Anybody drive through the Grapevine?

I just went from OC to SF twice last week. I've done the trip numerous times in somewhere around 20 different cars. Honestly, my 2010 Prius is one of the worst cars I've driven for that trip. It gets over the grapevine ok, kinda buzzy and not a lot of reserve power if you need it.

But the worst part about the Prius is trying to cruise at 80mph with the rest of the traffic. As shown in mph/mpg charts, my mileage was about 36mpg at 80mph, low 40's for the whole trip.

And the fuel gauge is horribly inaccurate at 80mph, it consistently showed 0 miles left with under 400 miles on the tank. Not the greatest feeling when some of the exits don't have gas stations.

Wind and trucks blow the Prius all over the road. The steering wanders a lot, forcing you to pay close attention all the time, stressful on a 6 hour drive and not very safe IMO.

As good as the Prius is as an urban mpg beater, it's just not cut out for long trips at high speed. I made the same trip in my wifes 2013 Accord Coupe later the same week and it was hugely more capable, easier to drive, more comfortable, more stable, and averaged 39mpg at 80mph with 3 people and a dog in the car.

 

Call me crazy, but I think I have an idea why you are having such a different experience relative to everyone else.

My particular Prius is blissfully quiet and sips gas at 60mph. It stays more-or-less so at 65mph. At 70mph, some of that quiet begins to degrade, as does a noticeable bit of little fuel efficiency. I'll only resort up to low-90s for passing and downhill gliding. I would rather do it at 65mph, but given the speed limit is 70mph for much of the Grapevine, that's where I cruise to achieve a ~48-51mpg fuel consumption.

Also, the Grapevine does not cruise at 80mph. Some people cruise at 80mph, and they have to keep passing people and semis cruising at 65-75mph. In a different car, I used to cruise at 78mph (a little social engineering to stave off unwanted attention) and basically have to pass about 90% of the cars I encounter. (The game that I play is that I do it at a static speed under cruise control, a kind of pre-Prius hypermiling. Something you do when the car guzzles premium at ~20mpg.)

I would recommend cruising slower in your Prius and see if it improves your experience.

 

Upgrade to 17" wheels. Lots of 15"-wheel Prius owners have this problem and those who upgrade to 17" wheels reported this problem going away.

 

70mph over the grapevine is fine. The 80mph number is for the flat/straight/boring part of I-5 where the speed limit is 70. Just under 80 is my target, which is keeping up with the flow.

I've owned a 2010 Prius V with the 17" factory wheels. They didn't help the wandering at all for me. But they did make it ride worse and knocked down my mpg about 7 points.

 

use power mode on the way up is some steep spots. PRIUS is a BEAST on the grapevine. don't worry about it

 

The newer accords are incredible. My good friend has a 4 or 5 year old accord. I helped him mount the upgraded honda wheels. It cruise really nicely. The road noise in the Prius is like riding in a Cessna in comparison.
The accord just doesn't have the hybrid status. If I didn't care about status of my ride I would have gotten a used Toyota Avalon for what I paid for my used 2010 Prius. The Avalon is the ultimate low budget cruiser as the accord is a reasonably priced sports sedan. Both amazing v6 cars with reasonable maintenance costs.

 

Drove the grapevine again this past weekend. LA to SF and back, there were some spots of traffic so my average mph was 65 I drive about 78 with no traffic. But I got 52mpg(car calculated typ 6% off from actual). w/ myself, wife, kid, dog and our stuff. I think it drives just fine and didn't have any big issues of the car wandering. There wasn't much wind this trip.

 

Did you make it without stopping for gas? How many miles each way?

 

Yep 422 each way, plenty of gas left when we got home

 

stock tires, 38/36 psi. no wheel covers + us spec mud guards

 

Based in Bob Wilson's mph/mpg chart it looks like anything above 75mph knocks the mileage way down. Unfortunately I had to rush to SF because of a family medical emergency, so slowing down wasn't an option.

My fuel receipt shows 390 miles on 9.64 gallons on the trip up to SF. At 390 miles my fuel gauge was empty and showing 0 miles remaining so I stopped rather than push it and risk running out of gas. Seems like the fuel gauge isn't very accurate at higher speeds.

On the trip back to OC my receipt shows 430 miles on 9.88 gallons. My experience is that the trip south is easier in gas. Still, around 43mpg was disappointing considering the sacrifices one accepts when driving a Prius. The Accord is about $10 more each way, worth it in my mind because it's much more pleasant to drive.

Around home I refill when I hit 500 miles, and it usually takes 10.5 gallons. I'm running 15" Bridgestone Ecopia 422 tires at 36psi.

 

My other car is a Lexus, 24mpg premium, haven't driven it for about three months. It's in the garage with a battery tender attached. We've been to Fl. twice in the Prius, 2400 to 2500 miles each trip, I don't miss the comfort at all.

 

Many of the forum members are willing to sacrifice comfort for mileage. Certainly the price of a new or used Prius could get you into a very comfy car. I thoroughly enjoy getting excellent mileage at medium comfort level.
I had a really hard time choosing initially. I almost decided to go for excellent comfort and mediocre mileage and get an 05-08 Avalon for a bit less than what I paid for the used 2010 Prius

 

I had a 2013 Prius two rental driving from Seattle to LA and back to Seattle (3200 miles round trip). I had no problems going 80 mph up and down the grapevine. Car handled perfectly the whole trip. Bought my Prius Four after turning in the rental Prius.

SAMSUNG-SM-N900A ?

 

I think any modern car from the last 5 years can keep good speed on the grapevine. I saw a Kia rio going 80 mph up a grade the other day. I define comfort as a combination of convenience features, ride quality and noise level.

 

I have had no problem driving over the Grapevine in my Prius going 80MPH, with 15" wheels, in case you were wondering. However, lately I've decided to make the drive from Los Angeles to Sacramento a little bit different. Going over the Grapevine, I set my cruise control to around 65MPH (maybe 70MPH max, depending on the flow of traffic) and just cruise. The CHP are way to anxious to stop you in this area. If you haven't been stopped, it's just a matter of time. Once I hit the flatlands of Central California, I increase my speed to between 80 and 85MPH as I very rarely see any CHP. When I hit Stockton, I again slow down, as this city is notorious for handing out speeding tickets. Then the remaining trip after Stockton and to Sacramento, I drive around 75MPH. Gas milage sucks due to excessive speed and it's usually cold when I do this drive. I agree that the Prius isn't the best handling car over the Grapevine, but my Explorer was worse, especially in the wind. So, I'm more than satisfied in all aspects of my Prius.

 

It's true, new vehicle comfort is influenced heavily by how crappy your old vehicle was.

 

On I-5 North (in the flat valley area) my display was saying 36 mpg average for an hour at 80 mph. 75 mph seems like the max if you want decent mpg.

The cars you're comparing definitely has an influence on your satisfaction with the Prius. That's why I posted my original comment. I had just driven OC-SF twice in the same week. Once in my 2010 Prius liftback, once in my 2013 Accord. It was a revelation for me. I'll take the Accord for future trips if I anticipate long stretches of 80 mph driving. Around OC the Prius is hard to beat due to my 50 mpg average.