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I spent a little time on the Prius between yesterday and today. The big modification (painful to FE but necessary if and when winter shows up) is the snow tires. These are the same Blizzaks that I used on the Accord last winter (195/65R15 which is slightly oversized), just mounted on a set of wheels with the right bolt pattern. I was **forced** to buy an inexpensive set of alloys because the steelies were out of stock everwhere. I'll cry about it while I consider mounting my summer tires on them instead ;).

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/500/Prius_New_Wheels.jpg

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/500/New_Wheels_Closeup.jpg

Next up is the grill block, instructions and examples of which I ran across at PriusChat. I don't have a way to monitor MG2 inverter temps, so I stopped short of blocking the entire lower grill. 40% will have to be good enough until I break down and get CANview or something. The lower part will come off when temps rise above 55F or so.

Per the instructions of other members (efusco, FireEngieer, TonyPSchaefer et. al.) I used 1" foam pipe insulation and slit it in half. Then I folded those halfs and jammed them between the grille slits. To tell you the truth I'm pretty happy about how it came out, as it doesn't look as bad as it could. Very easy to do!

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/500/Prius_Grill_Block.jpg

And here's how I spent the afternoon (gotta love Best Buy gift cards):

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/500/Roady_XT_Installed.jpg

I mounted the Delphi Roady XT to the left-hand air vent using the bracket that came with it. The antenna cable comes from behind, as I routed it from the hatch, under the left-hand door sills, and up to the unit behind the weather stripping for the driver's door. The power cord leaves much to be desired, as the included cord is extremely short. Not only that but the radio requires 5V DC so you can't hard-wire it directly to the car's 12V system. I will rig up something better eventually but I don't feel like splicing wires today.

Antenna mounting location:
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/500/XM_Antenna.jpg

And crossing my fingers that this antenna wiring path doesn't turn out to be a poor choice. I have a trick up my sleeve if water gets through, which is to create a loop below the weather strip and bring the wire back up across the seal.

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/500/XM_Cable_Routing.jpg

brick

I saw the, Booooo snow tires and busted up. lololololololololol

Antenna mounting location...

And crossing my fingers that this antenna wiring path doesn't turn out to be a poor choice. I have a trick up my sleeve if water gets through, which is to create a loop below the weather strip and bring the wire back up across the seal.

I had my antenna wire (for a Roady XT, coincidentally) run in a nearly identical way across the weather stripping for almost a year, with no evidence of water leakage at all.

Having said that, did you consider placing the antenna on the dash? I moved mine a week ago from the roof to the dash, in advance of removing the Roady completely (I bought a Vais unit to integrate XM with the car radio). I've heard/read about the suggested dash placement, but didn't give it much thought until recently. So far, so good with reception. I think I like it better there appearance-wise. And I won't have to worry about the antenna's long-term effect on the paint finish. Just a thought.

I have thought about it but never tried. I tend to think that the standard antenna won't work well there since it doesn't have a ground plane to work with. Then again, if it works for you then maybe it's worth a shot. I have a spare antenna from an old radio so it would be an easy thing to try. Any special location on the dash that works best?

I tend to think that the standard antenna won't work well there since it doesn't have a ground plane to work with.
I thought that too. (I remembered the concept, but I couldn't recall the exact term "ground plane" from my high school electronics class 35 years ago. Thanks for the refresher!)

Any special location on the dash that works best?
Well, I wanted to post a pic to show you where mine is, but I see I'm not allowed. Maybe a question for the mods, but is that because I'm still a Junior Member?

Anyway (and I don't know if it's the best spot, but it works), it's close to the windshield on the passenger side, a couple of inches from the base of the "A" post. I moved it away from the A post a tad under the assumption the post might intefere with the signal. I assume the driver's side would do equally well, and would be your preference. My radio is mounted in the center, so I've run the wire behind the AC vents and glovebox, and under the plastic trim at the bottom of the triangular window.

Hi JimboK:

___I do not allow attachments because once the thread is buried, the pic will never be seen again. We do encourage you to upload pics into the gallery and then relink them back into the threads. You can link/view more then just one pic in the manner as well.

___If you have problems with the gallery, let me know and I can fix that post haste.

___In the Ranger, I run a Compaq iPAQ 2210 w/ an iTREK CF based Sirf II chipset GPS unit from the dash. Only in the bowels of downtown Chicago do I lose enough birds to cause sporadic lock although if the Roady XT needs a ground, that may be a problem?

___Good Luck

___Wayne

Hi JimboK:

___I do not allow attachments because once the thread is buried, the pic will never be seen again.
Thanks, Wayne, that makes sense.

It's not a big deal for this thread, but how did brick gets his pics into the thread?

Hi JimboK:

___He used the CleanMPG gallery. Straight up to the top in the center of the menu bar and click Gallery. From there, click on the Gallery forum most pertinent to your upload and then upload your picture. You will see 2 Clipboard based link solutions. Use the [img] based one and paste it into your post.

___If you need help with this, keep asking and I will get you setup.

___Good Luck

___Wayne