Introducing the Wisconsin State Local Forum

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Timm @ Feb 3 2007, 12:41 PM) [snapback]384884[/snapback]</div>

I am a newbie, not only as a Prius owner, but also as a Priuschatter. I'm not sure that I'm doing this right, but here goes.

There's so much to share - many questions to ask. But for right now, I need to comment on the hitch. In reading my book, I could have sworn that it said absolutely no hitches. The Prius is such a light weight vehicle. How is the hitch working for you?

I live in Oshkosh, so I would like to be a part of your group - ok? Thanks!


Happy2binWI,
Sandra Ann

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Sandra Ann @ Oct 1 2007, 10:23 AM) [snapback]519810[/snapback]</div>

Welcome Sandra Ann! Great to have you onboard. Come on down to some of the Madison Hybrid Club events.
Toyota does not RECOMMEND towing with the Prius. They don't say DON'T DO IT. I don't recommend it either, but I have done a lot of towing with mine and have not had a problem. My test is... if I can pull the trailer fairly easily by hand, then it's not too much for the Prius. The receiver hitch also works great for our family bike carrier. (Wisconsin made SARIS). I can even open and close the hatch with the carrier installed.

Below is a pic of how I stow the wiring harness INSIDE the vehicle and just pull it out and shut it under the hatch door when pulling a trailer.

You can view other pics of my rig in this thread and others by typing: "timm" into the search feature.
<div align="center">[attachmentid=11805]</div>

 

I have put a few days on the route now and the training period is over so it's time to make rate. That will still be a project, not as easy as the 22 year veteran makes it look! I removed the foot parking brake and added a hand brake so I can easily reach it from the right seat. It is also fun to have a "rudder" in the snow. The brake is from a BMW 525, an eBay find. I liked the matching leather. The cable runs through the console so this was pretty easy to make as such things go. The mounts are all attached to the existing threaded holes in the tunnel. I have not finished up the dash area yet. I removed the plastic apron which allows for a little more foot transfer area. I also popped off the rear seat heat duct that is behind it. I figured the extra heat to the front seats would be a good thing. Still some details to be worked out there.
I bought a set of Blizzacks on rims from a VW I had to drill the stud holes and make adapters but the price made it worth it. They are 195 60 15's so far no interference issues. They will go on when the weather calls for it.
I put on the usual magnetic signs but I had to make a bracket for a back sign. Those darned magnets jsut don't stick to aluminum!
gggGary

 

Thanks for sharing Gary. Wow! You've really put a lot of effort into modifying your Prius to be a great Rural Mail Carrier vehicle. I'd still like to get together to compare notes someday. Let me know if you have an interest.

Timm

 

How well does the heater work in winter? We purchased an 08 for my wife to do her mail route, and I was thinking. If it's 380+ stops in 27 miles, how well does the heater work, if most the time your at 5-10 mph, and the engine isn't running?

Please delete if this is considered a duplicate post

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Jim O @ Nov 17 2007, 09:23 AM) [snapback]540904[/snapback]</div>

Anytime the heater requires heat and the coolant is too cold, the engine will kick on to reheat the coolant.

Because of this excess heater use will decrease fuel economy.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Jim O @ Nov 17 2007, 09:23 AM) [snapback]540904[/snapback]</div>

Hey Jim! Where are you in Dodge County? (I grew up in Fox Lake) You guys are welcome to come visit us in Arena/Spring Green and we'll be glad to share our methods with you.

The Prius heater (and air conditioner) work GREAT doing the mail route! They are in their electric mode when the ICE (internal combustion engine) is not running. Be aware though that the ICE will be running often in that 27 miles. EV mode (electric only) is only good for a short distance and can actually hurt MPG. Practicing the "Pulse and Glide" method will bring better results. Example: She can accelerate fairly agressively when pulling away from a mailbox and then start coasting to the next stop once some momentum has been obtained. Yes indeed... blasting the heat or cold air will affect mileage, but when I leave mine in the AUTO mode around 72 degrees everything is acceptable/comfortable with the window down at low speeds. (I close the window often on nasty weather days when there is a bit of distance between mail boxes.)

Timm

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Timm @ Nov 18 2007, 10:43 PM) [snapback]541423[/snapback]</div>

Hustisford

Thanks for the "low down"

Spring Green is a nice area. The S/W part of the state is great for motorcycle touring. Now we will have a car that gets the same mileage as our bike!

 

Well, we picked it up yesterday, so now the fun begins. The biggest challenge will be the console. I temporarily removed the console last night to start getting ideas as to position, it will need to be moved back more than 6".

I am assuming I can simply unplug the cable that goes to the console, is this correct?

A few options on dealing with it are

1- Reversing the console and moving it back to the rear seat.
2- Reducing it's height by 3" or so
3- Keeping it where it is, or moving it back less, and reduce the height on just the front portion
4- Removing it all together, and build something else.

I appreciate the pics of the options you have done so far, and they have given me a few ideas. I will post pics. of what I end up with.

 

On the route in Baraboo

I found the center mount parking brake to be a great help yesterday. If I needed to make the big reach to the mailbox all I had to do was set the brake. The following is a post to a different Prius group but covers the snow yesterday pretty well. I will have to post a pic of the car loaded for the route I think it is working pretty well but am always looking for better ways to do things.
I think I have given the Blizzak 195-65-15 WS-50’s a fair test. They and the TCS passed with flying colors. We got about 4†or 5†of heavy slushy snow yesterday and I put on about 60 miles of constant stop and go driving while pulling over to the far edge of the shoulder every 100 yards or so. Most of the roads had not been plowed and are very hilly. The highway was plowed in the traffic lanes only so I had to jam into the 6†to 8†deep plow slush to get to the mail box, come to full stop, and then get going again to get back out in the traffic lane. I only had to back up a few times when I was in that slush at a stop headed up hill. I was never stuck. I bought the Blizzaks used on universal aluminum rims, they cost me 250.00 with the rims (thanks Craigslist!) I have no clearance issues with these tires they raise the car about ½ inch and handling is fine for snow tires. Great sets of 4 snow tires on rims on craigslist are pretty common since people sell their cars with the summer tires on and get a new car with a different tire size. TCS worked great also. It got me up some nasty hills that I am sure I could not have made in a front wheel drive without the TCS providing traction to both front tires, especially since I often had to stop on the hill. The TCS is not a no brainer though. I found that judicious use of the throttle helped a lot to get and keep going, just ramming the accelerator down and letting the computer do the work resulted in a constant spin, regrip, spin routine that wasted momentum. Keeping a lesser amount of throttle in seemed to work the best. It a takes effort to not use to much throttle as the TCS function keeps slowing the engine down which tends to have me pushing the accelerator My only gripe is that driving from the RH seat I am constantly hitting all the steering wheel control buttons and turning everything on and off. I bet I had to turn the windshield defroster back on 20 times! I am going to have to figure out something to stop that. Well it’s not 4WD but pretty darned good in the snow.
gggGary

 

Mine just got it's test on Saturday, we needed to attended a funeral service in Milwaukee, and we live in a rural area 40 miles away. The weatherman was predicting 3"-7" of snow, mixed with freezing rain, and sleet.
I toyed with the idea of taking our 2000 Buick Century that is now our "back up car", instead of our 3 day old Prius. But then I figured, it was purchased for use as a mail car, so it will see worse and, if it's too good to use why buy it in the first place.
So we took with the Standard Prius, #2 with the standard OEM tires, and here are my thoughts.

General conditions:
Heavy traffic going 30-45 mph, 2" wet snow mixed with sleet, on the ground 2-4 more on the way, 20 mph wind w/gusts to 30.

City driving, as always, was worse the rural. Between the slush, and other drivers, it was "challenging". Fun for me, but my wife was going nuts.

The Biggest Negative is the weight. Light weight is needed for mileage, but for traction, heavier is better. We were not the first ones away from the traffic signals, by any means. Snow tires will help! I found in the past, get the skinniest ones available, so the psi in the snow is higher. Wide snow tires, have less traction than skinny standard radials.

The Biggest Positive is traction control, a must have if your in the snow belt. I found, it engaged on several occasions, mainly during acceleration. I never felt like is was going to loose control.

As always when it's slippery, less power is a good thing during acceleration, it's all about technique, and timing. Like trying not to actually have to stop at the lights, and keeping enough speed up to make it up hills while decelerating.

I could comfortably go 45 mph if it wasn't for the slugs in the road doing 25-30 mph, ore better yet, 10 mph in the city, leaving no cushion for letting up on the gas when it's needed, wondering why they are slipping and sliding going up hill.

Over all I felt as safe as I was in one of my other vehicle's, both 2 wheel drive. The Prius passed it's test. No snowmobile, but adequate.

 

RE first test

On other Prius groups it is nearly universal; lose the stock tires for winter. (many say for good) Tires a little taller than stock won't hurt ground clearance on the route either. I was running 28 PSI in the storm. How long has your wife been a rural carrier? I am afraid Saturday was quite the wake up call for me! I have heard and understand the skinny tire to dig thing. But also tried to factor in the muddy shoulder situation. I used what I found cheap, that fit and so far so good.

 

About 8 years, on an Aux Route. 5 hrs a day 6 days a week.

I have been checking into the Nokian Tires, one size bigger. Not a whole lot more than Goodyear snow tires.

 

Well it's been almost a week since my wife has been using it on the mail route, so here is a brief report.

General conditions:
It hasn't melted in over 7 days, temps range 0(f)- 25(f)
we had an initial 6" snowfall mixed with sleet and freezing rain. There has been and average of 1"-2" every other day.
As usual, quite a few people don't bother to shovel their mail box out. (that last a few days, then they get no mail)
Standard OEM Tires

Heater:
Works fine, and warms up quicker than our other vehicles.

Traction:
The traction control is a must, and works great, she is spoiled now. No more having the front end slide sideways when leaving ea. stop. Better than the Buick, or her '93 Ply. Acclaim was. The stock tires seem to work fine so far.

Center console:
Rotated 180 degrees so the back is in the front, set in loose. I am able to keep everything plugged in.

Mileage:
1st tank, with most highway driving 39mpg.
2nd tank, & 50/50 work and highway 33mpg.

I'm satisfied with the mileage so far. It's better than Dbl. what she was getting. In summer I expect to see an additional 5-10 mpg.

All for now

 

Winter on the route

How are all the carriers doing in this "real" Wisconsin weather? On the Monday before Christmas I was pushing to get the doors shut the car was so loaded. I have had great luck so far as far as traction. and the car is keeping me warm too. I put in 0W20 last oil change, so far so good. I have beat the milage down into the low 20's, route only, in snow and cold. I have had a mechanical failure though. A tail light was out. It turned out it was loose in the socket. It took about 2 minutes to fix. And I was hoping this car would be reliable. For what it's worth I made a wedge-extension that slips over the accelerator pedal and it helps with the leg reach quite a bit. I leave it on all the time and the wife hasn't even noticed it's on the car. 57 cents is like money in the bank.
Gary

 

We only have 3,000 miles so far, but mileage @ -12 is also in the low 20's doing the 30 mile route. She also had a full car before Christmas. Figuring 50/50 (work/errands), mileage is in the mid 30's. Traction has not been an issue using the stock tires.

Overall my wife is very comfortable using the Prius for the Mail route. No real issues yet, but when it rains, the interior handles fill with water when the window is open.

 

1-21-08
I've been a Prius owner for almost a year now. I love my car -( I didn't think I could like anything better than the Honda I owned for over fourteen years.) In the summer I would wonder how it would behave when winter came and it had to plow thru the snow. Well I'm very pleased about it's performance. It does great. The mpg aren't as good as they were in the summer, but still better then most other cars.
What I'm writing about is what happened on the highway yesterday. As we all know, the temps are very low, and I don't know if that has anything to do with the fact that my car just stopped running. It wasn't like there was no longer any juice because the lights were still on, but I could no longer get any excelleration. I guided to a stop and turned off the power button. Wondering what to do, I just decided to turn on the power button again and lo and behold, it started up again. I have no clue as to what happened. Could anyone shed any light on my situation? I would appreciate any commets.

Sandra

 

Re: Winter on the route

Hey guys! This Wisconsin winter has been a great torture test for those of us who use the Prius as a workhorse. My '05 has performed great! I've been REALLY happy with my Blizzak snow tires. I've got them mounted on a separate set of wheels so I can easily switch between the Blizzaks and my Michelins according to conditions. If you want to do better on your MPG in the cold... BLOCK THE GRILL! It's easy to do and well worth it. (search Priuschat for details) Also install a block heater and plug it into a timed outlet. I did clobber some "White Rocks" (big frozen snowballs in the middle of the road, left behind by a farmer plowing his driveway) It busted a chunk out of my bumper cover and wrecked some of the underbelly plastic. I've got new parts ordered but am waiting until Spring for the body shop to repair it.

 

Hello everyone!

I didn't realize there was a Wisconsin specific area here! I live in Franklin (Milwaukee County) and had my first real Prius snow experience today. All in all, there was a bit of a learning curve, but other than that I was pleased. The stock tires are decent enough to get the job done, but I am thinking of upgrading. Like I said, though, overall it performed admirably and I'm pretty happy with my almost week old car!

-Pete

 

Hey Pete and all you hardy Wisconsonians! I put the stick on style window sun shades on, well just one, on the passenger side. It helps keep rain (and snow) out and stops the annoying booming noise at speed also. It also keeps the moving cold air out of the car some more on the route. I taped part of a plastic milk bottle between the mirror and the front door frame which also reduces rain and wind entry with the window open. Not many style points for that but staying warm is more important to me. I have pronged a few of those ice chunks too but haven't looked under the car to see the damage yet. The pits is following Jeep Cherokee tire tracks to the mail box and grinding the underside on the snow in between. The car and I stayed warm even with windows down at -5 So that's great. Good luck all! gggGary