Got mine today! -- have a few questions

Hi! Welcome to Prius chat! :wave:

The consensus on the OEM Nav is that it is no match for a personal Nav that you can actually upgrade, so you may find you came out ahead there.

Around our house, the opinion is that red cars get more tickets. Some are so red, they come with the first 3 tickets included! So, in my opinion, the black was a better choice

Breaking in period... I'd use the cruise, just not all the time. Try taking a few alternate routes, to work in some varying driving conditions: uphill, downhill, slow, fast, lots of stops, no stops, that sort of thing.

Burning rubber. Hmm, no idea. You MIGHT do a search on "burning rubber smell", or take it to the dealer/service dept and ask them to take a look at it.

MPG: Longer trips, warmer temps, learning to drive it effectively. This usually takes a little time. Get comfortable with the car first, then work on the tips you can find here on the forum.

Enjoy! Oh, and post some photos :typing:

 

Welcome to the forum...the burning smell i wouldn't be too worried with it...mine did that when it was new...to increase your mileage...i would recommend getting your tire pressure to 42psi in the front and 40psi in the back...given it's winter and cold...the tires will tend to deflate over time due to cold temperatures...The HIDs are set with a sharp cutoff...but they are worth it...especially when its pitch black/dark outside...As time goes by...you will see a mileage increases around 5000miles, 10000miles, and even 15000 miles...the lowest winter mileage i've seen over the last 4 years was 38mpg at -10f...the greatest mpg 62mpg at 127 F in death valley in the summer...you will learn to drive it differently than the conventional car...coast to red lights and accelerate moderately instead of the usual race to the red light and slam on the brakes and floor it off the green light like a drag strip...like most people do...anyway, welcome aboard...you will have a blast with the car...

 

Re: the break in issue

Because of the way the hybrid system works, you really only have indirect control of engine speed anyway. The throttle is completely by wire and controlled by the HV ECU. So, just follow the recommendation in the owner's manual:

Avoid full throttle acceleration for the first 600 mi

Avoid racing the engine for the first 600 mi

Try to avoid hard stops for the first 300 mi.

 

Welcome to PriusChat, sweetguy! No worries on the burning smell unless it doesn't go away in a day or two. Good advice above on tire pressure and break-in. This site is a warehouse of Prius/HSD knowledge! The Goodyear Integrity tires you just bought with the car attached are not the best for snow and ice, and there are some great threads discussing tires if you're interested in changing them.

Like dogfriend said, the Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) is not under your direct control, and neither is regenerative braking (unless you jam the pedal hard) so drive like a sweetguy and not a fool for the first 600 miles and everything should be fine. And then keep driving like that!

 

Hope you have better luck on that with yours than I with mine...

 

Since you have no factory Nav screen, just stick with the MPG screen (lots of Vertical bars) and ask your wife to maintain those bars as HIGH as possible when driving. It'll be a good guide to help changing her driving habit.

 

You'll find most people agree with you. There is even a thread on everyone in PC being polite except TonyPschaefer who might just try to call you a Nazi. Tony is actually a closet puffball that doesn't want you to see the truth.

One good piece of advice -- Rae suggested searching the PC site for whatever you need (awesome tip). You'll get better search results if you type 'search topic priuschat.com' . It forces Google to search a particular website. Wish I had thought of it on my own but it is a pretty common answer on the threads. Enjoy.

 

You can gauge the friendliness of a forum by how many locked threads there are. There are very few if any locked threads on Prius Chat.

 

I prefer to see the instantaneous mpg so I use the other screen. I think I tried the cruise control twice. I believe I do a better job managing fuel economy so I don't use it.

 

Personally, I would have gotten the Red #6 package with the Nav. I actually really like the Toyota OE Nav System. It works great and the leather seats are so much more comfortable than the cloth ones IMO.

As for the burning smell. Totally normal. It's just your REGEN and braking system working. It goes away after about 250 miles.

I have not used my cruise control yet. Dealer Tech recommended NOT using it until 1000 miles. Has something to do with the CVT tranny breaking in 1st.

My HID's work pretty well. If in doubt take them back to the Dealership and have them adjust them. it would be nice to have the ability to manually tilt these headlights like I can in my Nissan Murano. Very helpful.

On my 1st tank I averaged only 22 MPG. I was totally bummed. Still not getting anywhere near posted mileage on the sticker. But I live in a really cold part of the country here in MN. It has really caused me to think about using this car in the Winter. My Porsche gets 30 MPGs Summer or Winter and I don't have to baby it like a 3rd child.

Like you, I just hope it gets better.

 

Probably normal new electronics stink. It should wear away after a few hundred miles. Be certain that the battery vent on the right side of the rear seat is not blocked or covered.

What are the tire pressures? Check them at least monthly and after you get the car serviced. 42/40 PSI front/rear will give a harsher ride but noticeably better MPGs.

 

I now have had mine for 2 months and 3000 m and also had a burning smell at the beginning. It only lasted for about the 1st hundred miles, couple of days though. It smelled more like burnt rubber than plastic, but it went away fairly quickly...

Jeremy