The 2010 Toyota Prius model has muscles, too: Acceleration from zero to 60 mph takes 9.8 seconds, says chief engineer Akihiko Otsuka, which would be quicker by 0.3 second than the last Prius we tested.

No more floaty little appliance gliding along the byways, either. The suspension is much tightened, with real anti-roll now and much firmer shock control. Those who see a message in every Prius might be surprised at the lack of enviro rah-rah within. While the Ford Fusion grows a vividly colored rain forest in the instrument cluster leaf by leaf, and the Escape and GM hybrids indulge in green gestures, the Prius mostly avoids that cliché. This is a straightforward car, though it has several dash screens devoted to the details of fuel economy. In fact, the new logo for Toyota hybrids is blue