Driving in the mountains - Any problems

[Rxmxsh]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Ronald56 @ Jul 19 2007, 09:39 PM) [snapback]482035[/snapback]</div>

You guys have missed the question which is going up these kind of long hills on the highway, while on cruise control, will the car be able to maintain the 70 mph?
[/b]

Yes, it will maintain speed... the only cost will the the ICE being really loud, and your MPG will drop to like 9 sometimes, depending on the incline...

[mmoncur]

I've driven from Salt Lake City to Park City (up a canyon) several times - this is a pretty steep mountain road, on a typical summer day you'll see two or three older cars off the side of the road overheating.

Last time I had the cruise set at 66 and went up the whole way at that speed, no problem. Bad mileage, but the trip back down more than made up for it.

[PA Prius]

We returned from a 7,500 mile trip a week ago today. It included crossing the continental divide a few times as well as other mountain climbing. We chose not to just let the engine roar, so we got down to 35 mph at times. However we were fully loaded-- two adults, two teens, two tents, all camping gear, roof rack, etc. I've detailed more of our trip at
http://www.priusonline.com/viewtopic.php?t=11065
if you are interested. Not maintaining maximum speed on the steeper mountains was fine with us. Be patient and enjoy the beautiful scenery!

PA P

[Prudence]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Ronald56 @ Jul 19 2007, 12:27 AM) [snapback]481401[/snapback]</div>

I had a diesel Rabbit many years ago - on a trip up to Boston the car needed to go down to 3rd gear (it had a 5 speed manual) and 35 mph going up some of the hills, it just could not keep the speed up. That won't happen with the Prius - I HOPE???
[/b]

Ah, the diesel Rabbit! We loved that car in Indiana and then moved to the Hudson Highlands in New York. Barely getting 50mph going up the mountains with the accelerator pushed to the floor was a bit unnerving, we traded it in, a few months after moving here. It was downright dangerous on the inclines.
The Prius has no problems with the mountains here. I usually don't use cruise control in the mountains. Although it works fine, I find it a bit too aggressive for me. We had five adults in the Prius a few weeks ago, and it was great taking the mountains and that was in 95 degree heat. My mileage dropped to 46mpg for that week, but I'm back up in the 50mpg range with just me and the DH again. You will find the car handles differently with more weight, but no more than other cars do.
Have no fear, the Prius is no diesel Rabbit.

[Ronald56]

Thanks everyone for all the great posts. - Ron

[Stairman]

The last time I went to the Sierra's I intentionally tried to push the car on the Sherwin Grade just north of Bishop CA. This is a 6% grade which takes you from about 4400 feet in elevation to over 7000 ft. I set the cruise on 72mph at the bottom of the hill. This gives me an actual speed of 70mph according to my GPS. About 6 miles into the 8 mile grade the speed dropped to 68mph on the speedo. When I checked the battery screen the battery indicator was down to 0 bars. Once I leveled off at Tom's Place the battery began to charge up. I was alone in the car, but had ~250 pounds of stuff.

There are very few places in the country where you would find a hill this size. There are even fewer where you could drive up such a hill at 70 mph; usually such a steep grade would be on a winding road.

Unless you are a maniac, power is not an issue.

[Ronald56]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Stairman @ Jul 21 2007, 05:33 PM) [snapback]482884[/snapback]</div>

The last time I went to the Sierra's I intentionally tried to push the car on the Sherwin Grade just north of Bishop CA. This is a 6% grade which takes you from about 4400 feet in elevation to over 7000 ft. I set the cruise on 72mph at the bottom of the hill. This gives me an actual speed of 70mph according to my GPS. About 6 miles into the 8 mile grade the speed dropped to 68mph on the speedo. When I checked the battery screen the battery indicator was down to 0 bars. Once I leveled off at Tom's Place the battery began to charge up. I was alone in the car, but had ~250 pounds of stuff.

There are very few places in the country where you would find a hill this size. There are even fewer where you could drive up such a hill at 70 mph; usually such a steep grade would be on a winding road.

Unless you are a maniac, power is not an issue.
[/b]

Thanks a lot for the reply. - Ron

[upfisk]

Most of our mountain passes include twisties so too high a speed isn't possible, but several passes allows fairly high speeds and the CC maintains 68-70 with roaring from the ICE to keep up the speed. Don't read your MFD for fuel economy as it is depressing. Generally, the Prius is passing other vehicles on the upgrades and the CC always is able to keep the set speed.

[goulian]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Ronald56 @ Jul 19 2007, 11:39 PM) [snapback]482035[/snapback]</div>

You guys have missed the question which is going up these kind of long hills on the highway, while on cruise control, will the car be able to maintain the 70 mph?
[/b]

Yes it will.

[goulian]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Ronald56 @ Jul 19 2007, 11:39 PM) [snapback]482035[/snapback]</div>

You guys have missed the question which is going up these kind of long hills on the highway, while on cruise control, will the car be able to maintain the 70 mph?
[/b]

Yes it will.