anyone camp in their prius gen 4?

I will actually camp in mine in the future (I have a Three w/ ATP, so flat hatch transition when folded).

But,

As a mini test, I did take a two hr nap the other day after working all night and having to hang around work but with a couple hrs of downtime to kill. I slept in the drivers seat with it folded all the way back, E brake on, and I set the ac to 74! I slept like a baby . I think it lowered my tank mpg like 1 or so. But I have since made that up easily.

 

I might like to do it. I used to go on an astronomy outing each year to a place where it is quite hot during the day. Since I'm up all night, sleeping during the day is required and I can't sleep in the heat. When I had a truck, I pulled a little cargo trailer in which I had installed a swamp cooler. That worked pretty well. I still have the trailer but not a truck. I did make sure that I had enough room in any vehicle I would purchase this year to lay down. I also liked the Prius because the climate control seems to work a bit more efficiently. I purchased the model 4 so I'll have to put down some hard foam or something in the boot to make the load floor flat.

 

I'm too long.

And probably too heavy(?) to be laying on that hatchback floor. It doesn't seem all that strong to me.

But I did try out the "nap in the front seat" thing. The seat reclines nicely, but it felt hard as a rock after about 10 minutes. The AC worked good, but the gas engine kept coming on about every 15 minutes or less, with a "shake", and that wakes me up.

I'll have to go to a Motel-6. (We'll leave the light on for ya'.)

 

No, they don't. Since they took out the spare tire, they lowered the floor a little over 3 inches to give us more cargo space. I'm looking for some good material to make a new sub floor for the beastie to include some cargo cubbies down there where there's just a block of foam in the tire well.

 

How does lowering the floor "3 inches" make more cargo room???

Are they assuming we stack our "cargo" all the way up to the roof?!

All Prius models should have a compact spare tire, AND a flat cargo floor.

 

I have already camped many times in my Two with a level floor. I bought a tri-fold foam cushion that fits neatly in the cargo area when folded up. Drop the rear passenger seat, push the front passenger seat all the way forward and bridge the gap with a piece of plywood cut to fit, unfold the sheet-covered foam pad and bed down after entering from the rear passenger door. Car is in on and in park. I lean forward and lock the doors with the front driver door lock. Car stays nice and cool. When its over 100 it drinks about a gallon of fuel in 8 hours. The car does start on a regular basis to charge the traction battery. I leave the AC on Auto/Eco.

 

You could try a foam shop and they've got myriad types - you'd want one which would be very firm, and cut easily. The piece I have (not for the same application) I think may have been called closed cell foam. Whether they have exactly the right thickness, or you might need a couple of pieces which you could glue together then cut to the shape you want.

 

I got mine at the Home Depot.

 

Yes, closed cell foam is what I want. I have some pieces I could cobble together. But the height is just off a little. I'll have to play to see what I can do. I may have to sandwich in a piece of plywood to get the right depth/thickness. Closed cell foam is extremely expensive. I'm glad I saved some from when I closed my telescope business.

 

Yes, they do assume that. But it is an easier way to do online shopping by comparing the figures. I think that for most people, having that deeper well in the cargo area is a bonus. I wanted a flat load floor, I really did. I was considering the Rav4 hybrid for this reason.... except the seats in that car wouldn't lay down flat.

I wanted a good car, a reliable car, one with great safety tech, and one economical to run. Those were my priorities. After that, I sort of wanted a flat load floor and the ability to throw enough stuff in to go do astronomy (camping for most people). I couldn't get everything I wanted so... I focused on the priorities.

 

I think it's a bit misleading, in the way Toyota lists the "cargo volume" figures. Flat floor, or no flat floor, the width and length of the trunk (cargo bay) is still the same. Correct?

Does anyone give a hoot about the floor-to-ceiling height? I doubt it. And a measly 3" will hardly make a difference in *usable* volume. But I can understand wanting a "flat" loading floor.... mine is flat, buy not really completely flat. There is still a little edge.

Every Prius model should have a compact spare, and a flat floor. The weight of that spare wheel would not make any difference in gas mileage. I think it's all a gimmick by Toyota. I bet my Three model (with a spare) gets better MPG that you guys without a spare. And I bet my Three can get just as good, or better, MPG as an Eco model.

Toyota is just trying to pull the wool over our eyes, with all that "weight reduction" Eco baloney.

 

Compared to a flat floor, it gives 3" more height available whether you stack to the cover or stack to the roof.

I would rather see an adjustable height rear floor which could be set high to give a flat floor with underfloor storage, or set down for maximum trunk storage height when needed.

 

Excellent. That makes more sense than anything.

 

I'm getting fantastic mileage. MUCH better than I had anticipated. And I have a Four with all the options. I agree with you. I don't think model choice makes much difference. In my humble opinion it all comes down to LRR tires, inflation pressure, and the way you drive with these cars. I can level the load floor with something on my own. I'm not all that excited into cutting into the OEM foam to put in a spare tire.

 

I can live without a spare. I do like my upgraded flat floor.

 

The floor isn't entirely flat on the models with a spare either - there's a small drop down to the actual boot area (trunk? ) from the folded back seats - which themselves aren't quite flat either.

 

A quick question for safety concerns, is it possible to LOCK the doors while still using air-conditioners?