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Many of you would not understand this if you are in the Frostbelt. When the outdoor temperature is 75F and you drive 200 miles on the interstate - seriously consider removing the cardboard block to the radiator.

ScanGage says my coolant engine temperature normally peaks at 198F. If has varied from 195 to 207. On my trip to Austin, it reached 227F :eek: If any of you remember that BMW steam co-generation hybrid article, I was wishing to tap into this waste heat.

Thanks for the warning! :eek: I've been keeping an eye on my coolant temp via the SG as well as it has been getting warmer. Most of my driving is around town and if >5 miles I'll peak somewhere in the 180s, lately it has been low 190s. I'll be sure to remove it for any substantial highway/freeway driving.

Still too early for me to remove the radiator covers. :(

I guess I will emerge out of the claws of winter... eventually.

Seriously, the temps have been rising to around 0C (32F) and I can see better mileage already. I hope I'll be removing the winter tires along the radiator covers one of these upcoming weekends.

One thing I know for sure: I'll never achieve that ever elusive hypermiling rating no matter how well I drive. It is fun to always do our best though...;)

Cheers;

MSantos

Hey, if your condidtions don't allow it then there is nothing you can really do. But you can always work at besting yourself. And in the end that is more important than anything else.

The truth may be msantos is a hypermiler among his neighbors - a benchmark more valid than the old EPA estimates for him.

Sorry for the noob question here-
but where do we have some informative posts on grill blocking that I can read?

I'm pretty sure I know what I need to do but I think I should know what I'm doing.
Knowledge is power and all that.

Thanks.

Msantos you have one of the higher s/n ratios I know around here. Don’t let any concern about other ratings keep you away.

brucepick,

One morning it was 32F or less and it took eight minutes for the engine to heat up. The block seems to save a couple of minutes in warm up time.

So, better aerodynamics
- PLUS faster warmup. Sounds good.

I spent a fair bit of time painting my grill black; it was chrome. I think I'm going to put the blocking right behind the grill; glued to the back side of the slats.

It was 83° here today and I still have my radiator block,grill block, and warm air intake in. I left the radiator block and warm air intake in all year last year. This winter, I added a lower grill opening black. I cut a piece of windshield sun shield and placed it in the lower grill opening last fall. I will hook the laptop up and check the IAT and ECT this weekend. It didn't get too hot last year.

brucepick -- an example for a prius is here (http://techno-fandom.org/~hobbit/cars/heatgames/pagefour.html), if it helps.
[take off the "pagefour" filename for the WHOLE story..]
.
_H*

I noticed my coolant temps creeping up close to 210F while on the highway the other day, so I pulled the foam out of the bottom-most slit in the lower grill. So far so good with the rest of it still in place: nothing higher than the 190s. Most of my driving since has been commuting or otherwise mostly suburban and urban, all with lots of ICE-off time. Between that and the little bit of air flow that open slit gives it looks like I'm OK.

I've been thinking of leaving the rest on until I either hit the highway again, see another temperature spike, or need to run the AC. What do the rest of you Prius owners think?

I'll probably keep my upper grill blocked until my coolant is above 200ºF. I might take it out before then if I ever get around to washing it. :p

Sunday while going to the Chicago Prius Group meet-up by grill was fully blocked and temp never went above 202F, outside temp 68F. Going home mid-afternoon it was OAT of 80F and the engine temps were near 207 if I was doing 55 MPH@ 60+MPG but would stay down if I had a chance to do a lot of gliding.

Halfway home my wife decided we needed the AC on, the temp did spike up to 210F but as soon as we started moving the AC relay's kicked the fans on and the temps dipped to 188F. Stop the car and the temp spiked to 202F, get moving returned down to 188-190F. It looked like the radiator fans in the Prius possibly shut-off when the car stops, weird.

Wayne

brucepick -- an example for a prius is here (http://techno-fandom.org/~hobbit/cars/heatgames/pagefour.html), if it helps...
_H*

Thanks Hobbit.
I'm going to have to read the other pages too, of course.

The factors to note in my instance was driving 210 miles at 65mph and hill climbing.

I might put it back in for my work commutes.