I have read a few posts with regards to blocking the front grill and will certainly do that when I get home tonight, but I am wondering if anyone else has experienced poor interior heat with their Prius? I have a 2005 and I find it really takes a long time to get the cabin up to a comfortable temp. For the past few days it has been about -15 C hear. Any thoughts? Cheers! Dave
I'm not sure where you are from, but I'm guessing Canada as you mentioned the temp in Celsius If you think the Prius heat is bad at -15 C, wait until -25 C and colder. My first winter with my Prius, stuck in traffic at -40, I just about froze my fingers off. Even with the ICE constantly running, it cooled off in the car. Not to mention I only averaged 9.8 l/100km in that condition Blocking the lower grille and two upper slits will make a world of difference. Even at -40, my Prius will briefly shut off at red lights. The fuel economy is really helped too, even at -40 I can maintain 6.5-7.5 l/100km Other vehicles also benefit from a winter front. I made one for my FJ Cruiser and at -26 C, was toasty warm with good fuel economy. Well, good for an FJ, around 12 l/100km in mixed driving
Thanks Jayman, that is what I thought but certainly needed to hear it from someone else. Forgive my prying, but....a Prius and an FJ.....isn't that kind of split personality? Thanks again for your help. Dave 05 Prius C 87 VW Vanagon TDi'd
As Jay says, you have to be driving to get the engine to warm up. BTW, this isn't just a hybrid/Prius thing. A friend with a car with a 1500cc aluminum engine has the same problem. My Prius starts blowing nice hot air after about 6 blocks of driving. Front grills are blocked. Climate system set on "auto". The car gets toasty warm inside after about 2-4 km, depending on how many times I have to stop for lights. It cools slowly at lights, whether the engine is running or not. Ambient temps here are around -20C.
cant begin to emphasize Jay's point. When i had my 04 with CANVIEW i tracked temps on a cold windy day it was only about 25F or like -4C... the engine temp would get to 175F... i turn on the heat and in less than a minute, engine temp would drop to 155-160... so as you see, even if you warm up your Prius, turning the heat on will cool the engine off and fast. blocking the radiator makes a WORLD of difference. at a constant (as much as i could...keeping in mind no test track to do this on... just a early Sunday morning with minimal traffic) speed of 40 mph... temps ranging from 30-35F, grill blocking got me up to 175F in about 3 mins compared to 5 mins without... if heat was on and set to 70F, with grill blocking it took 4 mins, without it intially took about the same, 5 mins, but actually would not stay there. it took roughly 10 to 18 mins of driving before it would consistantly stay there. (hard to say because the course i had laid out was only about 8 mins chosen because no stops and one right turn involved and any stop caused the engine to turn off which dropped the temp like a rock)
At what outside temp would you say that you need to remove the grill bock? Thanks again to all for the responses! Dave
it really depends. for around town driving, remove at 60+... there was a new thread by Evan (efusco) where he took a lengthy trip at 70 mph during pretty cold conditions in the low 40's and had some overheating issues. but realize, hundreds of people here have done this without issues, so i think his has to do with going 70 mph. as for me, i remove when temps are above 50F if on freeway or 60F (last spring i admit it was consistently in the upper 60's before i got around to it) i have taken MANY trips to Seattle with temps in low 60's no issues but i never do much more than 60 mph (too competitive on my mpg figures!!) we are talking roughly 60 miles one way
I have a hobby farm around 2 hours drive from my home. Even with the studded tires, I was getting stuck and sometimes stranded at the place. If I needed to get out, I had to then drive my 1984 Ford plow truck, which I equipped with a PowerTrax LockRight rear axle and a Detroit Locker front axle, and studded Cooper WeatherMaster tires I wanted a second vehicle as a "toy" anyway, and got a very good price on my loaded FJ. I only drive it to the hobby farm, otherwise it sits in my garage. Have had it 10 months and barely have 8,000 km on it Using the same techniques I use to drive my Prius, and putting Mobil Delvac Synthetic Gear Oil 75W-90 in the axles, I can easily get 27 MPG highway out of the FJ.
That's interesting to hear, about how you drive your FJ. I have been thinking, ever since we bought the Prius, allot of drivers could get way better fuel economy if they only new how to drive! And not to drive! Cheers! Dave
Unfortunately that doesn't apply to all vehicles though. While "pining for my Prius" last year, I tried to modify my habits driving the anti-Prius (2001 Nissan Pathfinder 4WD). I even got a Scangauge II to help. Couldn't get the mileage to improve, no matter what I did! The mileage wasn't "bad" for a 4400 lb mid-size SUV, it ran from 14 l/100 km to 17 l/100km (summer to winter). My Prius gets 4.2 l/100 km to (so far) 5.9 l/100 km. Here's a pic. of my grill blocking.
