

roadburner

mercedesfan said:

@thepuff,

Um, 8.6 seconds from 0-60 was still considered mighty quick into the early 1990's. Even until the late 1990's it was still considered above average. We have just gone acceleration crazy in recent years and it has warped our perceptions. In truth, anything doing 0-60 in under 8 seconds is way faster than the normal driver will ever use. A car can be an absolute blast to drive and be slow 0-60 anyway. Slalom performance means far more for driving pleasure than acceleration times.

My Club Sport(which barely makes it to 60 in under 8 seconds- thanks to a Conforti chip) made me a much better driver at track events. Horsepower can cover up a multitude of driving sins but with the Club Sport if you screw up one corner of braking zone you pay for it the entire lap. That said, I had to retire it from track duty as I was getting carpal tunnel from giving the other instructors point-bys lap after lap. Still, it's a tremendous amount of fun to drive on a winding two lane, even if it has less than 50% of the hp of my new track rat...