Grill Blocking Summary Article

Wanted to add a pic with the grill block foam in place.

 

I put the foam over the chrome on the upper air inlet only.

It stayed on the car all summer last year, and when I took it to the dealer for when it got backed into, they used black ZipTies to secure it in.

I RARELY drive the expressway so, I don't worry about it, but I have gone 50 miles on 70 mph roads without issues in the heat of summer.

 

Greetings to all from Moscow I wish to show that has thought up one of our friends from the Russian forum of Prius owners, struggling with our frosts
Unfortunately I cannot place here a photo since 5 messages are necessary It is possible to solve this problem without typing 5 messages?

p.s. I communicate with the help of the automatic translator so I apologise for my English

 

So far with no grill block my AVG MPG US conversion is 34.6 MPG in the ~14F temp and about 31 MPG ~0F temp. So I started to read this thread and thought I would try it. I covered 100% of the lover grill only, thought I would try that and see how it goes. I installed this yesterday, will keep the thread posted on improvements, I hope.

Thanks for the information

 

Public Service Announcement:

The Gen 4 Prius (2016+ & Prime) have active Grill Shutters.
Do NOT block the grill on these newer models.

 

I've been blocking 50% of lower (aka "lover", lol) grill since maybe November? Next week temps are predicted to go down significantly, so yesterday I went to 100% lower (put the other tube in):

 

I checked out a base 2016 Gen IV Prius, and didn't look like it had active Grill Shutters, I thought only the Prius ECO had it.

 

Think all the levels do on fourth gen. Takes all the fun out of it though.

 

Update: ~14F AVG 36.2 MPG, one big difference is how fast I get the cabin warmed up. Also, seems like car doesn't have to work as hard to keep me warm inside the car.

will keep you posted with more updates

 

No block heater? It really helps I think, especially if you are doing short trips. Good for the engine too, and cabin will warm a bit sooner. The proprietory Toyota block heater is shown as $300 something now, as an installed accessory on Toyota Canada site. The part is around $80, but not a lot of fun to install, for sure. PriusShop has it too, but with shipping and duty do not know, no advantage I suspect.

 

I'll need to check my 2017 Two later. Does anybody know if both upper & lower have shutters?

EDIT: I just saw the press kit pdf Danny posted and the chart shows the shutters on all US trim levels.

 

Search for pinned title with "visual" in main 4th gen forum too. Good info table.

 

why would that be?

BION
StarCaller

 

I was speculating tideland's colder clime is also drier, maybe prairie. Whereas the around-freezing situation is west coast, and the inherent greater humidity here necessitates more windshield clearing, idling. Couple that with short trips it's a killer.

 

Update #2, well my mpg didn't change, I do all small trips. Start card, scrape off ice/snow on car (5 min), drive 10 min, stop So I never get the advantage of getting good AVG MPG. The numbers above are the same I get today. BUT, I do notice the heat in the car is much faster and much hotter than before. Before it was like it could not keep up, now, there is no problem. Happy with the modification. I will do this again next year, thanks everyone for the tip. .

 

Try reducing your cabin heat demands too. Leave the system on, but set temp just above LO. And at red lights shut it right off, temporarily. Both these measures will help, getting the car turning off the engine sooner and more, and warm the engine sooner as well.

Garage parking, if possible, is another big plus.