To Prius or not to Prius

Block heater draws 350-400 watts max. You would only need it for 3 hours. With or without the block heater, blocking up the front grill in cold weather really helps MPG and cabin warmth.

Wayne

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(PA @ Jan 4 2007, 10:01 PM) [snapback]371070[/snapback]</div>

Amen to that... I upgraded to an '06 prius afterdriving an '02 New Beetle for 3 1/2 years... Nothing but problems with the Beetle and VW service people... I would never drive a VW again! (BTW I love my toyota dealership and their service, and I REALLY love my prius... excellent car!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Fidelma @ Jan 5 2007, 06:41 AM) [snapback]371209[/snapback]</div>

Bravo to you for using solar!!!

As far as a block heater, it can shorten your engine warm-up time in cold weather, thereby improving your average mpg, but is otherwise unnecessary. The car starts and runs fine even in the bitterly-cold winters of Fargo, North Dakota.

And a block heater does nothing to warm the traction battery, which is the other thing that reduces cold-weather mpg: a cold battery is less efficient. It warms up eventually, but unless you have a long commute, the battery will never be as efficient in winter as it is in summer. (But it's still lots better than a conventional car!)

I suspect the most important effect of a block heater would be that you'd get cabin heat a couple of minutes sooner.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Fidelma @ Jan 5 2007, 09:41 AM) [snapback]371209[/snapback]</div>

You can either dismount the regular tires and put snow tires on the wheels that come with your car, or you can get an extra set of wheels so you don't have to remount the tires, since that usually costs more than just taking 4 wheels off and putting 4 different wheels back on. Some folks like to do this since it avoids salt and gravel damage to the alloy wheels. Steel rims are sort of like the picture below, you usually see them with hubcaps on them. Look at a base Corolla or Civic, for example.

 

The Prius comes with stock alloy wheels (opposed to steel) and from what I understand they are more prone to damage when getting remounted. It has been suggested on this board that since snow tires would require remounting twice a year that it would be a good idea to just have the snowies mounted on their own wheels and save yourself from having to have them remounted when the seasons change. This would also save you from having to pay somebody to swap out your tires every time as well since you could technically do it yourself. I admit that I'm only only going by what I've read here and elsewhere so if I'm wrong I'm sure somebody will correct me.

edit:
Beryl Octet beat me to it!

 

Cannot comment on snow driving (California driver), but I always get at least 53 mpg on the highway.

 

Yes, it's snowing again in Denver. I picked up my snow tires today but haven't installed them yet. Because the snow season is so long here, I opted for alloy rims even for my snow tires. I don't want to spend nearly half the year riding on ugly steel rims even with hub caps.

I also picked up an avalanche shovel from REI. They're compact and sturdy and I was able to demolish the big plowed up pile of snow behind my old car in less than a minute. I heard that regular snow shovels were completely sold out when the previous storms hit.

 

Basic rule;

Mainly City driving.- Hybrid.
Mainly highway driving.-Diesel. (Smartcar, etc)

I know my decision would be based on where we eventually decide to settle down.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Den. @ Jan 5 2007, 09:39 PM) [snapback]371662[/snapback]</div>

Unless you're concerned about pollution. Then your basic rule is:

EV first choice;
PHEV second choice;
Hybrid third choice (the first one on this list you can actually buy);
Conventional gasoline car third choice;
Diesel last choice.

If your only concern is cost per mile driven, then the basic rule is:

Never buy any new car.