Duck Posted January 13, 2011 Author Share Posted January 13, 2011 (edited) Honda has announced they're totally re-doing IMA. Which... is a good thing. A ~15 hp electric motor just isn't enough. The CR-Z has had mixed reviews. Here's a good one: (YouTube)Also coming soon, in response to the PriusV, is the PriusC (NetCarShow.com Gallery). Can't wait for more info on this guy. A lot closer to my ideal size! -Iain Edited January 13, 2011 by Duck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duck Posted August 17, 2012 Author Share Posted August 17, 2012 A little update, almost 2 years in. Maintenance costs have been nothing, except for routine oil changes every 8000 km. There were two persistent minor issues which I aggressivley pursued with my dealership to resolve under warranty: A hard-to-locate "buzz" in the dash at a specific engine RPM, and one of the brake calipers was rattling over broken/uneven pavement. Both issues would have been transparent in any other vehicle, but the near silence of the HSD means that any cabin noises become more obvious. Both were resolved under warranty, even though they took more than 5 visits back and forth (each!) to get resolved. The buzz was a broken/misassembled panel clip and the brakes had a TSB in the US (but not in Canada) to install shims to take up the play. I did my first 1000+ km tank not too long ago. It's easily possible, but "0 km remaining" comes up with another 10 litres still in the tank... which is 250 km, at least! So it's usually around 800-900 km between fills. I bet 1200 km would be well within reason. My short commute (20 km one way) is borderline on what this car behaves well with; any less than that, and the engine does not warm up to temperature fully (especially in the winter), and won't "settle in" to it's groove of low FC. People who have 15 km or less commutes will get "terrible" fuel consumption numbers, I'm sure. I really wish my commute was closer to 50 km or so - I'd be able to pull some great numbers. I have settled into being a full hypermiler now! I cringe at trips that are 4.x L/100 km. With some careful planning, my work commute will return me to the driveway at home showing 3.5 L/100 km on the display, which is 3.7 L/100 km in reality. The Niagara Parkway is my favourite road in Ontario - 60 km/h limit, and no stop signs or lights for half an hour! The car was great when we moved a couple of weeks ago, the lie-flat seats (truly flat, too) are fantastic for storage and transport. Now, if only it had a plug... -Iain Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tardis Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 Nice Iain You moved? are you able to keep nosedive where you are now? ...maybe we will see more of you at some meets. Karen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeT Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 How many km are on the Prius? A co-worker has one and maybe a 5km drive to work, and her average FE is in the high 5s (according to the OBC). I've been using the office LEAF a fair bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FormerEnthusiast Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 Hmm...Iain, that's massive!45L tank @ 3.7L/100km should make 1200km a cakewalk for you.I know with my car emmisions control means no matter what the ambient temperature is, my first 8km are the worst for fuel economy as more fuel is dumped in to warm it up faster.That and also like a lot of the newer vehicles including a Cummins diesel I drive for work, there's still 1.5L/100km worth of fuel being burnt when engine braking which is rather annoying.I wouldn't be surprised if the European versions do not exhibit this behaviour.Eddie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duck Posted August 18, 2012 Author Share Posted August 18, 2012 I know with my car emmisions control means no matter what the ambient temperature is, my first 8km are the worst for fuel economy as more fuel is dumped in to warm it up faster.Yes, I'd love to have some way to datalog the number coming out of the computer (or Scangauge) and plot it over time/distance. You know, first few seconds say 20 L/100 km, then 10, then 8, then 6, etc.. falling lower each minute, then stabilizing around some value. That "stable point" varies based on temperature and driving conditions but seems to be about 10-15 km or 10-15 minutes in the Prius . There's a thermos that the warm coolant is pumped into when you shut the car down, to try and "save heat" for the next time you start out. Maybe that's common, I don't know - first I'd heard about it though and I said "neat!". It all has to do with getting the cat (and engine) up to temperature. There are all these different phases that the engine/warmup cycle goes through (S1, S1a, S1b, S2, S3, etc...) - I haven't learned them all but I can "hear" the tone of the RPM's in the engine (and the inverter/motors) at different phases and usually guess when the engine is in it's final "totally ready" mode. On the Scangauge I can see that usually this occurs at 70C coolant temperature. It does this thing on that final ICE shutdown called "Idling Check Ceremony" (a term that always makes me laugh).-Iain Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sbungay Posted August 19, 2012 Share Posted August 19, 2012 I notice the idle change on initial start in our 2004 Echo too. It does not take it long to warm up and slow the engine down but for that first few minutes it idles faitrly high. When warm you can barely hear/feel it in operation. That little Echo is as tough as nails. Except for the ABS ours is manual everything, i.e. steering, transmission, windows, locks, and A/C. It now has 398,000Kms on it and we routinely get 700Km per tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duck Posted March 4, 2014 Author Share Posted March 4, 2014 (edited) Prius is still humming along, a little over 120 000 km now. Replaced the front left wheel bearing not long ago, I think I take on ramps too fast. I blew through wheel bearings on my other two Toyotas as well. Mileage is piling on slower thanks to Nosedive being the "summer car", and we don't travel much in the winter. I've given up completely this winter on trying to keep the consumption low, and so I turn the heat on for my daily 20 km commute - it takes a huge hit in the FE because of it (the engine never has a chance to shut off, I have only 500 m or so from our house to the highway, I let it sit warming up for 10 mins warming up, etc etc. - it's a bad commute for a hybrid), but I'm too old to be cold for the sake of my signature icon pride. Block heater helps a bit, but not much, my commute just isn't long enough for the engine to get up to temperature.I really wish we'd been able to buy a Volt when we were car shopping - I wimper a little bit every time one blows by me (silently) on the highway...-Iain Edited March 5, 2014 by Duck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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