Got my first prius 2001

Be very careful. I assume you've read my previous posts about how hard it is to take off without damaging it. You will almost certainly damage it no matter how careful you are. As I said, I was extremely careful and I used trim removal tools. I still broke 3 tabs. I was able to glue them back on however and they did hold (and are still holding).

 

Let me suggest it may not be a question of "if" it cracks but rather "when" it cracks and be prepared for the repair.

If I decide to go in the dash again, I'll have some stiff, music wire and hand tools to form a wire version of the plastic 'pins' that hold the facia. The tech who installed the FM encoder used a cheap soldering iron as a plastic welder and it worked. However, I'm not fond of breathing plastic fumes since some can be toxic and pose other health risks.

Bob Wilson

 

Here's an excellent example of what I mentioned in a previous post. When you try to mess with the Prius, you end up causing more problems that have to be addressed. If you cut out the injectors, you will get a Christmas tree of lights but beyond that, it is not as easy as flipping a switch and the engine starts up and you roll on. In order for the engine to start up, you will need to turn the car completely off and then back on. Your codes will remain on for 4-5 cycles of the key (assuming you don't turn off the injectors again). Additionally, you will only be able to go about .75 - 1.5 miles (depending on speed) before the battery is completely discharged. Then once you do turn on the ICE, it will race to charge the depleted battery thereby negating all mpg gains achieved by turning it off. Your next thought will be to add more battery power, then you have to modify the battery ECU, then you'll need to mod something else.

The Prius is an extremely well engineered car (even a Gen I is amazing). Tinkering with one part of it will cause a problem with another part which will in turn cause a problem with another part. About the only mod I've ever seen that was straightforward is ccdisce's ECT spoofer (which fools the computer into thinking the ICE is warmed up sooner than it really is). It will net you nearly the same mpg's in the winter as in the summer (assuming no AC or heater usage). Most of us want to mod our Prius when we first get it to squeeze out even more mpgs but the reality is, the engineers that designed it squeezed out all they could. The fact of the matter there is no simple/cheap way to do this.

My humble advice to anyone thinking about doing things like this is "most likely its already been tried, it will cause other problems that you will chase like a rabbit, it will be a money pit and, you'll probably end up going back to a stock setup after all is said and done". Their will, of course, be exceptions.

 

The 100mpg claims are exaggerated or there is a very narrow driving style that will allow for it. To achieve 100mpgs on any Prius you will need to plug it in (minimum $3500 investment for any worthwhile gain). On top of that, you'll need an ECT spoofer, a Scangage and probably an EV switch (another $260). Then you'll have to learn how to drive it to achieve that mileage (plug it in at work, take back roads, monitor displays etc (doesn't sound hard but gets old). Additionally, the 100+mpg does not account for electricity use or eMPG. If accounted for, virtually no one is achieving over 100mpg's.

Judging from my experience and what I've read, extremely high mpgs are achieved on desolate roads with slow speed limits (who wants to go slow on a desolate road).

I know of no muffler that will improve mpgs on any car. You can go with stock or aftermarket. It doesn't matter.