I picked up blue <---unofficial name) yesterday afternoon. Its clean shiny newness didn't last even 2 hours before I had work to do at a rural location with a nice gravel road. Now I'm not one to get overly picky about keeping my car spotless but is it asking too much to have my car stay new for more then 12 hours. All in all I put on 108 miles today. This car is going to be a godsend for work. I can put sched appointments in the calendar and put corresponding mapping marks to get to the location. Life will be good. The only real question I have is about cruise control. I was told by the dealer that I shouldn't use it until I hit 1,000 miles. The whole break in period thing. Is that a legit figure or overkill?
Nice pics. Congrats on the car! The dealer is being conservative. Historically, you don't want to operate a new engine during breakin at a constant speed. That's what a cruise control does, hence the instructions you got. There isn't really a breakin period any more. Modern machining pretty much eliminates most of that. I would still follow his recommendations, though if you use cruise I'm sure it wouldn't hurt anything. It's kind of hard to think why cruise would make a difference on the Prius, because with the CVT, on the highway the engine pretty much runs at a constant RPM even if you vary the speed a bit - the very thing you're supposed to avoid during breakin. How about a compromise? Use cruise, but vary the cruise speed every 5 min. or so.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(SiliconAddict @ Oct 7 2006, 11:10 AM) [snapback]329407[/snapback]</div> I don't have the owner's manual right in front of me, but I've heard that modern cars don't require that much of a break-in period for the most part, but I would check your owner's manual. I think I avoided going over 60 as much as possible, continuous high speed cruising and panic stops for the first 1000 miles or so. I tend not to use the cruise control a lot, but I suspect that with a hybrid system that from what I can tell tends to have a specific RPM that it likes to operate in, and a CVT, it may not matter as much.
<_< I believe the Dealer IS being over-conservative. Even with "Cruise Control," the ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) does not operate continuously but cycles "in and out" depending on the terrain - like, the ICE will add power going uphill and "rests" going downhill - that is the ICE may be turning but receiving no fuel. OTOH, there's no real harm in being conservative. ENJOY your new Prius, and welcome to PriusChat.
There's nothing in the owner's manual about not using cruise during the break-in period. Page 318 of the '06 Owner's Manual: Break-in period. Drive gently and avoid high speeds. Your vehicle does not need an elaborate break-in. But following a few simple tips for the first 1000 km (600 miles) can add to the future economy and long life of your vehicle: Avoid full-throttle acceleration when starting and driving. Avoid racing the hybrid engine. Try to avoid hard stops during the first 300 km (200 miles).
Okay, the main idea, is that if you are on a perfectly flat road going exactly 55mph (or whatever) then that could cause undue wear b/c there'd be no variation in your RPM. But all other conditions the rpm in the Prius will vary wildly and the CC point is....pointless.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(SiliconAddict @ Oct 7 2006, 11:10 AM) [snapback]329407[/snapback]</div> If it makes you feel better, my dealer never mentioned anything about not using cruise control during break-in. If you follow what it says in the manual and what others here have said you'll be fine. Nice photos! Now the challenge is to keep it looking like that ...
SLILCONEADDICT: WHERE'D YA GET THE BRA!!!!??????? OK, we've all been looking for a bra for the 2006 models.. They DONT make 'em, but yours sure seems to fit nicely! So, did the dealer install it?????? Where'd ya get it!!!! I WANT ONE!!! (so do many others here..........) did they have to take the air dam off to install it? i really need details!!! HELP>>>>>>>>>>> :lol: :lol:
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Rangerdavid @ Oct 7 2006, 07:29 PM) [snapback]329604[/snapback]</div> PLEASE Let us know about the bra...... Alot of us want one, but need to know the details!!
"I can put sched appointments in the calendar and put corresponding mapping marks to get to the location." Calendar? What calendar? Does the '06 have something in the software that the '05's don't? Or, am I missing a feature that I could be using??? Any info would be appreciated! marlowe
Sorry it took so long to get back to you guys. I was digging around looking for the flier I picked up at the dealer last Friday. I ordered the bra as a last minute addon. Attached is a scan of the flyer. The price was $173.85 and the part number is PT218-47050
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(marlowe7 @ Oct 8 2006, 12:06 AM) [snapback]329685[/snapback]</div> Not sure if this was an '06 thing but if you go into "info" If you don't have a calendar option I guess you have your answer. :huh:
The car looks great! Finally a pic of an 06 with a front end bra!Im sold!!! Going to order one verrry soon.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(prius biker @ Oct 8 2006, 04:01 PM) [snapback]329837[/snapback]</div> Mine has the Toyota emblem stitched into it.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(hdrygas @ Oct 8 2006, 06:19 PM) [snapback]329848[/snapback]</div> I hope I am wrong but that is probably the part number for the 2005 Prius. There were two models for the 2005. I think this is the later one which still does not fit correctly. I did a search and several sites listed this part number for 2005 only. Amazingly Toyota shows a bra for the 2007. This is really a stupid act by Toyota, I called them a month ago and they admitted that their website was wrong and that there was not a bra for 2006's. I guess their idea of fixing the website is to list it for a 2007. For a company that spent a lot of time to develop a high tech car they are clueless with their idea of an accurate website or simply do not care one bit to either fix the website or fix the bra.