What's your experience with the Prius in those climates? You have to have the A/C here on at full speed, otherwise you'll cook yourself in the car. So anyone has ever experienced overheating issues? What MPG do you get with the A/C on full blast.
A friend of mine who lives in Tucson, Arizon, bought a Prius a couple months ago and this is his first summertime experience with it. He tells me the AC works as well as any other car or truck he's ever owned. Totally happy with it.
yep i try to go without AC and get about 49 mpg and with AC about 43 i freaked out the other day when the fan came on behind the back seat i quickly read manual and found out it cools off battery compartment behind backseat
I'm in AZ, it's 115 today. Honestly, I rarely run the A/C full blast. It is so cold that medium is as high as I've needed to go to get it cooled down. If the car has been in the garage, I can keep it on low and still not get hot while driving around. I've been getting 46-49 mpg while running the a/c. But not full blast, as mentioned above.
I did a 2200 mile road trip last month: Oakland-->Palm Springs-->Tucson-->Sedona/Flagstaff-->Fresno-->Oakland. It was 100+ degrees most of the time, and the car did great. I averaged 80 mph, and got around 43 mpg, with the AC blasting. If it weren't for my lead foot, I'm sure I would have gotten better mpg.
I'll be honest and admit that my AC isn't as powerful as my fiance's Mercedes... but it's not too bad.
I used to live in the high desert (El Paso). I did not see any problems with fuel economy or overheating while I lived there. It would get up to about 110 with 15% humidity. I got about 52 MPG usually on the highway and the wife got about 50 MPG. She tended to use the A/C more than I did. I prefer the heat. I did have my car windows tinted with a ceramic tint (70% energy reflectance) which seemed to reduce the need to A/C. I would only need it on the lowest setting to maintain the cabin temp. The only problem I seemed to have was all the dust, sand and rocks. The front of my car has tons of chips and nicks. Get a clear adhesive bra. The filters also seemed to get clogged up more. Depending on where you live you will want to check your cabin filter more often.
I live in Chandler, AZ and I always keep my AC on the coldest setting at the slowest/2nd lowest speed and am pretty comfortable. I do have a Black prius which gets pretty hot but I have tinted my windows w/limo tint on all windows execpt for the windshield which has a 10in limo tint sun visor. This has kept my car extremely cool so far during these hot summer months. See below for my MPG.
Temps here have been in high 90's. A/C seems to do OK with tinted windows, never have had to go above medium fan speed. (Usually don't use automatic.) No great effects noticed on mpg. This week had experience at driving at high altitude (~8000 ft) with four adults up hill- A/C did OK, had no battery (one purple bar or less) and was a little slow up hill, but didn't overheat. Car was noticeably hot when we stopped at top. Wouldn't like this type of performance for extended periods.
it's hot and i think my FE suffers (compared to so many others) because of it! i use the a/c because it's too stinking hot not to!!! i didn't buy the prius to be miserable.... i bought it to save money on gas.... she does that... because if i'm only getting in the low 40's with the prius.... i was getting mid teens in my mdx...... the tinting REALLY helps a LOT!
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tadashi @ Jul 16 2007, 07:26 AM) [snapback]479532[/snapback]</div> Thanks for the info. I'm getting the front end protection/ bra from Toyota. Is that enough or will I need to also add the clear bra over the entire hood?
I drove about 160 miles round trip from Tucson to just south of Phoenix. It was the first time I drove the freeway. I had been getting about 53 mpg in the city (Tucson), and got 50 MPG for this one trip. Temp was about 103; air conditioing is always off when I turn the car on, and then I set it at med to initially cool the car down, then to low for the remainder of the trip. Internal temp is set for 78. Windows are tinted and quite dark (don't know the rating). The car is quite comfortable with this temp setting. Or else i am just acclimated to desert heat. it is a dry heat...... Any other combinations that work for other drivers in the desert? I used cruise control set at 75 mph. Does cruise control help with gas mileage on freeway driving? thanks for the info
B) I just moved down from Nebraska to El Paso and I have seen no problem with the A/C cooling either vehicles off. I have factory tint and nothing more.
Have the AC on auto at all times: when it's hot it runs high, when it's cooler ac runs on low. But AC is always on, couldn't live without the AC here. Never have had the car overheat. Have had 1 purple bar at times when climbing mountain grades with AC running, and holding speed at 60 with CC. With all the gauges for temp (none) how do you tell if it's overheating? Never have had rear battery cooling fan come on. I'm at 4500 elevation with frequent trips to 6500 elevation. Always get 50-54, but don't drive in city, just country driving. Terrain is rolling hills to mountain grades. I also have lots of dirt and dust due to dirt roads, the filter is beginning to show color. The Prius has been in these dusty conditions for 2500 miles only.
We have 12,000 miles on our 2006 in Scottsdale. My wife commutes about 35 miles each way on the freeway as well as using it as our local runabout. The car has averaged about 48 to 49 mpg in summer and 46 to 47 in winter when it's cooler. Extremes are a couple of tanks averaged in the low 50's and a freeway trip with four up plus luggage dropped it to around 43 mpg. We try to park it in the shade as that big windshield does heat the car up in the sun. We mostly leave the air on automatic with the interior temperature set in the mid or low 70's. Our experience is that it seems to perform a tad better in summer than winter and has no problems with our 115 degree heat. Mike
We made the trip to visit our son & his family, 13, 14, 15 July, in Scottsdale. We had intended to stay till the 16th. But it was so hot, we left Sunday the 15th. All the days we spent there, the A/C was on HIGH ! The 887 mi round trip yielded us 43.2mpg. We drove 70 mph most of the time, esp, when leaving AZ. We normally get 46mpg here at home in Huntington Beach, Ca, with Air set at LOW.
In really hot weather don't shut off the A/C and open the windows hoping to improve fuel economy. The traction battery system gets its cooling air from inside the cabin (through the vent to the right of the rear seats), not from the outside air. If the battery system gets too hot it has to restrict its charge and discharge rates, and *that* will reduce fuel economy.
