Toyota Prius: Thinking of getting a prius

I live in Idaho - inland northwest US - and we get snow and ice here.
I found the traction control to be superb and my wife felt safer
driving her Prius on ice and snow than with any other car we have
owned - and we have had a number of 4-wheel-drive SUVs. The only
negative is that fuel economy - particularly in city driving - goes
way down in the winter months. I believe that is primarily because
the ICE (internal combustion engine) has to run a lot more to keep
warm and to keep the catalytic converter up to working temperature.
Where I average mid-50s mpg in the summer, I dropped as low as high
30s in the middle of winter.

Dave

On 2007-10-18 02:15:53 -0700, "Alan" <co.uk> said:
 

Alan,

The tyres that come with the Prius are not very good (at least in the
US). Here, in eastern Washington state, we have several months of
sub-freezing temperatures, typically little snow, but normally a layer
of ice on the roads. I replaced the stock tyres with Goodyear
TripleTred and have been very happy. Sadly, they weigh almost 5.5 kilos
each more than the stock tyres, reducing the fuel efficiency a bit.
They are wonderful on wet pavement.

I, too, have read of those having trouble with the traction control
mechanism preventing them from moving on slick surfaces, but I've never
experienced it myself, nor has my wife, who still has the stock tyres
(although, the roads she drives are better maintained than the one I
must.)

Also, snow tyres are a possibility, or some sort of seasonal traction
tyre. I've also seen a sort of tyre sock from Norway or Sweden that
seems to be an easy alternative.

I couldn't recommend a better vehicle, but, it's not for everyone. In
cold weather or on short commutes, the engine may not get warm enough
to realize the full mileage potential. Please let us know how you
decide...

--
Bream Rockmetteller
Donaldson's Dog Joy
509-450-0301

Alan <co.uk> wrote:
 

A lot of us have found block heaters and front vent block improve cold
weather performance. In North America, we have 120 VAC block heaters
designed for the block heater plug. They run about 450 W.

Bob Wilson

"Bob & Holly Wilson" <com> wrote in message
news:1i68xmx.3bq1fw1wf3u2oN%com... 



Bob, can you please elucideate on this? How? Where?

Richard Warren <com> wrote:
 

During the engine warm-up, the car runs at about twice the rate of fuel
consumption than after warm-up. The trigger appears to be 70C. The North
American Prius has a hot water thermos to accelerate warm-up but this is
missing from the Asian and Eurpoean Prius.

The block heater brings the engine block to a temperature closer to 70C,
which means the engine controller goes into higher efficiency, lower
fuel rate burns, than when coold. This shortens the warm-up cycle and
reduces warm-up fuel burn.

In North America, we can use a block heater that fits in a receptical
located behiind the engine, close to the firewall. We have 120VAC power
for this 450W heater element. In other countries with different power,
they will need either an interface transformer or a block heater that
works on their power grid.

If you look at your mileage graph, you'll notice the first 1-3 bars
usually are ascending and the the milege levels out. The engine block
heater reduces the number and lengthens (improves) the warm-up mileage.

GOOD LUCK!
Bob Wilson

I live in the Midwest USA and have driven through blizzard-like
conditions and severe thunderstorms in my 2005 Prius with no problems
while driving below the speed limit.

Thanks guys for your help in responding to my initial question.
I managed to get a longer test drive today and was even more impressed.
One other thing I wanted to check up on ,which the dealer was unable to
answer was how real is the possibility of the battery completely discharging
when going up hilly roads and the car reducing its speed significantly
because it only has the petrol engine left. I am asking the question because
the NW of Scotland where I live does have some rather steep winding roads up
the hillsides. I know I am only talking about sea level to about 1500 feet
which is small by US standards but some of these are roads are 7 to 10
miles before they reach the highest point. Is this an issue or am I worrying
unnecessarily? The Dealer is situated on the east of the country where the
land somewhat flatter so could not answer this.
Thanks again.
Alan

In article <471a8fb1$0$13936$zen.co.uk>,
"Alan" <co.uk> wrote:
 

OK, listen up. I'll say this once:

the car is a gasoline car. Period. It runs on gasoline. The only
source of energy that you put into the car is gasoline. Everything in
the car is powered by gasoline.

It is NOT an electric car. At all.

It is a highly engineered gasoline car, with some goodies to maximize
the use of that gasoline--in other words, designed to extract as much
energy out of that gasoline as is practical and reduce waste of energy.
One--ONE--of those goodies is a battery to store gasoline energy that
would otherwise have gone to waste.

The mechanism for storing/releasing this energy is managed not at ALL by
the end user, but by a computer. The computer takes its cues from the
driver's gas pedal use and the car's speed and acceleration. It also
takes its cues from the state of the battery.

The computer NEVER lets the battery get below 40% charge and NEVER lets
the battery get above 80% charge. This is designed specifically to
protect the battery and maximize its life.

Thus, the battery will NEVER discharge completely.

The system--yes, it's a system, not just an engine--is always balancing
the driver's needs with the battery's needs, and is figuring out where
to apportion the gasoline's energy at any given moment.

You will never, ever reduce speed to any degree going up hilly roads.
The system is designed to give you everything it's designed to give you
at any time.