Hurtling the Prius to 100km/h from rest in a little over 10 seconds is a new 1.8 litre Atkinson-cycle engine matched to electric powertrain and rated at a combined 100kW.

Toyota looked to its customers when designing the new Prius and one of the key requests was a little more oomph. Nice to see engineers have responded with a 21 percent hike in power over the predecessor.

Torque has improved too, and it’s the bigger engine’s added grunt that endows the latest Prius with its fuel-sipping ability.

The rest of the car’s hybrid powertrain is similar to that used by the outgoing model, with a CVT gearbox taking drive from the petrol-electric powerplant to the front wheels.

When it comes to handling and dynamics, the new Prius feels sportier and more secure on the road. The suspension is slighter firmer, yet still very comfortable, and with the regenerative braking system kicking in every time you press the brake pedal the car begs you to start pushing it harder.

The better-bolstered and more comfortable seats also help with that duty - the old seats were a frequent complaint among second-gen Prius owners.

Toyota Australia was also wise to select European settings for the car, which typically are more ‘drive focused’ than the comfort requisite found in other markets.

The other major request from customers was more interior space. Toyota has responded by not only making the new model slightly longer and wider than the outgoing Prius, but also by redesigning the cabin to be even more spacious.

Take the front seats, for example. These have been made thinner to provide more legroom for backseat passengers.

Thanks to the dimensional changes, an extra 31 litres of cargo room has been liberated in the Prius’ boot, bringing total luggage capacity to 446 litres with the seats up.

At the end of our day on the road with the Prius, we found ourselves not only interested in the car, but talking about it to friends and co-workers, extolling its virtues, and advising acquaintances in the market for a hybrid that a short wait to get the new one was worth it.

Stay tuned for a full in-depth review in coming weeks.