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1100 mile road trip with 4 adults!

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Main Forum' started by Beauregard, Jun 6, 2010.

  1. Beauregard

    Beauregard Member

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    Greetings all.
    We just arrived home from a 1100 mile round trip across Colorado, Nebraska Wyoming and Utah in our Gen III with 2k miles on it.

    Four full sized adults and all of their luggage. The trip took us across the entire width of windy WY on I-80.

    All any of us could say is "Wow".

    Very comfortable ride with the cruise set on 81 the entire trip. The car held a steady speed up mountain passes into a head wind! Many "normal" cars could not hold their speed and were slowed to 60-65 going up the passes. Can you imagine the shock of some as you have your foot to the floor and a fully loaded Prius breezes past on the left?

    The effortless cruising into a head wind and mountainous hills tallied 41.8 mpg on the trip out. Respectable for the conditions and the load. The trip back was eastbound, and that meant the strong ever present WY winds were at our back. The same hilly roads and load yielded a most impressive 50.8 mpg for 550 miles.

    Everyone who saw the car ended up being impressed. A mid sized car that has both more than adequate performance when loaded that gets that kind of mileage definitely got some attention at the reunion.

    I didn't get too drastic with the tire pressure. I anticipated long hours of highway speeds with a full load. I ended up running 38psi front / 36 psi rear and was very happy with the performance and ride.

    Prior to the trip friends and family were worried about our choice of ride.
    "You're not going to take THAT are you?"
    "It'll never make it over the mountains"
    "You'll be so cramped and uncomfortable"
    "Where will you plug it in on the road?"

    And on and on. Someday everyone will know what the Prius is really about. The more people are around it the more eyes get opened.

    As a recent convert myself, I must say I'm most impressed by how......."normal" this car drives and performs. And a fully loaded car going over mountains at 80mph while getting 50mpg is nothing short of incredible. I love this car.

    Bo
     
    #1 Beauregard, Jun 6, 2010
    7 people like this.
  2. Dan bo

    Dan bo Prius Fan

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    Great story! and impressive mileage for the load. I am constantly amazed at just how peppy the Prius is and the amount of room in it.

    Thanks for posting
     
    #2 Dan bo, Jun 6, 2010
  3. ctmurray

    ctmurray Member

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    I am planning a 1900 mile trip with three adults - Minnesota to Arizona. I hope my body can hang in there as well as the 07 Prius. No satellite radio like on the '10, so we will need to load up on iTunes.
     
    #3 ctmurray, Jun 6, 2010
  4. baconrocket

    baconrocket New Member

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    i will be driving around 2k miles a week for work in my prius. i'm happy to hear that it performs.
     
    #4 baconrocket, Jun 6, 2010
  5. damn_gas

    damn_gas New Member

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    That's awesome to hear Bo! I am planning the similar trip in August with my family (wife and 3 kids) - albeit a little longer, 5k miles or more round trip. Glad to hear that the Prius performed well and was comfortable and makes me look forward more anxiously to our trip. :)
     
    #5 damn_gas, Jun 7, 2010
  6. bwilson4web

    bwilson4web BMW i3 and Model 3

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    Indicated or calculated MPG?
    Octane?
    Brand?
    Ethanol?
    Altitude and temperature ranges?

    Thanks,
    Bob Wilson
     
    #6 bwilson4web, Jun 7, 2010
  7. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    That's fantastic! I managed 55mpg going across the Rockies but with a lighter load (2 + some luggage) and not much wind if any.

    Note that most people that don't use cruise control are afraid to floor their car so that might explain their slowing speed. (i.e. engine is noisy.. i must be doing something bad).
     
    #7 Tideland Prius, Jun 7, 2010
  8. Airbalancer

    Airbalancer Active Member

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    we have a my son's wedding coming up in 2 weeks and it will a 3400km round trip with my wife and our 2 30 year old daughters
    I can see no problems with the car, I am wondering if I can put up with the daughters in the back seat :eek:
     
    #8 Airbalancer, Jun 7, 2010
  9. bwilson4web

    bwilson4web BMW i3 and Model 3

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    Duct tape? Ok, so you'll take lots of biology breaks. . . . Wait, wait texting? It should be OK from the back seats.

    Bob Wilson
     
    #9 bwilson4web, Jun 7, 2010
  10. ALS

    ALS Active Member

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    Don't forget a 1/4 to 1/2 tablet of Valium. :p
     
    #10 ALS, Jun 7, 2010
  11. markderail

    markderail I do 45 mins @ 3200 PSI

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    Meh. You could have obtained 5% better MPG doing the same trip alone. Just noting.

    I've been getting MPG since my two kids moved out. ;)
     
    #11 markderail, Jun 7, 2010
  12. Beauregard

    Beauregard Member

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    Indicated mpg by the cars computer.
    87 or 88 octane
    Shell and Sinclair
    10% Ethanol is added to all gas. No way around it.
    Altitude range from around 3500' to 8000'.

    A definite variable was the strong winds. Going west we saw sustained winds in the 40-50 mph range. This was a head wind, and probably cost us around 5mpg.
    Coming home going east the winds were at our backs and probably helped by about 5 mpg. I would imagine without the wind variable that indicated mileage would be in the 45-46 mpg range.

    Bo

    Bo
     
    #12 Beauregard, Jun 7, 2010
  13. hyo silver

    hyo silver Awaaaaay

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    I never was 'most people'. I rarely use cruise control, and flooring a Prius isn't very noisy. That's what's so nice about it. A smooth driver can cruise along quite quickly without the sleeping passengers noticing much at all. :D
     
    #13 hyo silver, Jun 7, 2010
  14. Kimoy

    Kimoy Member

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    What were you getting before your kids moved out? Kpg? :cool:
     
    #14 Kimoy, Jun 7, 2010
  15. markderail

    markderail I do 45 mins @ 3200 PSI

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    Actually you have to stop more often, which induces the power up cycle, and the acceleration to get back on the highway.

    The extra weight probably does 0.01% MPG difference.
     
    #15 markderail, Jun 7, 2010
  16. Airbalancer

    Airbalancer Active Member

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    I wonder if I can get Max's cone of silence :rolleyes:
     
    #16 Airbalancer, Jun 7, 2010
  17. orca_0574

    orca_0574 Junior Member

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    It's nice to know how it handled in the mountains. My husband and I would love to head to Yellowstone from Indiana and go in on the Montana side. Can't wait to see what it does at 14,000 feet over Beartooth! That downhill side is going to be awesome!! All those beautiful leaves on the display!

    I won't take my Prius... but I do plan on renting one. Mine has to get me through many years of work so if I can keep the un-essential miles and wear off it, I will. I don't look at this as a vehicle so much as an investment. I do love my car though so have no issue renting one for the trip.

    I rented a non-hybrid Camry on our San Francisco trip (we didn't drive cross country). I was disappointed in it. My Prius was peppier and I cried everytime I had to fill up the Camry. All I can say is, I am SO VERY happy I went with the Prius when I was looking for a new car. Though I loved No. Cal. I couldn't wait to get back to my car.

    I just got the 30K maintenance done today. I can't wait to see how it does over then next 30K! It's so great to have a place where people understand how awesome these cars are! I love hearing (ok, reading... )everyone's stories!
     
    #17 orca_0574, Jun 7, 2010
  18. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    Tell that to the person in <insert small car here> that is afraid to shift it into "3" and keep up.... then realise that they need 300hp in their Camry so that they can make it up the hill in 6th gear instead of 4th.
     
    #18 Tideland Prius, Jun 7, 2010
  19. F512M

    F512M Member

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    Plan on taking a trip to northern California in a few weeks. Good to hear the positive news on long trips.
     
    #19 F512M, Jun 7, 2010
  20. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

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    Beartooth Pass is just 10,947 feet. To get to 14,000, you need to go to Colorado.

    Due to snow closures, mine has been only to 12,900.
     
    #20 fuzzy1, Jun 8, 2010
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