We've got pages and pages of conversation about how well the C likes the warmth and the advantages of grill-blocking during cold weather. Have we come up with an agreed outdoor temperature at which we should UNblock the grill? I don't have an Xgauge to monitor temps. Personally, I figured I'd just wait until it got warm enough for me to want to start using the window shade. Any other thoughts? A week of 70+ degrees? Wait for 80s?
Without a scan gauge I would remove the grill block at 60 degrees. Not worth it to potentially have an overheating event. It was 40 degrees out today here and on a 30 mile highway drive I saw 197 degrees on my scan gauge. Once we consistently hit 55 or 60 degrees my lower grill block will be gone on our Gen III Prius. I have not blocked the top grill.
I have only the lower section blocked on my C2. Recent days have been a low of 50 and a high of 75. I am on the road early morning (50 degrees), late morning (65 degrees), and evening (70 degrees). You're saying I should remove the blocking now?
This will give you some more guidelines http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17560 If I saw 70 degree F temps the grill block would be gone
This is the reason we need someone making a block kit with quick snap on/off in a matter of seconds. Put it on in the early morning at 40+ degrees, take it off at lunch or on the way home at 70+ degrees.
If it were snap-on and snap-off, I'd go for the on in the morning off in the afternoon option. It's still low 50s in the mornings, but I'm managing 60 MPG. I'll probably give it another week, just to make sure the weather holds. Mine are only wedged in, so it really isn't a big deal to add or remove them.
Gotta love the warm weather. During the winter, I struggled to get 50-55 MPG on my daily trip to the post office (7.4 miles one way)... today, without any extra effort, I got 90.8 MPG on that same trip!
Faster warm ups are great. 19 degrees here this morning so the grill block will be in place a bit longer
Well, I took mine off back in February. Mistake. Fuel mileage hit the skids. Still off. Morning temps at 30 ish mileage is pushing 40 mpg on 26 mile run. Coming home with temperature at 55 Back up to 50 mpg. Speed is 68 mph. Won't remove it so quick next year. But, it wont be going back on this year. Dan
Just how flat is it where you are? Even with air con off I have to pull something really special out of the bag to get anything like that... and preferably start with a warm c. It's not like I live in the mountains, but nothing around here is flat.
Vegas is in a valley, so it really isn't flat at all. My routes, though, are mostly very gentle ups and downs, nothing terribly steep. There is one block I drive which does require accelerating into the red if you want to go more than 15 mph - but it's only one block and whatever MPGs I lose are easily made up. I can glide during about 1/4 of each of my trips, otherwise my C just likes me very much. Speeds are 25-45 MPH on my routes, with heavy traffic and lots of lights. Today's trip from post office to work (7.4 miles) got me 82.1 MPG in low 70s weather.
I'm generally blocked all year. Some times I'll pull the uppers. A lot of it depends on how you drive and where you drive. At low speed the inverter is working more than at high speed. So at 50F the inverter coolant will be hotter driving 35mph on hilly county roads than at 65mph on level Interstate. ICE coolant temp won't be significantly different--both will be in the 180's.
