Most Obscure Gen III Facts (way out there)

[Airbalancer]

with the heater on (and a 60F day)
heater on at 60, up north we would running the AC on

[LeeB]

Nope. My bottom doesn't have a light...that works anyway. Gotta get under there and see if there is a loose or dead bulb...Or maybe the II doesn't come with it??

Bottom glove box light comes on with headlamps/parking lamps on my V. Looks similar to the "orange" footlamps. Not sure if all models have the glove box lamp.

[rachaelseven]

Found this little oddity today...

We all know about the NAV lockout when moving. But today I found out that the FM radio has a lockout as well. When you are moving, the "Message" text that would normally have artist and track info if the station broadcasts it, instead reads something to the effect of 'for safety, messages not displayed while driving'. Of course, the warning is well longer than the artist name and track info, and at least this first time, occupied considerably more of my attention than reading 'Coldplay' or whatever it was. Of all the stupid things to lockout... sheesh.

[fuzzy1]

Bottom glove box light comes on with headlamps/parking lamps on my V. Looks similar to the "orange" footlamps. Not sure if all models have the glove box lamp.

My Model II has it.

[adrianblack]

Originally Posted by fuzzy1

My Model II has it.

I'm quite sure my III has the "orange" box light too...

[adrianblack]

Originally Posted by Airbalancer

with the heater on (and a 60F day)
heater on at 60, up north we would running the AC on

LOL! Well, I just keep the car on auto and 73F so it does what's needed. (A/C off when it's not raining or not hot out.) I love automatic climate control!!

But I know, it's all relative. When the car says 59F on the outside temp (like it did the other day) my teeth were nearly chattering!

[Tideland Prius]

Originally Posted by rachaelseven

Found this little oddity today...

We all know about the NAV lockout when moving. But today I found out that the FM radio has a lockout as well. When you are moving, the "Message" text that would normally have artist and track info if the station broadcasts it, instead reads something to the effect of 'for safety, messages not displayed while driving'. Of course, the warning is well longer than the artist name and track info, and at least this first time, occupied considerably more of my attention than reading 'Coldplay' or whatever it was. Of all the stupid things to lockout... sheesh.

Funny eh? You know what's even funnier? Sat radio info is available.

Originally Posted by adrianblack

A couple interesting items:

- When walking up to the car, the LED on the keyfob blinks as the fob talks to the car. (LED comes up even when not pushing any buttons.)

- When you first turn on the car with a cold engine, the computer runs the ICE at exactly 1280rpm to warm up the engine and charge the battery. (It is applying a load to the engine to help warm it.) The ICE will turn off when coolant temp reaches 103F. (If you aren't driving) If the battery is at 2 bars or lower, it will stay running to continue to charge...

While warming up and below 103F, the computer uses battery power to motivate the car and the stay at exactly 1280rpm even if you push the HSI past the ECO middle line. As you approach the right side of the bar, it will start to raise the RPM to generate more power, but it will return to 1280 as soon as you let off and when it does rev up, it does it much less than normal. This behaviour minimizes engine wear when the engine is cold.

Between 103F and 159F the car uses the ICE more often to help warm it up, but it will auto-stop when fully stopped and even when cruising under 43mph... It just runs it more often.

160F and over the car shuts off the ICE as much as possible and much more frequently than under 159F.

- It is impossible to attain great mileage with the ICE under 160F. On the same drive through slow city streets, I might get 40mpg with the ICE under 160F and 65mpg with above 160F.

- Using the heater removes a lot of heat from the cooling system. With the ICE off, the computer has to run the water pump to get warm coolant into the cabin heat exchanger (to generate warm air.) I am not sure if the coolant runs through the radiator in this mode, but I notice that coolant temps drop pretty quickly with the ICE off.

With my normal 3 mile drive to work, with the heater on (and a 60F day) I can only briefly get about 160F -- and when I do, the coolant temp drops again. By the time I get into my parking spot it's usually in the mid 140's again.

Without the heater, I would be at 175-180F in my parking spot.

If you want to maximize mileage on cool days, do not run the heater so you can stay above 160F.

Thank you for the informative post!

Originally Posted by fjpod

I had the glove box open last night before I left the car. No light. 'Will check today in daylight to see if there is a bulb there.

Might wanna double check. It should be standard. Remember that your lights must be on (either parking lights or full headlights... i.e. anything but the OFF position)

[fjpod]

Originally Posted by fuzzy1

My Model II has it.

I found the glovebox light in my II. The other night it didn't go on when I could hve used it. I don't remember if I had the car started or not, but it didn't come on. In non-hybrids, it would come on regardless of the engine being on. So now I'll have to check if it comes on only with the car started or with the headlights on.

[fuzzy1]

In non-hybrids, it would come on regardless of the engine being on.

It has varied in my pre-hybrids. My Subaru is just like my Prius, it comes on only with the headlights.

Having once had a glovebox with a troublesome latch that could pop open at any time, even when parked, this was a Very Good Thing.