New Toyota Prius vs Volkswagen Golf: interiors
It looks far more futuristic than its predecessors, but is the latest Toyota Prius a cut above its refreshed plug-in hybrid rival from Volkswagen?...
Behind the wheel
Driving position, visibility, build quality
Each contender offers a wide range of adjustment for the driver’s seat and steering wheel, and electric seat adjustment is standard in the Toyota Prius to help when fine-tuning the driving position, whereas it’s a £505 option in the Volkswagen Golf. However, drivers are more likely to feel at home sooner in the Golf, because it has a conventional dashboard layout with a 10.25in digital instrument panel that you view through the steering wheel in the normal way.
The Prius, in contrast, has a high-set 7.0in digital instrument panel that you’re meant to view over the top of a relatively small steering wheel, but some drivers might find that they have to set the wheel awkwardly low to avoid obscuring the bottom of the display.
To boost long-distance comfort, both cars have adjustable lumbar support, although it doesn’t extend as far out into your back in the Golf. That said, the broader seats in the Golf provide more shoulder support, and the use of grippier, suede-like material (rather than faux leather in the Prius) holds you in place better when cornering.
While it’s easier to see over the low dashboard in the Prius, the long, steeply raked windscreen pillars impede your view ahead to a greater extent than the more upright ones in the Golf. The latter provides clearer views over your shoulder and out the back, too, thanks to larger side and rear windows and rear pillars that, while chunky, are nowhere near as substantial as those of the Prius.
To aid low-speed manoeuvring, both cars come with front and rear parking sensors and a rear-view camera to help out. The Prius also has a camera on the roof that can feed a live view of the area behind the car onto a display in the central rear-view mirror – a handy feature if the rear window is blocked by a passenger or luggage.
Adjusting the climate control is far more straightforward in the Prius, because it has a row of physical switches on the centre console. You have to use fiddly touch sliders or voice control to adjust the temperature in the Golf, while the rest of the controls are inconveniently located on the infotainment screen.
Our contenders don’t feel as opulent inside as the best family cars, but they still rank above mainstream rivals in terms of quality, with a robust feel and well-damped controls. There’s a reasonable amount of soft-touch material on the upper sections of the dashboard and doors in both contenders, but the Golf uses a wider range of materials and trim finishers to create a more upmarket feel.
Infotainment systems
Toyota Prius
The 12.3in touchscreen in the Prius is easy to read and displays a column of shortcut icons on the side closest to the driver, so hopping between functions is a breeze. The menus listed on the left side of the screen will be more of a stretch for some drivers to reach, while some of the sub-menus could be easier to find. Wireless Apple CarPlay is standard, but Android Auto still requires a cable, and you don’t get wireless phone charging.
Volkswagen Golf
At 12.9in, this touchscreen is bigger than that of the pre-update Golf, with sharper graphics and slicker responses to inputs than the Prius’s. You can customise the home screen and save often-used functions in the top right corner to boost usability. Beyond that, the system is still fiddly to use; some settings, including those for the regenerative braking system, are so buried that making adjustments while driving is distracting.
