2016 Prius Eco

You're welcome !

 

Those of us who live in the real "great white north", or close to it, block our grills for 6 months. Doing so means I have no problem with mist on the inside of the windshield. When the outside temp starts getting up to +15 C (around 60F) I start to think it may be time to remove the blocking (pipe insulation fitted over the grill), but even at 20C ambient it doesn't cause any problems. The "Scangauge II" shows normal thermostat controlled coolant temp. The limiting case is, btw, on the highway, because the engine is at maximum power production, which means maximum waste heat. In the city the engine only runs part of the time, so will cool off between runs.

As far as energy loss, it's not the air going -into- the engine compartment, it's the air going -through- the engine compartment, with drag around the bits inside. If it were an open ended pipe at the front and closed at the rear it would act as a solid aerodynamically. The shutters (or our grill blocking) do two things. Reduce the through-air drag, and help the engine to actually warm up, something it doesn't do in the city at -20C. I -suspect- the drag is minor. Warm-up is the big effect.

 

OR by reducing performance.

I am guessing most of it would come from increased battery/optimization, possibly adding DI and small aerodynamic tweaks like removing mirrors, more plastic belly pans and auto-hiding wipers. There will be stylistic clues to differentiate from non-ECO model

 

Just an opinion but Gen3 handling issues lie down in front tune up not lack of wishbone in rear. With proper set up twist beam rear is more than capable to outperform basic tires and shocks it will be fitted with.

 

Prius ECO could use Toyota TS040 Hybrid technology (AWD with SuperCapacitor) to rapidly get and give back all the kinetic energy.

 

These seem to be colors for the Japanese market .
US and Europe will probably have different color choices.

 

Prius ECO could get solar panels instead of air conditioner to ventilate car under sun and charge LI-ION battery.

 

cover the whole car in solar cells!

 

Can't see it selling much with no a/c.

 

yah, maybe in ice land.

 

They will develop new LMP1 for the next year that will use batteries and have a smaller engine, current TS040 drivetrain is not competite against Porsche and Audi.

There may be a bigger capacitor in the inverter to deal with short ms bursts of power, but I doubt it.

 

Mitsubishi had the guts to make one of their colours a reflective light purple. Very cool. I would not hesitate to buy a lime green if it was reflective.
The "seaglass pearl" is a rather unusual colour. Some see it as light blue, some see it as light green. I think Pearl S is light blue most of the time, but with the sun at just the right angle and intensity it is "greenish". Looks light blue in my avatar <--.

Solar panels wouldn't give you better mileage. They are very heavy. Due to the glass they need for protection. That's why the GIII with them has the 15" wheels, to try to keep the weight down.

 

you think? i didn't have any bugs in my '04.

 

Bisco, you getting the next PiP when it comes out?

 

that's the plan, God willing. but it will depend on where bev's are at, at the time.

 

My '05 had the loose exterior b-pillar trim piece.
There is always a greater risk of a purchased car having more problems the first year of being new or a redesign.
The company's or previous model's reliability may also have no indication on how high the number of problems can be.

 

or how many bugs subsequent years may have, such as a loose b pillar in the second year.