1000 Mile road trip went great!

[turbonick]

I've had my Prius for a little over a month now. Last week we took it from Las Vegas to L.A. for 3 days and back. We were 4 adults and 1 child in a car seat. Granted I was the only guy in the group so everyone was a little smaller than average, everyone was very comfortable with the entire drive. There was plenty of cargo space for all our bags and a stroller, and everyone had plenty of space even with the large car seat. Plenty of cup holders, and storage spots for food and napkins ect. I don't think we would have been much more comfortable in our BMW X5. It wasn't close to the level of our Benz S430, but it was far above what I was expecting. Some people complain that it's too sensitive to cross wind. If you compare it to a 5000 pound German sedan that can run 160MPH+ and costs 4 times as much than yes it it sensitive. But I never had any scary moments and the wind was pretty strong both going and coming back. Over all I have to say that I am 100% satisfied with the car. I was a bit surprised that I "only" averaged 48 MPG. In the 3500 miles I've owned the car I've averaged 55 MPG so I assumed I'd be in that range. If we would have taken the X5 I would have been in the 18MPG range so I must be just spoiled!

[JimN]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(turbonick @ May 2 2007, 07:59 PM) [snapback]434384[/snapback]</div>

I've had my Prius for a little over a month now. Last week we took it from Las Vegas to L.A. for 3 days and back. We were 4 adults and 1 child in a car seat. Granted I was the only guy in the group so everyone was a little smaller than average, everyone was very comfortable with the entire drive. There was plenty of cargo space for all our bags and a stroller, and everyone had plenty of space even with the large car seat. Plenty of cup holders, and storage spots for food and napkins ect. I don't think we would have been much more comfortable in our BMW X5. It wasn't close to the level of our Benz S430, but it was far above what I was expecting. Some people complain that it's too sensitive to cross wind. If you compare it to a 5000 pound German sedan that can run 160MPH+ and costs 4 times as much than yes it it sensitive. But I never had any scary moments and the wind was pretty strong both going and coming back. Over all I have to say that I am 100% satisfied with the car. I was a bit surprised that I "only" averaged 48 MPG. In the 3500 miles I've owned the car I've averaged 55 MPG so I assumed I'd be in that range. If we would have taken the X5 I would have been in the 18MPG range so I must be just spoiled!
[/b]

Turbonick, 48mpg on a long trip with a loaded car (and probably higher constant speed) is good. I got 45mpg with 2 people and the back loaded on a trip to Indiana. Pump up your tires to 42/40 for a bit more mpg. I'm running at 45psi now and am happier with the mpg and don't notice a difference in the ride or handling.

[landstander]

I did a round-trip of slightly under 3000 miles (Kansas City to Las Vegas, straight through) about 2 weeks ago in my 2005 Prius, which I think went rather well. I was a bit concerned with how well it would handle in the mountains, once the battery got somewhat depleted, but as it turned out this wasn't really an issue. The acceleration got a bit sluggish at that point, but was still more than adequate... no trouble whatsoever keeping with the flow of traffic. On the downhill side, I finally had the chance to use B mode (which also worked quite nicely).

I've never had a BMW, so I'll take your word on the comparitive comfort, but I can say that (in my subjective opinion) the Prius is at least as comfy as any of the other cars I've ever owned... 2002 Saturn SC1, 1999 Saturn SL2, 1990 Ford Escort, 1979 Toyota Corolla.