Vacations over and I'm impressed

I found a similar problem on a few road trips I've taken, even in my "gas guzzling" prius v I have to carefully watch my fluid intake as the gas tank will almost always outlast my bladder.

 

Nice! Enjoy the car they are great!

 

Looking forward to my first big road trip in the Prius this coming Fall. But so far been happy with the 300-400 mile trips so far. The days of non-stop driving of 300-400 miles for me are a thing of the past.

 

We drove from Tallahassee Fl to L.A. California. Had a great time and saved gas too.

 

Yeah, I still don't understand the animosity towards CVT's in car reviews. They complain how the engine drones at acceleration. But the alternative is Honda's shift logic which just holds the lower gear longer so we don't have gear hunting. So we can have high rpm engine drone, or constant and annoying gear changes, or a CVT that gives you the exact rpm for your exact power needs.

 

CVT's are great some companies use them like Nissan others won't touch them I was planning a Chicago to Florida road trip how is the Prius in the mountains? climbing up and going down???? did you use the B on the shifter?

Around Chicago I am pulling 54mph true number highway will be less at 75 I am sure..............

 

Don't understand reviewers as well. They knock the Prius's added cost over a gas model - yet praise the VW Golf diesel that stickers for $3000-4000 over a comparable gas version. And diesel fuel costs more!

 

Drove a rental 2013 ford focus automatic a couple weekends ago for a couple days. Sure made me appreciate the Prius eCVT, so much smoother. The focus was very harsh at low speeds, it was fine once at highway speeds but couldn't see myself owning a non CVT car ever again, Anything with gears just feels so primitive now. My last two daily drivers from the past 7 years were manual transmissions so i never like auto transmissions anyway. After a couple days of looking for the clutch pedal in my new prius I immediately took to the CVT smoothness. I find it funny now seeing other cars accelerating from lights slowing to change gears, then accelerating briskly for a second or 2, then slowing to change gears again, all the while my prius is smoothly charging forward with no herky jerkiness.

 

Its actually too bad that the Prius Synergy drive has been lumped into the "CVT" category since it is nothing like they typical CVT. The typical CVT is basically a variable pulley system, very similar to a "snow mobile clutch". In the case of the snow mobile setup the pulley diameter varies based upon engine RPM and centrifugal force. In the case of cars that use similar pulley system, the computer sets the pulley diameter. The Ford Freestyle and some Ford 500 cars used this system.

Ford Freestyle CVT Transmissions « Got Transmissions Got Transmissions
Ford named in class action over defects in the continuously variable transmissions of the Freestyle and Mercury Montego | Got a Class Action?

The Synergy system is elegant in its simplicity. It is simply a group of gears with 3 input/output "shafts". The input from the ICE and input/output from the 2 motor/generator shafts all combine together in synergy with each other.

The Ford Escape uses a similar setup to the extent that, "Of the 351 patents covering the hybrid drivetrain, Ford did feel compelled to pay license fees to Toyota on 21 of them. This was done simply to avoid any patent infringement controversies."

2005 Ford Escape Hybrid

 

What was your average mpg?

SCH-I535 ? 2

 

I just got back from a trip from Hattiesburg, MS to Durham, NC along I-20 and I-85. Some pretty big hills on that route (don't know if you'd call them mountains). I just set my cruise control and enjoyed the drive. I drove the speed limit (getting passed all the time, but saving $). No problems climbing or going down. Even got 60 mpg on one tank!

 

Over Memorial Day weekend went out to the Luray area in Virginia. The Prius kept up very well on the local roads. In drives from the DC area to PA, even with crosswinds the Prius did well. Down steep grades, use the B mode.

Many times the battery was at its fullest charge state, but I have faith that the computer takes care of this....

 

I'm in SoCal. Wife's grandma passed last January.

She began researching flights on the net, reporting to me her findings.

Without responding, I picked up my phone and hand calculated what it would cost to drive to Phoenix and back in the Prius vs. Flying.

Her response, "So we're taking the Prius then."

 

I hear ya. Maybe its worse in canada because we only have 2 nationwide airlines to choose from.
I occasionally fly/drive to edmonton from vancouver for work/visit family. 1.5hour return flight averages $500. Driving there and back costs roughly $120 in fuel + meals/snacks, still way cheaper than flying any day of the week. Only downside is driving takes 14 hours of my time each way so unless i have the luxury of time i will usually take the flight.

 

Yea you are right. I took a weekend trip and ended up with 55 mpg. Some highway mostly back roads at 55 mph.

SCH-I535 ? 2

 

We averaged 48 on the trip

 

We just returned from a vacation with ours, too. We bought it in April, and drove from Indiana to the beaches of Delaware last week. It really was a joy to drive and to ride in. My son is 6'1", I'm 5'9" and DH is 6'2" and there was plenty of room in both the front and back. We had 3 adults and a 4 year old, with lots of stuff in the back. There was plenty of room for everyone, and it was very comfortable. We got just over 48 mpg for the trip (mainly because of the mountains in West Virginia and Maryland).

Two things that struck me were a) just how much you can get in the lower storage area (a quilt for the beach and six beach towels), and b) how many more Priuses (Prii?) there are on the East Coast than here. In our townhouse complex alone (which wasn't very big) there were at least six.

The last thing that struck me is that even though we've had it since April, DH keeps reaching for the key to turn it off. My son has already said that his next car will be a Prius and has asked to drive it to Florida in October.