Week of January 22 to January 28 (Nat’l Avg $2.538)

Today , 46 deg F , wind E5 , rain all the way to work , standing water on road. 15.5 miles , 59.33 MPG. Tank is at 267.8 miles , 59.15 MPG.

 

46.1 - 4 mi. to work 27*F.
47 - 4.8 mi. 23*F work to restaurant to pick up supper.
67 - 1.8 mi. home.

 

Ugh. Lots of Midwest to NY and NJ work. Varying temps, everything from literally -1 to 60*F. Plus the magnificently annoying hills/mountains of PA...and plenty of snow on the ground, been flipping between 6.8 and 6.9mpg since I started this stint on Jan 2nd.

Tonight's little blizzardy thing around Sioux City, IA didn't help. But on the upside, I did manage to snag a night at the Sister-in-law's house in Rochester, NY, got an actual meal, a nice bed, free beer, and a free copy of some commercial-grade antivirus stuff for my new laptop which her IT-employed husband had on hand.

 

Today , 32.5 deg F , wind NW10 , roads wet but not pooling , snowing lightly. 35.1 miles , 55.24 MPG. Tank is at 335.0 miles , 58.59 MPG.

 

I overslept yesterday... worked from home. Priceless!

Got silly and came in to work today. Not a good idea. Freezing rain till noon (still holding 32degF), then it should turn much warmer with rain this afternoon.

Hey, Edwin, my Prius (2012 PiP) front defroster does not work like yours. Any call for that "electric defrost" and the engine comes on. No other heat was being called for. I wonder if that was an improvement snuck in sometime after 2012? I should have taken the Prime, but my wife needs it for her hair appointment this afternoon. Plus no snow tires. The Prime can be made to run all day in EV mode with cabin heat on as long as there's charge in the battery. It is an awesome vehicle for winter. Perhaps I'll get snow tires for it next winter.

 

I didn't know that, Bill. I hate to use it anyway , because it IS linked to the climate control , so even when you turn it off , the climate control stays on.

And it uses battery , which I generally run low on. Yes , I P&G a lot in the morning and by morning I mean WAY before dawn (4:30 AM) , so headlights are always on.

SOC is hard to maintain in those conditions. After eight miles I'm on I-88 going 55 MPH , and that's when I generally start sucking heat out of the engine for Edwin's comfort.

That first eight miles.............brrrrrr.

When I first got this car , I thought it was an excellent winter car. I could actually get started without wheelspin (or traction control) , something I

could rarely do in my 08 Civic. But now , with over 60K miles , these tires don't grip as well. I really need snow tires.

 

45.2 - 4 mi., 7*F to work this morning.
52.2 - 8.2 mi., 21*F work to home. Picked up my son and right back out to Home Depot.
61.5 - 3.6 mi. back home.

I added a bit more insulation in the engine bay on the weekend. With the extra little bit of driving and mild temps it got fully warmed up today.

 

Bill, I wonder if the difference in your electric defrost operation and Edwin's is just BCM or ECU programming. It might be worth investigating. Maybe Toyota would have an update they could install so it works like the newer models. They may not care to search into it for you, but can't hurt to ask.

 

Thanks. My experience with Toyota service is that everything costs something, and being the cheapskate that I am, I resist going to Toyota unless something is broken. The only thing I have done in the way of electronic updates is to program/reprogram the tpms sensor id's myself, and to change the repetitive reverse beep to a single beep. I have not paid for map updates, it being cheaper and better to get a Garmin GPS with lifetime map updates. See the pattern here?

At this stage, I don't feel it worthwhile to dig into that line of inquiry with Toyota. I'll find work arounds.

Still, thanks for the suggestion.

 

As a fellow cheapskate I get not wanting to spend money at the dealership unnecessarily, or anywhere else for that matter. I just figured Toyota would be the only one who might be able to reprogram the system if anyone could. Thought I'd throw out the idea in case it might be of interest.

 

I realized today that the only time I ever used the front defrost is right after putting it in D and moving. At 27 deg F , it's a fair amount of time and distance after that to 103 F where the engine might shut off.

Today , I checked it as I was gliding on the ramp getting off the interstate. The engine did not start.

I have been too lazy to figure out the re-programming to get rid of the constant infernal beeping when in reverse. And of course , the noise cannot be heard OUTSIDE the car where
it might alert a pedestrian , only inside. In April this car will be three years old. I think I want to silence that damned beep completely.

Today , 27 deg F , windWNW7. 35.1 miles , 54.13 MPG. Freezing rain all the way here , turning to snow as I pulled into my spot here at work.

Tank is at 404.4 miles , 58.12 MPG.

 

Well, coming off the highway, the engine would already be warm on a non-plugin. Hardly a challenge.

I feel your pain regarding the reverse beeping. I have not messed with the Prime, so that one is still an annoyance.

 

Consistent and good!


Cheapskates unite!

Edwin, you could check with Prius owners in your area to see if someone already has the means to modify the Prius settings. A bit far, but the Wisconsin group that announces gatherings in here must have a few Prius owners. I only took mine on because I like gadgets and the cost for the OBD dongle was not excessive, under $50 if I recall, but that was back around 2010 with our first Prius. The dealership cost would have been $70-$100 with every tire/wheel seasonal changeover to program the TPMS ids. Too bad it doesn't just remember both sets and allow for switching without reprogramming. I eventually got lazy (ran the summer/original tires without reprogramming and lived with the occasional tire pressure warning if I do a long drive [greater than 10 miles]; short drives were okay because the proximity in the garage of the "other" set seems to appease the sensors on a nightly basis). With the snow tires on now, the TPMS is happy. Oh yeah, and the software is on a laptop I haven't used in a long time. Windows XP? One of the first "netbooks"...

 

Hi Bill , I think I'm going to check at Priuschat about re-programming my reverse "beep". Or maybe Youtube.
I'm also looking for an alternative to Toyota's wiper refills , which are both expensive ($20 for two little rubber strips )
and low quality(only last about a year).
I don't have winter tires at this time , but I sure do need them ! I have thought about attending the meetings in Milwaukee , but I am almost always working on Saturday mornings.

 

I can see how that might be a little inconvenient. Otherwise those meetings sound like a lot of fun.

My wipers last 2 to 3 years. The most recent replacement was the entire blade. Not the most elegant due to a knobby piece that sticks up. Inexpensive and functional though.

 

Find someone with a TechStream, or buy one. As I understand it, it's not overly difficult to have dealer-level programming tech for Toyotas. Which is nice, as some really resist it (looking at you, Mercedes and Chrysler...).