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First Road Trip - Las Vegas to Southern California

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by greenlv, May 19, 2008.

  1. greenlv

    greenlv New Member

    Joined:
    Apr 26, 2008
    29
    0
    0
    Location:
    Las Vegas, NV
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    I just finished my first major road trip with my new Prius and I must say it performed well. I was a bit nervous because of a few major hills along the route but overall the car handled very well. Here's a quick summary of my observations:

    • Performance overall was very good. Even on steep inclines. My wife kept joking with me to get in to the truck lane but there was no need.
    • I noticed that the ICE gets quite loud when going up steep hills. I'm assuming this is completely normal. It was a little bit intimidating at first because I hadn't heard the engine like that but I didn't see any other warning signs. I slowed down a bit just to be safe.
    • Coming back today from Disneyland, the outside temp was 108+ and I had no problem maintaining 70-73 MPH with cruise control for most of the trip with A/C on at 75.
    • The A/C did seem to struggle a bit when going over one of the (3) major hills. This is also when the battery charge indicator went to purple. I've read a few posts on that and so I wasn't too concerned. Is there anything I should do in that status, other than let the Hybrid system do its magic. This was also when the A/C seemed to struggle. Once the road flattened out, the A/C appeared to cool much better.
    • MPG was acceptable both ways. Going to L.A. I averaged 49.1 and coming home due to 3 hills, I averaged 47.
    Lastly, I wanted to mention something that was very apparent. California must have cornered the market on the Prius. I have never seen so many in one place. It was unbelievable. I truly felt at home!!! :) (Although all of them seemed to pass me like I was standing still... :eek:)
     
    #1 greenlv, May 19, 2008
  2. xsmatt81

    xsmatt81 non-AARP Member

    Joined:
    Mar 27, 2008
    522
    8
    0
    Location:
    Vegas
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    good to see another owner from vegas on here. Glad you enjoy the new purchase. I have yet to drive to LA since i bought mine last year, but have made some trips out to AZ and NM..the route to NM is awesome for FE, very flat for the most part.

    The 15 out past the state line, is pretty up hill for quite a while going to LA, can be ruff on any car..

    look around here for more driving tips etc. I think you will find all you need
     
    #2 xsmatt81, May 19, 2008
  3. bob2780

    bob2780 Junior Member

    Joined:
    Aug 27, 2005
    20
    0
    0
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Hi Everyone,
    Congrats on the new 08

    Just made a quick Friday 1 day trip 287 miles From LV to LA-back started 6am
    air temp 85 ac auto 78speed max 77 mph 5.2 gal used 56mpg


    4pm air tenp100 ac max max speed 79 used 6.1 gal used 47mpg
    12k on car

    using Michelin pilot primacy in my 07 touring

    the mileage gets better after break-in

    thanks bob2780
    LV NV
     
    #3 bob2780, May 19, 2008
  4. inventor00

    inventor00 Active Member

    Joined:
    Dec 30, 2003
    1,131
    60
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    Location:
    Phoenix, AZ
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    We have been doing it the other way- So Cal to Lost Wages (Las Vegas) for the Consumer Electronics Shows for the last 4 years in the the Prius- loud on very steep hills is normal. We have a toll road here that is 6% grade- and it is somewhat noisy. Usually I shut the A/C either off or to a high temp so the engine does not have to push so much on the BIG hill. I figure we will have this one until 2011 (when the car pool stickers run out) so want to make it last- grin.

    Also the A/C is reduced anyway as it shifts more power to the engine on the very steep hills. We rented one back in 2003 before we bought our 2004 to try on the Baker hill, etc and it was only sipping gas, so we put our order in and 4 months later we finally got one.. Love it!

    Enjoy!
     
    #4 inventor00, May 19, 2008
  5. AdamKPL

    AdamKPL Member

    Joined:
    Apr 29, 2008
    118
    0
    7
    Location:
    East Hampton, Connecticut
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    you say that you used cruise control, how long did you wait until you used it since i thought you should wait at least 500 miles
     
    #5 AdamKPL, May 20, 2008
  6. KandyRedCoi

    KandyRedCoi S is for Super!

    Joined:
    Mar 28, 2008
    860
    4
    0
    Location:
    SoCal/AZ/NV
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    on my last trip to from socal to LV i used about 6gal of gas, no problems with the hills or the A/C ... one quick fix for the A/C efficiency could be tinting your windows a bit, other than that i didnt notice any diminished performance from the engine nor the A/C throughout the entire trip
     
    #6 KandyRedCoi, May 20, 2008
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