2008 prius owner. Couple questions?

Been busy travelling around the country and working while the work appears at the door. Only problem with a seasonal business where it's the only money earned all yr, ya gotta grab it while you can.
Great to hear you are a happy Prius owner, I can't believe just how well these things go, run so cheap on fuel yet everyone seems to want to knock them.

T1 Terry

 

Hey terry. 'Was gonna ask you something. I notice on my wife's 2018 Prius 3. in the morning when she drives off the engine wont even start (just the electric mobility) unless she hits 25 mph. On my 2007 prius once I turn on the key its starts up like 2 mins. the cruise with electric them turns on if battery charge is needed. (meaning my 2007 prius runs more engine than the 2018). Is this the reason why she gets (50+ mpg) more miles per gallon than my car which is 45 miles per gallon. Which I am not complaining at all just curious...?

 

Lots more good stuff in the 2018 compared to the earlier models, but you'd wanna get a lot more comparing the prices eh :lol:
My plug in 2006 Prius with the added battery in the spare wheel well is on 1250km from 1/2 tank of fuel, roughly 20 ltrs used from the 40 ltr tank, but that is because we mostly drive it between home and the workshop, 5 km each way and never need to go over 80km/h.We can run on battery only to do the trip each way and only need to allow the petrol engine to start if we go to the next town or into the city, mostly because 80km/h (50mph) on a 110km/h (70mph) highway is taking your life in your hands with the B doubles (two trailer long truck/trailer combo) coming up from behind and closing in at 30km/h plus before they realise they are about to go straight over the top of you. By this end of the trip most have been driving for 12hrs or more and ya just gotta hope they aren't half asleep ........ better to be going a bit faster than they are but not fast enough to trip the speed cameras. Light throttle at 100km/h will still run with the petrol engine off but just spinning, but 110km/h plus the petrol engine runs all the time, until you back off to go down the big hills.
If we don't press the "ICE Kill" button to trick the computer into thinking the car has run out of fuel, the petrol engine will start and run at idle till operating temp is reached but will rev up and assist if too much throttle is applied or we try to sneak up over the 80km/h mark.
If the majority of driving is city stuff where 80km/h or less is expected and no big hills just the other side of a set of traffic lights or a stop sign, the additional battery and driving in ICE Kill mode is the way to go. The extra battery does help with the highway fuel economy but as to improved economy V cost of the additional battery, not sure it would be worth it. the cost of petrol over here is a lot more than in the states so .....

T1 Terry

 

Hey Terry how are you? Been a while and I know you're busy. Well since the holiday is coming up, I thought about pushing the envelope more out of the 2007 Prius since this car is giving me a good luck so far.
Here is the plan. Instead of using my pickup to haul my mini sand rail to the beach and since my job site is very close to it, I was thinking of adding a hitch and a trailer on the Prius so I can dock the sandrail which just fits snug to the side of the trailer since I'm using like a wide mini trackmaster tires. There is a photo of the hitch and the trailer I had in mind with all the specs and adding the sandrail which is around 830 lbs. I like the idea of what the other guy added like a detachable side post on the trailer. The car with the trailer, this just driving a mild winding road with no stiff up on a hill driving or sandy beach unloading. Let me know what's your 2 cents on this one or maybe im asking for trouble. Lol... This might be a good venture like hitting 2 birds in one stone.
Either or Ill still bound to add a trailer for sometimes I go to guitar conventions and I load up around 600 lbs. of musical equipment.
Peace. Joe

 

My 2006 has a towbar on it but I've never used it. The square hitch is much smaller than the Hayman Reece towbars we have on the motorhomes and the Jimny, and I don't think I actually have a hitch receiver for it .... have to did through the stuff I got with the ar when I bought it. I can't see much of a problem towing a trailer that wasn't real heavy, tow ball weight would be the critical factor I think, so if you can pick up the trailer to put it on the ball I reckon you'd be ok. All my trailers are heavy buggers .... besides a motor bike trailer I just remembered I have, it has been parked up the side of the workshop for 3 yrs or more so I'm guessing the tyres would be reasonably flat by now :lol: I can't think of anything light I'd want to drag behind it though, would be useful for a push bike carrier though and that will probably be what it gets used for if ever.
With 6 vehicles to choose from the Prius is not likely to be the first choice for such an adventure though, probably the VW Kombi camper or one of the motorhomes or lay them down in the back of the Jimny if we go bush.
Finding the time to do anything but work is a rare thing just at the moment, but I'm not complaining, hasn't be a lot coming in since last November and now we have two big off grid jobs to do before Christmas. Naturally, this sort of work doesn't turn up when it's nice and cool in the sheds or on the roof or on the houseboat roof, it will be 42*C here on Wednesday, marvellous, b**dy marvellous :roll:

T1 Terry

 

Hey Terry and how are you. Its a blast to run the mini sand rail on a rainy season instead of the sand being to soft I can run and curve faster especially I toned down the mufflers so neighborhood wont hear me much. The only downside is cleaning it. The car was wont take it.
I'm gonna have to think about the Prius. If I'm gonna put a towbar in it, I might have to use the lighter ones so I wont push it to haul heavy stuffs. For the mean time I'm still gonna use the old Toyota pickup.
Whoow a blast from the past. What year is your Kombi. I love those buses. We use to drive those back in high school. They're a trip!

 

'74 Kombi, converted to a Campervan before first rego in Australia so has the number stamped in the Australian Vehicle Identification plate as a Motorhome or camper body 6/74, so June 1974. I have owned it since 1998. We are guessing by tracing back through previous rego papers that came with it when we bought it, it had over 500,000km on the clock then, in other words it had rolled over the 99,999km and back to zero 5 times and had 60,000km on it then. We have clocked up another 400,000km on it since we have owned it so there aren't many parts of Australia it hasn't been at least once in its life. It has a sticker on the after market cyclone filter that says that was fitted in Alice Springs, central Australia, we also found receipts for services in Darwin and along the West Australian coast. We have been to the bottom tip of Tasmania with it and up as far as Rockhampton in Qld and out to Longreach, but it would have been a lot further than that if it went to Alice Springs that way rather than up through South Australia..

The plan is to send it to a specialised Volkswagen body restorer to have the body work returned to better than new with a full strip back to the inner body panels and coated with rust proofing compound through every layer, all the rusty bits replaced and all the dented bis either hand beaten back to original or replaced. Then inside and out painted in 2 pack instead of the Duco or enamel it would have been originally sprayed in.
During this body rebuild the fuel tank and associated panels will be removed and the body modified to fit the VFD motor controller and batteries to convert it to full electric.
I want the outside to look as original as possible, just restored to better than new, all the dash etc I want to remain original looking but with the relevant gauges for an electric vehicle built to look similar to the original gauges.
Gotta fertilise the money tree a bit more before I can even start this project, but the basic plns are already in place including the electric motor and VFD controller etc.
Because it will have more torque than the original VW motor ever produced, the gearbox will need some serious inside rebuilding with race car built components. These are the same gearboxes they use in a lot of the rear engine race cars so the hot up gear is readily available, just needs an expert and a fist full of $$ to get that part done.

T1 Terry

 

Hi Terry,
Got hung up there for a minute. I though I was going to have a little time off, ended up being called at work. I was there for 2 days.
Anyways your 74 Kombi with a camper. Sounds like an early Westfalia with a pancake motor. Right on man looks like its a lot of fun to drive that transpo'.
... So your plan rebuilding the bus exterior to original which I believe you can still buy the bits and pieces of this. remanufactured and used.
A while-"while" back I was restoring a '68 K Ghia and every time I go the VW parts place, Bus parts left and right, they even have the roof and side multi-windows which a lot of people just weld them. Incredible. late 60's bug welding oval windows. I see stacks of those parts. I sure hope they have more of those today than before. Hopefully you get this on. Sounds exciting even putting that electric motor as you're planning if I'm correct. I guess getting the motor and fitting it in the chassis or do call it chassis arm is not that bad as connecting it to the modified transmission is more likely the actual work. Can you get he transmission adaptor for it or do you have to make it?
Plus the wiring and controller. But look at the bright side. When you're all said and done with this project, at least you'll save yourself from stacking mini fire extinguishers somewhere in the bus and wont find it when you need it.
How'r you doing my friend and Good evening!

 

All the parts to build a complete Kombi, from a split window model right through to the late bay models, are available aftermarket. The body numbers and engine numbers are what stops them being produced and sold at a tidy profit. There are You Tube videos of rare early kombi's being craned out of rivers etc, just so they have the original body numbers to use on the new built kombi.
In Australia the price is being forced up because overseas buyers are grabbing fully restored units, packing them into shipping containers and shipping them either to their country or another buyer they have already lined up else where in the world.
This was 3 yrs ago 2017 Monterey Auction Preview 2: Volkswagen Samba van found in Oregon woods could break auction records the prices are still climbing for well restored units with many now selling at private sales rather than via auction, so the prices aren't published.
There is word doing the rounds over here about a Samba, fully restored with an extensive photo album of the restoration to back it up) selling for over the $400,000 mark late last yrs, and the seller kicking himself because less than a mth later he was offered substantially more from a local buyer who thought he still had the Samba parked under his house.

T1 Terry

 

Bro I saw this picture off the bus. Is this the motor they use on the early 21 or 23 windows?
Looks like a 1600cc german case. Can you still get those or just a mexico cae?

 

You can buy cases from a number of different manufacturers because the basic 1600 block is used for a lot of race engines. Any where from 1300cc up to 3200cc with the stroker crank and big bore kits. The same case was used for a "suitcase" motor that appeared in the station wagon and fastback and a sedan known as a notchback because it had a bootlid over the motor.
The type 4 motor that came out as 1700cc, then 1800cc and then the crank off centre ground to make the 2ltr air cooled engines seen in the '73 through to '79 bay window kombis was a flat motor with a different block and head design. The type 3 kombi might have even used that engine until they went to water cooled.

T1 Terry