Hello & a few Qs...

Well, welcome aboard I kinda new here myself. I did a similar buy myself. I traded in my 2007 Toyota Tacoma Prerunner with 75,000 miles which average around 20 mpg for a 2010-Prius base (blizzard Pearl) just paid tax and license thats averaging around 52 mpg right now. Just lovin it! If you don't mine me asking how did you do on your trade and purchase price for your 2010 Prius?

There's a video sticking here somewhere that explains pulse and glide tech's. Very well done, I learned a lot from it.

You should have a sunglass holder above you near your map lights.

Enjoy your new ride!

 

Congrats! Answers in red text above.

 

Not sure if you have the Navigation System, but the "regular" radio, you press and HOLD the random button, and it should random ALL of your CD's. Same goes for repeating, if you want a full CD to repeat, you press and hold the repeat button.

The sunglasses holder is up by the map lights on all models except the solar one, so you might just have to keep them in the upper glove box. I have slim, clip ons for my actual glasses and I put a non-slip pad inside the upper glove box to house mine.

 

Welcome aboard and enjoy the ride! A programmer?

 

In the same field.

 

For best MPG, never use B because it thows away energy. For best brake health, use B on mountain descents that would completely fill the traction battery through regeneration and overheat the brakes. It normally takes a steep descent of at least 600 feet, more at highway speed or shallow slopes (sometimes less in cold weather during engine warmup), to fill the battery, then some more to get the brakes hot.

Were those tires larger diameter, or wider? If the diameter increased, did you account for the changes of the speedometer and odometer? If not, apparent mpg will fall even when real mpg increases. But wider tires are a different story.

 

I have been keeping my Oakley sunglasses in the in-door drink holder

 

My sunglasses don't fit in the overhead holder, so I keep them under the ski jump. BTW, get yourself a pair of non-polarized glasses so you can see the instrument display.

 

Are you saying that using regenerative braking (without applying the brakes) can over heat the brakes? How does that happen?

And, realistically, on steep descents "B" is only marginally better than just normal braking in my experience. There just isn't enough engine compression to slow the vehicle on the steep stuff.

 

Example: descending Pikes Peak road. The traction battery will fill up in about 500 vertical feet. The next 5000 vertical feet will be just engine braking and friction braking. If traffic is too slow for engine braking, as it was the day I was there, the brakes will get really hot.

It depends on the slope. I have been on plenty of roads steep and long enough to make use of engine braking, without needing much friction braking.

For the few roads worse than that, friction braking and cooling stops are needed.

 

Thanks fuzzy1. But what you describe is to be expected with friction breaking. pondcaster mentioned regeneration, and I would like clarification on how regenerative breaking (electric generators providing resistance vs. friction from the break pads rubbing against the brake disc) would cause the brakes to heat. I am no engineer but that statement just doesn't make any sense.

 

Congrats! I just got my 2012 on Monday, so I know the joy there. I gave up my 2003 Baja that was giving me 20 city and 27 highway. Loving the 50.25mpg after my last fill-up after only 211 miles.

As I learn how to drive the Prius more effectively; I am thinking that in my commute with some "hills" I would be better off using the B gear than my old way of using the brakes.

I am only using my iPhone 4 using the BT on the 2012, and am running into the same issues you have with the CD playback.

Big learning curve for us that are used to older vehicles without all the gadgets... FWI the manual on the "head unit" was as big as the manual for the car itself! LOL

Keep the questions coming, it helps us all.....

 

Sorry if it wasn't clear, but I didn't intend to suggest that regeneration heats the brakes. On long hills they get hot during the friction braking phase that happens after the traction battery fills up and regeneration ceases. That is when B mode becomes useful.

 

Thanks fory clarifying, fuzzy1.