Colder weather has zapped my mileage to 44mpg

Good point with the exception of level of comfort and cargo room in the CR-V vs Prius. There is no comparison there. The CR-V is way more comfortable, has way more cargo room, is way more responsive, handles way better, has way better visibility, seat support is way better... heater works way better, no rattles or creaks in the cabin, and the list keeps going on and on... I know it's not a fair comparison because they belong to different classes but I'm just making sure you realize the Prius is no match for it.

About blocking the grill... I'm reluctant to try it without scangauge and like I pointed out before, scangauge rarely pays for itself on gas savings... maybe Santa will bring one for me... but Santa knows I would rather get that brewing system I have been waiting for so long...

 

Block your grill
Slow down

*still don't get it ?* ???

Block your grill
Slow down

 

Or change car... get something decent, that actually worth what you pay for... got it?

Too bad I can't...

 

I never assumed that but I did not know my MPG would plunge in the winter either... I was spoiled by traditional, good quality cars with a nice warm interior and quiet cabin with grilles welcoming cold air....

 

Indyking, I blocked my lower grill with no SG and was doing some driving with temps sometimes in the mid 50s, but mostly lower and had no problem. I find the grill blocking does help. I mean no disrespect but it sounds like the gas savings is just not worth it for you and you should trade the car in for something you would be happier driving.

 

That would be a rather weak excuse to get one.

It's for when the ENGINE-LIGHT comes on in any of the vehicles in your family that the gauge purchase could pay off. That convenience of being able to diagnose a problem by reading codes is very nice. I've been able to take advantage of that twice already.

The rest of use is education & entertainment, since we've already confirmed lower full grille-blocking is no big deal.
.

 

Not knowing is assuming.
.

 

No, like I said before, the winter unexpected hit on my MPG means that I will need to stay with my Prius for 2.5 years instead of just 1.5 years until it breaks even... after that I will start "making money" with my savings in gas. I can live with that... no problem. I usually don't sell a car until it is at least 100K and 4 years old. Yes, I'm not very happy with my Prius but just like I'm not happy about having to do laundry sometimes... no biggie .... there are certain things that can't be changed...

But I must say, when the time comes to replace my Prius... I will stay the heck away from it after that...

What do you use to block your lower grill and do you really think it is safe to do it without a scangauge given I usually drive 75 MPH for 6 hours?

 

Profound...

I meant I was expecting a drop higher than traditional cars but not ridiculously higher...

 

That is a weak argument for me. If a light comes on, I need the dealer to check it anyway, even if I know the source of it... I'm not hands-on when it comes to maintenance.

 

I need to rest now... be kind with me folks...

 

Your average of both summer and winter is 51 MPG. You are still beating the EPA combined number.

 

despite browsing nearly half a dozen different threads about plunging gas mileage, i was confident i would see no more than a modest decline. after all, i have seen several mornings with temps in the upper 20's so its not like we havent had any cold weather so far...

so, up this morning i arose, i walked out to the car and realized, it did seem a bit nippy. i noticed some ice on the car, so i started the car, turned on the defrost and glanced at the thermometer... EIGHT DEGREES... oh oh... colder than i expected.

i then got out to scrape the windshield. nothing doing, hard as a rock and after about 30 seconds, i was frozen, so into the house i ran sitting helplessly watching the car smoke away, all the while scrutinizing the windshield for that telltale circle that signified the signs of softened ice.

wasnt too long though, just a few minutes, then i went out, spent about 20 seconds per side, (never noticed how BIG the windshield actually was!!) and cleared out enough to be able to sort of see where i was going.

off i took. the scangauge had not even hit 100º yet... wow, fresh anti-freeze was a comoforting thought. as i drove to work, i glanced at my mileage (i reset it every morning on trip B to see how i do) and it was not looking good. it was nearly a mile before my MPG's hit double figures.

i had the seat heater blazing which was my saving grace because the heater was not working well at all. water temp barely touched 150º and only in the last few hundred yards before pulling into work 7 miles away.... and my mileage...34.2 MPG!! OMG!!...

immediately i began to panic. how could this happen??? and even worse...

WHAT IF SOMEONE FINDS OUT!!

all day long i could barely concentrate on work. scenarios ran thru my head..."i accidentally reset my mileage and dont really know what i did this morning" YA!! that might work!!, tell everyone i had gloves on!!

...another thought was to register under a new username with one of my spam email accounts that way no one would know who i really was and i could act like a clueless newbie...

but no, damn integrity!! but then again. it was only half the trip. i could bring it back up on the way home...the sun was out, looked very awesome, hopefully it would warm up enough for the drive home. curse those 10 hour shifts!! it would be after sunset before i got off work, but hopefully i could make it work...

as i left work, i walked out and right away realized it was not as warm as i hoped it would be. but not ridiculous like this morning and BAMM!!! window was clear, not a spec of frost anywhere!! i could do this!!

i got in the car, started it and immediately started to drive away not wanting to idle even for a second while not moving. i took off gently wondering how far i could go without any heat. it was 28º... cold but i thought i could do it.

but it only took a minute to realize that it was going to be too cold to drive without heat. the seat heater worked great on my buns but did nothing for my hands which were cold. (now wishing i really did have a pair of gloves)

as i eased around each corner, trying to time all the lights, i came upon the daily normal traffic backup and stopped. water temp was 120º... barely adequate for any heat. that sucked. i couldnt afford to force charge the battery which would keep the engine running while not moving. but the seat heaters work good all the time, so i sat on my hands at the lights and traffic jams.

finally about half way home, Yelm Hwy breaks into 4 lanes and traffic starts moving at the speed limit. hoping to hit all the lights green...naturally i only hit 2 of 6 green...

and finally i roll into home. 14.1 miles that day....43.1 mpg....

WHEW... as long as it was not 30 something, thank you thank you thank you!!

so, that is why i am here today.

 

Yes but what about us?

 

south park 1-13 dvd boxset released on mycollects

 

I've owned about 15 cars and the heater in the Prius heats up faster than most, it seems to me. I've had a number of cars with Auto settings and hated all of them. They blow too much lukewarm air. Prius is no differennt. I always use manual.

 

Good point.

 

Manual heater works good in any car, even the smallest piece of.... never mind. I'm complaiing about the auto... in my Prius, the auto is not as good as my perceptions from my past experiences with other cars...

 

I used one half inch foam insulation for water pipes. Got the ideas from this site. Two pieces, with slits cut for the cross supports in the grill.

Most of my driving is short city driving right now and I did just purchase and install a Scan Gauge and just did about 40 miles on the freeway at around 30 degrees and the water temp stayed between 190 & 195, just where it should be and this is with 100% blocked on the bottom, 0% blocked on top. Others have commented on what you can get away with as far as blocking without a SG as well.

 

It depends how you define "us". Most users of this forum are fanatic about their Prius. No matter what the problem with the car is, there is always an argument to get around it. To accept a problem you have first to see it. Maybe my assumptions about its quality, value, and winter FE are not quite fair because this is my first hybrid, but, I don't think like that. As I said many times, the Prius is an expensive car and there are plenty of options for better value today IMO, even in the low end of luxury brands. In 3-4 years.... it may be different. I can't wait to see hybrids and EVs hitting the market everywhere to see how the game rules may change. I got my Prius after extensive thinking and research because my commute bumped 10x. While I don't regret it, I'm definitely not part of the Prius fan pool...