Prius Marathon Run

My whole family was eagerly following this event all weekend. I would bet that an awful lot of PriusChatters were doing the same. Gentlemen, we really do want to know all about your experience, and no detail is too small.

For example, my husband wondered if you used the stereo system or not? What was your average speed? Did you often drive very slowly? Did you keep the windows up all the time? Did you take off your radio antenna?

This has been more fun than the Tour de France!

 

Congrats guys! It was great to meet you all - Dan, Bob, Dave, Rick, Wayne - you are all my hero. I had to head out of town at 1280 miles, right after a little talk with the HBO crew and when Dan took over the final segment. Tonight I'll post some pics of the record-breaking car and owner when I get home from work. Again I had a great time meeting you guys and not only being there for the record breaking tank, but also being able to check out the 2nd highest-in-the-world insight LMPG and the HCH that averages in the 80s. I think just having my car near yours gave it incentive to average a solid 53MPG when driving 70-75 on the 255mi trip home.

All that aside, when's the next attempt at smashing this record? 12.78 gallons, that means you could go to 1500 easy!

-m.

 

Evan,
The shift changes took closer to 5 minutes each and there was a stop at each end.
Total Stop Signs 96
Total Traffic Light Stops: 300
Total Traffic Light Slowdowns (below 20 MPH): 174

Assume 1 minute for each stop light, 1/2 min for each stop sign and 11 shift changes, that comes to 403 mins or 6 hours. Subtract that from 47.75 hous and divide by 1397 miles.

That calculates to 34.1 MPH. Our target was 30-40 so that sounds about right.

Dan

Average speed

 

The Prius Marathon Run was great entertainment for me over the weekend. I applaud all of those participating. I hope the media picks it up to counter the articles saying the EPA figures can't be achieved.

I would sure like someone to describe in detail the driving technique used. I assume acceleration to about 40 mph was attempted so that no arrows showed to or from the battery, but how can this be achieved? Seldom can I do this from a standing start, as almost always current flows from the battery upon acceleration. I can accelerate until the ICE goes faster, then let off on the accelerator looking for the lack of arrows, or I can try for no arrows early on in acceleration, making for slow going. And how were you accelerating from 30 mph? Or, did you use quick acceleration, either from standing to 40 or 30 to 40, and if this was used, how quick? And after acceleration, when I try to go into glide, it seems that I must take my foot fully off the accelerator, wait until the green regeneration arrows show, and only then can I put light pressure on the accelerator to glide. Is there a way to minimize the slowing caused by regeneration? Or better yet, go into glide with no regeneration?

CraigCSJ 04 Driftwood #9BC

 

In the Wishful Thinking department, it would be nice if someone could come up with a "glide mode switch mod" similar to the EV switch mod, where pulling a lever or pushing a button would put the car in glide mode without regen if the foot is left off of the accelerator.

Then again, not having this does give me a convenient excuse to ask my girlfriend for ankle/foot massages :mrgreen:

 

You don't need a "glide mode switch mod" because you already have that function built in and enabled...To activate: Grab the gear shift knob. Push it straight to the left and hold until the "N" (as in "neutral") is circled on the dash indicator. You are now locked into glide mode. To exit glide mode, use the gear shift knob to select any other appropriate gear (presumeably drive or brake, but I suppose the next challenge will be the ultimate gas tank running in reverse

Disclaimer: you need to check your local DMV rules, as coasting in neutral is against the law in many states/jurisdictions.
--
Vince

 

Congratulations, guys!!!!!


...and I thought 55.5MPG on my most recent tank was good.

Again, wonderful job to all!!!

 

DMV rules are moot in this instance as there is absolutely no way to enforce this law.

 

What do these anti neutral laws actually say anyways? To me a neutral gear means you are disengageing some gear. I don't see how the law applies to a Prius.

In a Prius the N position would be closest to a regular car if it could switch open the engine valves on command and cut off the fuel supply.

And as far as these laws are concerned seems to me they worry about a conventional car taking too long to shift back or something? In a Prius I can get back to drive far quicker than I can downshift in a normal manual transmission car, so there is less danger of delaying any acceleration that might be needed.

 

In the Prius, N doesn't disengage any gear. It opens an electrical switch which disconnects MG2 from rest of the electrical system and thus, no regen. The ring gear just spins with no movement/power to the planet. For more info, go to Graham's site.

 

Time for a self-LART. Sorry for wasting bandwidth by blabbing away at the keyboard without engaging brain first (although it was due to a lack of caffeine, but still...). Yes, shifting it to "N" would do it. Thanks for pointing that out...

 

I am a municipal police officer (25 yrs). I occasionally see reference to driving in neutral (is that an oxymoron) being illegal but I have never seen a link to such a law nor have I seen a particular code referenced. Ohio, as a state, has no such law. I suppose a municipality may have one. I suspect this "law" resides in the same codebook that prohibits driving while bare-foot.

So, all those who say there is a law against it, tell me where. (State and city in US please)

 

When I visited my cousin in Connecticut she took her shoe off and drove barefoot. She told me it was illegal and if she was pulled over would just slip it back on. Not sure what county. We were driving from Bozrah to Mystic.

Of course....how would you enforce such a law? It's not like you can see people's feet while they're driving. And unless they don't bring their shoes with them, they can do like my cousin and just slip them back on before an officer gets to the window to look in.

 

Astounding job, guys -- congrats and thanks for putting forth the
effort. May your right ankles never falter. And I
thought touching 77mpg for a while on some test runs
up here was pretty good...
.
About barefoot driving et al: check out
www.barefooters.org, and print yourself some of the material
they have available if you're paranoid about getting
hassled.
.
And as several have already noted, neutral is a
complete red herring where the Prius is concerned.
.
_H*

 

Many states and municipalities in the US have enacted laws banning the operation of a motor vehicle in "neutral." The Uniform Vehicle Code, which has been adopted by many jurisdictions, states, "The driver of any motor vehicle when traveling upon a down grade shall not coast with the gears or transmission of such vehicle in neutral." Here are a few other illustrative examples of "coasting" laws. Many more could be cited.

Oregon Statutes 811.495: "A person commits the offense of unlawful coasting on a downgrade if the person is the driver of a vehicle on a downgrade and the person coasts with the gears or transmission of the motor vehicle in neutral or with the clutch disengaged. This section does not apply to the driver of a motorized bicycle. The offense described in this section, unlawful coasting on a downgrade, is a Class C traffic infraction."

Louisiana Statutes 32:285: "The driver of any motor vehicle when traveling upon a downgrade shall not coast with the gears of such vehicle in neutral or with the clutch disengaged."

Seattle Municipal Code section 11.58.010: "The driver of any motor vehicle when traveling upon a downgrade shall not coast with the gears of such vehicle in neutral. No driver shall coast with the clutch disengaged when traveling upon a downgrade. This section shall not prevent the proper shifting of gears or the towing of a disabled vehicle."

Many other states and cities have similar laws. The good news is that coasting uphill is not prohibited!

 

New London County, although in Connecticut, counties don't really mean anything as they do in other states.

I like driving barefoot (or sock-footed) as well. For me, I get a better "feel" and contact with the pedals. Considering some of the extremely impractical footwear many people wear, I think it would be far safer to drive barefoot. Must be a Connecticut thing?

 

The way those laws are stated I don't see how it applies to a Prius.
Our gears don't disengage and we have no clutch at all.

Now if you argue it is Neutral because the lever is labeled "N" that is weak too since electrically and mechanically in the transmission the "N" switch doesn't do anything different from holding the accelerator in the coast mode.
They are identical except one lets your foot rest.

Now if coasting down hill is illegal that means it is just as illegal to do using the accelerator in the coast position too!

But when they talk about coasting down hill, that is what several Saab's I've driven did by design with their built in free wheel and the car was fully legal, but that was back when a lot more people wanted to conserve fuel! When you went down hill the gears were automatically always disengaged unless you stopped the car to lock the free wheel. You weren't supposed to do that while moving. And I drove that car all over Oregon too!

 

I'll check with Graham's site again (great stuff!) but feel certain that I saw the green arrows on the MFD from wheels to battery when I selected N on a long downgrade recently. I felt a slight acceleration soon after pushing left on the selector, and N was highlighted on the odometer display. Yes, the acceleration does indicate that the "drag" of the regen had been disconnected. Maybe the energy display has a glitch? :?