About a week ago I returned from a 3500-mile trip that covered parts of Nebraska, Kansas, New Mexico, Arizona, and Colorado. Here are my initial impressions from the driver’s seat of the Priusv Gas mileage (calculated manually) exceeded my expectations. Trip average was 47 mpg. Lowest was in the Colorado mountains (44 mpg); highest, the Colorado front range and eastward to Kansas (55 mpg). The car had ample room for two of us plus tent camping gear, food, and luggage. For us, the car seats were comfortable. At least three other v’s shared the road with us – a red one with MN plates, a white with CA plates, and another red (probably a local) who zipped by south of Santa Fe. Kudos to Toyota dealer Turner Automotive of Montrose CO for a speedy tire repair. In short, a great car (until the temperatures drop in a few months and the “brake moan” returns).
Did you wave to the other Prius v drivers? I do this sometimes in my Miata, it confuse the Miatae when I'm in a different car.
I love road trips. One of the main reasons i bought the v when considering the prius family was comfort on long trips. I agree it is fairly comfortable over great distances and rides nice on the highway. Depends what you are used to i suppose. I've always had small cars in the past, last car was a Honda Fit which i took on a couple of long distance trips(Edmonton, Alberta to Southern California(7000km return), and Edmonton, Alberta, to St johns newfoundland(24,000km return)). Longest trip i've taken in my v so far has been when i was moving from edmonton, AB to Vancouver, BC. Drove 1000km in a day, and quite pleased with it, more comfortable than the Fit and great fuel economy, plus lots of room to haul my stuff. Sorry to hear about the brake moan, i have never experienced such a thing on my v and i've been through everything from +35c to -35c the first 6 months i owned my v in edmonton last summer and driving it through the winter before i moved to the coast. I did experience engine knocking on cold starts sometimes in the winter though.
Yes, I waved, but not sure if I ever got a response. I did, however, talk to one of the folks from MN who reported that while they had only had their preowned car for about a week, they enjoyed the cargo capacity and gas mileage.
I have a new 2013 Prius - got 8km per 100 with dealer gas (approx. $1.35 per liter). Extremely cold weather + 3 snowstorms. I am hoping my next consumption reading improve - everybody seems to say it takes a couple months to 'brake-in' the Prius?
