Perfect parking Toyota Prius

Prius owners have been so keen to take advantage of Toyota’s Intelligent Parking Assist (IPA) system, it has been made a standard feature on the top-of-the-range T Spirit model.

IPA takes much of the risk and effort out of reversing manoeuvres by automatically controlling the steering to move neatly into series (side-by-side) or parallel parking spots. It marked a European first when it was introduced as an option on the T Spirit at the beginning of this year. Now it moves further into mainstream motoring by becoming part of the standard specification, together with a rear parking monitor from 1 January.

Where space permits, the system will help the driver steer the Prius into a parking space. After the car has been positioned at the appropriate angle and within required safe distances from neighbouring vehicles, IPA will calculate the correct course and automatically engage the necessary steering angle. The driver simply has to control the throttle and brake to move the vehicle into place.

The hybrid-power Prius T Spirit, also equipped with DVD-based full-map satellite navigation with voice command recognition and Bluetooth connectivity for hands-free mobile phone use, costs £20,680 on the road.