Benefit of Prius Coolant Thermo Bottle and Grill Blocking

usbseawolf2000 · 12-09-2007, 05:31 PM

I made this video showcasing the magic of the Prius' Hot Coolant Thermo Bottle.

YouTube - Benefit of Prius Coolant Thermo Bottle and Grill Blocking

First, the car was parked for 20 hours. I parked it at around 9pm on Thur and worked from home on Fri. I started it up on Fri at 5:25pm at 39 deg F after work and headed into Manhattan. As seen in the video, once the Thermo opened up, the temp raised to 122 deg F. That's very good considering 20 hours was passed and it was around 190 deg F when I shut down. Thermo bottle lost 70 deg F in 20 hours.

Once the ICE kicked in (to heat up catalytic converter), the coolant temp dropped to 70 deg F. I guess it is due to the flow of the 3.5 US Quarts of engine oil and heating up the remaining parts of the ICE. That's not bad considering the outside temperature was 36 deg F and I was able to drive away with the ICE at room temp.

I also have both upper and lower grills blocked. After driving 3 blocks without any light, I entered the highway. The first 5 mins, I got around 40 MPG. That's very good considering that I had to accelerate from 0 MPH to ~50 MPH during that time. The summary of the estimated MPG from the MFD screen.

1st 5mins: 40 MPG
2nd 5mins: 60 MPG
3rd 5mins: 65 MPG
4th 5mins: 55 MPG (Due to going up the bridge)
5th 5mins: 80 MPG
6th 5mins: 90 MPG

After driving for 10 mins, the coolant temp was reading at 171 deg F. By 15 to 20 mins of driving, the temp stabilized at around 190 deg F.

One of the highlight in the video was maintaining around 30 MPG going up the Williamsburg bridge. This was an attempt to outclass some cars that advertised with 30 MPG on the flat surface highway. It is also important to note that the HV battery was being charged while climbing the bridge.

The last 10 mins covered only 1.6 miles and when I shut down the car, the battery still had 6 blue blocks. The whole trip was 15 miles long.

F8L · 12-09-2007, 05:46 PM

You and your videos.

Thanks for that. It was really neat to see the coolant temp jump then drop again as the thermal bottle emptied and warmed up the engine.

usbseawolf2000 · 12-09-2007, 05:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by F8L

You and your videos.

Hey, I am getting better at it. I did some editing and added background music as well.

Seeing is believing right? When non-believers say misinformed or even outright lies, I just need to reply with a link to the video. Plus, I enjoy making these videos.

Boo · 12-09-2007, 06:10 PM

Great stuff. Thanks.

BTW, driving over the Williamsburg Bridge, which has always been hairy because of the extremely narrow lanes, has gotten even hairier. They painted those concrete barriers a shade of gray (talk about DUH) which, at night and/or in rain/fog, causes the concrete barriers to seemingly blend right into the roadway itself. If you ever see a Magnetic Gray Prius straddling two lanes on the Williamsburg Bridge, that's probably me!

Rangerdavid · 12-09-2007, 06:14 PM

Nice work there!! I liked it ....

usbseawolf2000 · 12-09-2007, 06:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Boo

Great stuff. Thanks.

BTW, driving over the Williamsburg Bridge, which has always been hairy because of the extremely narrow lanes, has gotten even hairier. They painted those concrete barriers a shade of gray (talk about DUH) which, at night and/or in rain/fog, causes the concrete barriers to seemingly blend right into the roadway itself. If you ever see a Magnetic Gray Prius straddling two lanes on the Williamsburg Bridge, that's probably me!

Yea, the speed limit on the ramp is 30 MPH. I was doing 47 MPH on the bridge. Maybe I should edit it out.... I am not sure if the speed limit on the bridge remains at 30 MPH.... I was going slower than the other cars though... The Escape Hybrid yellow cab even passed me.

David Beale · 12-09-2007, 11:21 PM

Well, I can officially report the thermos bottle has -no- effect here when the car is parked overnight and the temp is below -5C. The coolant in the thermos doesn't warm the engine a bit that I can see on the Scangauge (though it works fine in warmer weather).

But Pearl does warm up quickly when driven. Takes about 6 blocks or 5 min or less to get the coolant up past 50C, where the car blows nice hot air inside. It takes quite a bit longer to get over 60C so stage 4 will engage, and unless you are driving the car will quickly drop below 60C, at lights for example. The engine will not warm up to 60C when idling and will not hold the temp above 60C when idling.

Front grills are blocked.

usbseawolf2000 · 12-10-2007, 12:07 AM

Dave,

Zero affect? Not even one deg C difference? I'll make more videos at different starting temp to see the affect at different temps.

From the video, the starting temp is at 36 deg F. The thermo bottle raised 34 degrees and I took off at 70 deg F.

I ran into traffic congestion (I-678 meets I-495) for 3-4 mins. I went through in EV mode. The coolant temp dropped and raised back up to 171 deg F by 10th minute of the drive.

F8L · 12-10-2007, 12:22 AM

How insulated are those little tanks?

HOVZOOM · 12-12-2007, 08:35 AM

Does the 2002 Prius have this system?

12-09-2007, 11:21 PM	#7
David Beale Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Edmonton Alberta Posts: 2,116 My Car: 2007 Prius Model: Package: B Thanks: 3 Thanked 77 Times in 58 Posts Friends: 0	Well, I can officially report the thermos bottle has -no- effect here when the car is parked overnight and the temp is below -5C. The coolant in the thermos doesn't warm the engine a bit that I can see on the Scangauge (though it works fine in warmer weather). But Pearl does warm up quickly when driven. Takes about 6 blocks or 5 min or less to get the coolant up past 50C, where the car blows nice hot air inside. It takes quite a bit longer to get over 60C so stage 4 will engage, and unless you are driving the car will quickly drop below 60C, at lights for example. The engine will not warm up to 60C when idling and will not hold the temp above 60C when idling. Front grills are blocked. __________________ Edmonton Alberta "Pearl" is a 2007 Driftwood Pearl Prius.

12-09-2007, 05:46 PM	#2
F8L Collecting Data on Nature Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Sacramento, CA. Posts: 5,501 My Car: 2005 Prius Model: Package: #4 Thanks: 22 Thanked 190 Times in 138 Posts Friends: 35	You and your videos. Thanks for that. It was really neat to see the coolant temp jump then drop again as the thermal bottle emptied and warmed up the engine.

12-09-2007, 06:10 PM	#4
Boo Boola Boola Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: New York, NY Posts: 4,293 My Car: 2007 Prius Model: Package: #2 Thanks: 166 Thanked 302 Times in 155 Posts Friends: 22	Great stuff. Thanks. BTW, driving over the Williamsburg Bridge, which has always been hairy because of the extremely narrow lanes, has gotten even hairier. They painted those concrete barriers a shade of gray (talk about DUH) which, at night and/or in rain/fog, causes the concrete barriers to seemingly blend right into the roadway itself. If you ever see a Magnetic Gray Prius straddling two lanes on the Williamsburg Bridge, that's probably me!

12-09-2007, 06:14 PM	#5
Rangerdavid Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Boone, North Carolina Posts: 1,264 My Car: 2006 Prius Model: Package: #5 Thanks: 1 Thanked 9 Times in 6 Posts Friends: 25	Nice work there!! I liked it ....

12-10-2007, 12:07 AM	#8
usbseawolf2000 HSD PhD Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Queens, NY Posts: 3,254 My Car: 2006 Prius Model: Package: #3 Thanks: 106 Thanked 178 Times in 111 Posts Friends: 59	Dave, Zero affect? Not even one deg C difference? I'll make more videos at different starting temp to see the affect at different temps. From the video, the starting temp is at 36 deg F. The thermo bottle raised 34 degrees and I took off at 70 deg F. I ran into traffic congestion (I-678 meets I-495) for 3-4 mins. I went through in EV mode. The coolant temp dropped and raised back up to 171 deg F by 10th minute of the drive.

12-10-2007, 12:22 AM	#9
F8L Collecting Data on Nature Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Sacramento, CA. Posts: 5,501 My Car: 2005 Prius Model: Package: #4 Thanks: 22 Thanked 190 Times in 138 Posts Friends: 35	How insulated are those little tanks?

12-12-2007, 08:35 AM	#10
HOVZOOM Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Fairfax, VA Posts: 36 My Car: 2002 Prius Model: Package: Base Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts Friends: 0	Does the 2002 Prius have this system?