driving cross country

[samkusnetz]

hey folks. i'm in a hotel room in eastern north dakota right now, halfway through my cross country trip from portland, oregon to providence, rhode island. this is my 21st cross country drive (something like my fifth solo cross-country) but the first with my new '06 prius, so i thought i'd share my thoughts.

(for comparison, my previous trips have been in a '98 vw jetta stickshift, a 30' penske rental truck, and my theatre company's tour bus which is a converted '98 ford E-350 airport shuttle bus with a trailer.)

- i've been ranging from 60 to 76 miles per hour. going as slow as 45 in work zones, occasionally bumping up to 78, and once topping 80 to pass a truck that was spitting gravel at me.

- the cruise control is absolutely amazing. it does. not. waver. whatever speed i set is the speed i go, except on very steep hills where i gain or lose no more than one mile per hour.

- unlike my other vehicles, the prius *will* climb the rocky mountains at 75 mph. i do not recommend doing this, but i had to try it out on a stretch of road which i know very well. the engine was screaming a little, and the battery slid down to two bars, but of course i made that all back on the descent. (point of comparison: the tour bus, which has a 265 horsepower V-10 but weighs around 8 tons, barely makes 45 mph on the rockies. the jetta could do 60 with its four cylinders crying for relief. the rental truck did around 55 with some kind of gigantic engine that i don't know anything about, but always sounded like it was about to explode. even when idling.)

- headwinds and tailwinds are much easier to work with in the prius than in the jetta. crosswinds are slightly more difficult, i suppose because the jetta has a smaller cross section. in the fiercest of crosswinds, however, the car was still completely under control. needless to say, neither of the trucks are worth mentioning.

- the cabin of the prius is very comfortable to sit in for a long time, psychologically speaking. lots of light. the sloped windshield gives you the sense of space in front of you. the console makes a good armrest.

- i keep my tire pressure at 42/40. the integrity tires have been prefectly acceptable, even in hard rain EXCEPT when hitting puddles at high speed. in that case, they have much more drag than in other cars. i find this annoying, and slightly dangerous.

- mpg over the rockies, good weather: around 42.
- mpg in central montana, some rain, some wind: around 47.
- mpg in western north dakota in really bitchy winds and occasional heavy rain: around 37. yuck.

- here's something weird. going faster than 60 mph, the rear windscreen doesn't get wet no matter how hard it's raining. talked to a physics friend of mine who wasn't surprised. he suggested driving the car in the rain in a vacuum...

- (discolsure: i am a sound designer and so am geeky about audio) i have the high end audio system, and i find the sound quality to be very good for a car. the automatic sound leveler is underwhelming... it's not responsive enough and so i have to adjust the volume whenever i change speeds dramatically. i also find the eq (bass, mid, treble controls) pretty weak. i figure, it's computer controlled, right? so it would be trivial to put a *real* eq in there! any hackers interested?

- many people have disparaging things to say about the nav, but i think it's pretty brilliant. i find myself using the mode which lists upcoming exits and what sorts of services there are to be found. no more guessing if this will be the last gas station for miles!

- bluetooth phone link works very well. i don't have to yell, even when there's a lot of road noise. i wish i could dial using the screen while driving (yes, i know about the mods. no, my fiance will not let me cut any wires on our brand new car.) because i just end up pulling out the phone to punch numbers in.

so, that's about it for now. i'll post more probably day after tomorrow. i look forward to getting people's input and questions.

cheers
sk

[jrct9454]

We just finished an 1800 mile swing from our place on Vancouver WA [think Portland OR] through Reno, Sacto, SF, and back home. Up to 4500 feet several times, 7000 feet once, and Michelin tires from Costco set at 35 psi.

-The new tires transform the car, which is an '06 with Pkg 1. Better roadholding in all conditions, but especially in the rain, and better tracking in crosswinds.
-Overall average was about 41 mpg. I never try to drive the car any way except the way I have driven our other 53 cars over the past 45 years....I keep up with traffic, which on this trip meant 70-75 mph on Interstates, with the AC running about 70% of the time.
-All-day seat comfort is indeed part of the deal - we have no reservations about giving up our Mercedes C240 for this car.
-No shortage of power for climbing or passing. We saw a low of 2 pink bars on the energy display at the top of Donner Pass, and 7 green bars by the time we got to Sacramento.
-High average was 48 mpg coming down the hill from Reno; low average was 38-39 mpg from SF to Portland in the rain, with multiple climbs through the Cascades, at 65-75 mph.

I like this car a lot. Great room, utility, and no real sacrifices in everyday use....a winner, especially since we paid about $23k, and with the tax credit, will bring that down to a net of $20k. At that price, nothing can touch it for overall goodness...

[berylrb]

Great stories my experience on the same roads is similar to yours John.

Sam, I thinking of doing the US tour in 2007 so it's about 6000 miles right say $400 in gas?

b

[tmorrowus]

I drove my Prius across the country and back when I first got it. I agree with everything that the OP said. Well, except about the audio being good. Maybe they've improved the 2006?

Also, the levelizer mentioned in the manual actually doesn't exist, which explains why it doesn't seem to work well!

One other thing I'll add to the list of Prius advantages is that one person can sleep in the back. Makes solo cross country driving very cheap, in gas and lodging savings. You can cover more miles when you don't have to deal with finding a decent motel, packing/unpacking the car, etc. Just go to any Walmart (Nav system lists them) and sleep in the parking lot.

[samkusnetz]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(tmorrowus @ May 24 2006, 11:19 PM) [snapback]260811[/snapback]</div>

I drove my Prius across the country and back when I first got it. I agree with everything that the OP said. Well, except about the audio being good. Maybe they've improved the 2006?
[/b]

i understand that they have, but i've never heard the radio in any other prius. of course, i'm also coming from the stock radio in a 98 jetta, which was a very low quality, so anything sounds good to me.

Also, the levelizer mentioned in the manual actually doesn't exist, which explains why it doesn't seem to work well!
[/b]

not sure why you think this... there is definitely an automatic levelizer. i can hear it do its work, i just think it's badly tuned.

regarding berylrb's comment... 6000 miles is pretty accurate for coast to coast (round trip), at least on interstates 94, 90, and 80. as for total cost of gas, it will vary. a conservative estimate would be $450, which assumes $3.00/gallon and an average of 40 miles per gallon.

[davidhol]

We are traveling from Sacramento CA through Zion Park, Ridgeway, CO, Denver, CO, Indianapolis and Peoria. So far we have gone about 3,500 miles and have an average of 53.0 MPG keeping it at 55 except for around Kansas City where the traffic on the interstate was too dense and we had to kick it up to 65. Our 2008 Prius is performing as expected with no problems going over the Rockies except for the traffic and the rain. Sweet!

[kazots]

I drove my 2008 prius 5,000 miles in two months. Driving a few 1,000 mile trips. Had no problems on hills or having speed when I needed it. Made the right decision to buy.