So I took the new prius out yesterday on a couple hundred mile drive, and I must say this is the best car I've ever bought. My drive consisted of variable speeds to help break in the engine, and subtle breaking; with an elevation gain from about 4226 ft (salt lake city) to 7000 ft (Park city). I took a more mellow canyon road with a slower speed limit and subtle elevation gain. There are a few things I still need to figure out, for instance the fuel calculator restarts after start-up so I missed the fuel economy on the way up, but when I was cruising around and back it ranged from 60's to mid 80's coming down the canyon ( I was varying my speeds, and breaking also). I'm calculating it by hand too, so once I fill up I'll know for sure what my first tank is, but that will prob take a while A few things I never realized about this car or the Prius brand in general: when cruising with light throttle on an even road the energy display shows the gas engine actually powers the electric motor (system and charges battery). This is pretty cool and I think 1 step away from using the gas engine as more super efficient generator for the hybrid system than actually driving the car. I thought this was pretty slick. The blue tooth is so much safer!! They should make this mandatory to get cell phones out of the hands of drivers. I also have a question about dusty roads. Is there any concern (extra maintenance, sooner maintenance) for driving on dirt roads? Just curious, I was driving around the Unitas Nation forest and this popped into my head for when I go biking and camping.
I know it's a pain in the .... to read the manual when you've just taken delivery and would much rather drive around than sit around looking through the manual, but it has a maintenance schedule that differs from 'normal'. It is basically up to you to figure out how much sooner to replace the air filter, etc., due to dusty roads, and other than normal duty. Fortunately, you have some time to figure it all out before any maintenance is required. Congratulations and enjoy the car. I took a Sunday drive (on Sunday) and ended up with a top three (#3) rating for my trip meter 'B'.
I'm so glad you went up to Park City! My biggest concern waiting for my Prius C was how it would handle going up into the mountains and canyons, etc. Now I really can't wait for mine to arrive!
Have no concerns about the C! I was driving super slow as well, and its fine. I took it easy because I only had 80 miles on it at the time. It has plenty of power, and will have more once it beaks in and I can give it more throttle.
It's pretty amazing when you can run everything on battery power, and waste no gas, especially when the longest train ever is rolling by at a snails space.
Use one of the two trip meters (A and B) to caculate mileage over time. As you found out, when on the ODO setting, it resets each time you turn off the vehicle. Nice to hear you were getting mpg in the 80s. Must have been a fair amount of downhill and coasting in that stretch.
