Just had spark plugs changed

alfon,
This is a great post , thank you !

My 128K mile Gen3 is due for this recall but I have not been contacted yet.
I will probably do the same and hand the service writer a copy of your post to get a similar deal.
How were you contacted to bring it in for the recall?

I agree with you on plug life. These probably didn't need to be changed. Could you tell if they are double iridium?
You know, a dot of iridium on both sides of the gap?

But then again,,, I'm trying to sell the Prius, so I may pass this info on to the next owner.
I am leaving the old tech Prius behind and bought a '13 Volt !! The highest tech car on the road!!
And on paper this was just a $7000 upgrade from this Prius I bought last November for $15.5k.

 

That's too bad. Bosch makes a poor plug and you'll probably have to go back in there and get those out of the engine and replace them with proper Denso's.

 

ed,
Com'on, where do you reference your statements?

How will alfon know the inferior Bosch plugs need to be changed?
Should he wait another 100k and see how they compare?

alfon,
Have you changed your transaxle fluid? ( my pet peeve with these cars.. )
You need to do this to get to the 200k mark!
Reference: ATF fluid changes ARE Required. | PriusChat
(Just go to the oil analyses.)

 

Never had much luck with Bosch.

 

How is this referenced?

 

There's been a few Gen II posts with people who have used Bosch and ended up taking them out.
But it's well known Bosch makes a very poor spark plug. Please google:

Bosch bad spark plug

The engine will run best both in Gen 2 & 3 with the factory Denso's. That is a very high quality plug.

 

alfon,

Do you know if the Bosch were double iridiums? If they have only the dot on the center electrode and a normal ground electrode they may not age as gracefully as the original spark plugs.

Did you see the condition of the ATF I drained at 112k miles? The change is easy!
You won't question if it was needed maintenance like the spark plug change.
Yeah, I registered with Toyota online for this brake recall. I have not bugged my local dealer though.

And I won't. My '10 Prius IV Solarsunroof has left the driveway for the last time last night! It is now someone elses issue to get the recall done.

I now drive a '13 Volt !! The highest tech car on the road !!!

Sayonara Suckers , won't be seeing you at the pumps !!

ed,

I found people saying "I put bosch plugs in my MG back in the 70's and it 'did not like' them. I think it is a culture clash thing". You know what they say about opinions....
Maybe only Porsche/Audi/VW and Ferrari run fine with bosch. Jap cars need jap plugs.... Could that be what ordinary people are experiencing? (although not reproducible in any scientific way).

 

Please give us facts that the volt is the highest tech car on the road.

 

Bill-
I'm in other car forums and no one has anything good to say about Bosch plugs. Best to use the factory Nippo's in this car as that is a very good plug.

 

I'm just giving an opinion, like others here.

But can you name a higher tech car than the Volt?

It's really just a Prius with a much bigger battery pack and it can be driven as fast as you like in EV, not limited to 62 mph like the PiP, and a lame 13 miles.
It may be that these transaxles are made by the same supplier.
Only the Volt is an obvious 'Leap in Technology' from the 14 year old Prius system.
The battery range indicator is just an 'guessimater' and it learns.
I had it almost 2 weeks now. It tells me I have 44 miles EV every morning and that has been my average, which costs me ~$1.98. Will be much less when I have access to the new outlets at work.
Thank you forward looking employers !!!!!

 

>> But can you name a higher tech car than the Volt?

Umm..., the Tesla. No?

 

Nope. Just another lame EV.
Tesla drivers get "Range Anxiety".

As a Leaf driving friend told me, "Real EV'rs leave their sense of adventure and impulse at the door".
Now the car, and the wife tells you, "Straight Home".

I guess as a second, commuter car a Tesla would be fun!
But then, the wealthy have no problems buying fun.

 

Just a quick reminder that your question was "can you name a higher tech car than the Volt," which doesn't have anything to do with the psychology of the driver. Don't try to change the goalposts.

 

What I do find interesting about the Volt is that the engine's tucked away somewhere, not directly connected to the wheels, just runs to charge the battery as needed. And no range anxiety.

 

That is not quite correct. The Volt design, part of its technical advance, was using added clutches to allow the engine to be disconnected and used as a direct generator for pure serial hybrid mode as well as being coupled into the engine for a parallel hybrid mode. This allows upto 15% fuel improvement in CS mode (i.e. parallel mode as in a Prius or Lexus) while also allowing the alternative design with a much larger EV traction motor and not having to worry about overdriving the smaller EV motor. Its part of why the volt can do 100mph in EV without any problem for the motors.
Also since the ICE may go for up to 6 weeks without use, it makes sense to keep it out of the drivetrain operation most of the time.

Nice video on the volt drive train

But note the speeds of 35 and 70mph are examples.. it can be in parallel as low as 35 and serial as high as 100. Its more about the load on the engine than the speed.

 

Yes , you may have been reading about the next gen hybrids using a "2 clutch design" to separate power sources.

Well the Volt uses that NOW! ( For a while they were claiming it was just a series hybrid, but now that all patents are in place, they admit the engine directly couples to the eCVT).

The Volt is a Prius with a big HV battery and a current generation 3 clutch eCVT.

As Lutz wanted at the beginning of the design process, the Volt is a "Leap in Technology" over the Prius.
The Prius was cutting edge 14 years ago. But, technology marches on...

In 2 weeks of ownership I bought ~$10 in electricity, according to my killawatt. and 35% of a 9.5 gal tank of gas. This would have been two tanks in the Prius.
(Some electric came from work, {3 days worth of 6 kwh charges} but that is on hold now.)

Early Adopters be ready for the haters.
"Company X adopts forward looking Clean Energy Initiative. Most employees don't like it".
"Main theme of unfavorable employee attitude appears to be: 'It's not fair. I want X to pay for my gas also' ".

But gas is not a clean, potentially renewable, energy source. (Plus the dollars go to middle east oil kingdoms).
Where I live my Volt is powered by: coal, nuclear, wind and a little hydro. Still trying to find ratio.

"American Made --- American Fueled" (mostly)...

 

Bill, you should update your profile.

(or do you still have the Prius?)