Driving in the mountains

Ronald56 · 07-19-2007, 12:27 AM

After my wife decides she will drive in the car (if that ever happens), we would be driving it upstate and to Canada to visit friends - a lot of hills etc. With two people in the car and luggage, and with the cruise control on say at 68 mph, and climbing a hill (the type that has an extra lane for the fast traffic on the left), will the car keep the 68? 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???

PriusTouring07 · 07-19-2007, 12:49 AM

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Ronald56 @ Jul 18 2007, 11:27 PM) [snapback]481401[/snapback]</div>

Quote:

After my wife decides she will drive in the car (if that ever happens), we would be driving it upstate and to Canada to visit friends - a lot of hills etc. With two people in the car and luggage, and with the cruise control on say at 68 mph, and climbing a hill (the type that has an extra lane for the fast traffic on the left), will the car keep the 68? 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]

No worries, buddy, I just did a similar trip! Going up steep Utah mountains, outside temp in the 100s, me and a passenger and luggage, A/C on to a more than comfortable level (kinda cold actually) and cruise control had no issues. No overheating issues either and I got exactly 50 mpg average on this 700 mile trip! I was driving a base 07 model.

richard schumacher · 07-19-2007, 09:52 AM

No worries. The engine will roar, but that is completely normal as it generates the required power. The computers will not let the engine over-rev.

priusincc · 07-19-2007, 11:31 AM

I had an driving experience last week with mountain driving. I had four adults in car at ~8000 ft. climbing a steep grade, down to one purple bar (or less) with A/C on, with temperature in 80's. Needless to say, the car didn't have a lot of power, and I didn't try the cruise control. The A/C seemed to do OK, car didn't overheat, but it was noticeably hot when we reached the top and stopped. I wouldn't like to drive under these conditions for long periods of time, fortunately it was an unusual situation.

The average trip mph dropped to less than 40 going up, but recovered to about 50 coming back.

ohershey · 07-19-2007, 12:07 PM

There is some pretty extensive discussion of mountain driving in the Prius in this thread. It won't climb like a V8, or even a V6, and your mileage will suffer. No surprises there. I've never yet found a mountain mine couldn't climb, though I have found some where I had to climb pretty slow.

PriusTouring07 · 07-19-2007, 03:47 PM

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Mad Hatter @ Jul 19 2007, 11:07 AM) [snapback]481609[/snapback]</div>

Quote:

There is some pretty extensive discussion of mountain driving in the Prius in this thread. It won't climb like a V8, or even a V6, and your mileage will suffer. No surprises there. I've never yet found a mountain mine couldn't climb, though I have found some where I had to climb pretty slow.
[/b]

Mileage suffers going up, but it recovers going down! You can't just go up without eventually coming down, right.. My average was 50.2 going up and then down the mountain - close to 700 miles total in two days.

richard schumacher · 07-19-2007, 07:09 PM

One other thing: if you find yourself riding the brakes while going down a long hill, shift to "B" to prevent the brakes from overheating. Remember to shift back to "D" when the danger of riding the brakes has passed.

Ronald56 · 07-20-2007, 12:39 AM

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?

lagreca · 07-20-2007, 12:52 AM

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(richard schumacher @ Jul 19 2007, 04:09 PM) [snapback]481883[/snapback]</div>

Quote:

One other thing: if you find yourself riding the brakes while going down a long hill, shift to "B" to prevent the brakes from overheating. Remember to shift back to "D" when the danger of riding the brakes has passed.
[/b]

I was under the impression that the physical brakes aren't used much on the prius. Especially when going down a long hill. I thought the brake pedal would either cause the generators to make more electricity, or use the engine to slow the car. With the physical brakes only being used under 7 mph, or in emergency stopping situations.

Is this not the case?

richard schumacher · 07-20-2007, 05:58 PM

You're right, but engine braking will be used only if you shift to "B".

Once the traction battery is fully charged there's no other place for the energy to go, and the computers shift the braking effort to the mechanical brakes. On a long downgrade there is a danger of the mechanical brakes overheating. Shifting to "B" enables engine braking, which reduces the load on the mechanical brakes.

As to how steep a hill one can climb with the CC set to 70 MPH: try it and see. It cannot hurt anything except fuel economy.

07-19-2007, 11:31 AM	#4
priusincc Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Northern Nevada Posts: 189 My Car: 2007 Prius Package: #2 Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTM Awards: 0 Friends: 0	I had an driving experience last week with mountain driving. I had four adults in car at ~8000 ft. climbing a steep grade, down to one purple bar (or less) with A/C on, with temperature in 80's. Needless to say, the car didn't have a lot of power, and I didn't try the cruise control. The A/C seemed to do OK, car didn't overheat, but it was noticeably hot when we reached the top and stopped. I wouldn't like to drive under these conditions for long periods of time, fortunately it was an unusual situation. The average trip mph dropped to less than 40 going up, but recovered to about 50 coming back. __________________ Driftwood Pearl / DOD: 3/31/07. MODS: SafeFit Seat Kick Mats / BT Stiffening Plate / Tire Pressure: 40 F-38 B / Stealth Warning Chime (SWC) / Toyota Mudguards / Window Tint / LED Side-Turn Lights / Shark Fin Antenna / ScanGauge II / Blocked upper grill (Fall/Winter)

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07-19-2007, 12:27 AM	#1
Ronald56 Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Stony Brook, New York Posts: 49 My Car: 2007 Prius Package: #6 Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTM Awards: 0 Friends: 0	After my wife decides she will drive in the car (if that ever happens), we would be driving it upstate and to Canada to visit friends - a lot of hills etc. With two people in the car and luggage, and with the cruise control on say at 68 mph, and climbing a hill (the type that has an extra lane for the fast traffic on the left), will the car keep the 68? 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???

07-19-2007, 09:52 AM	#3
richard schumacher nacreous lacquer Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: United States Posts: 4,131 My Car: 2004 Prius Package: #6 Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTM Awards: 0 Friends: 0	No worries. The engine will roar, but that is completely normal as it generates the required power. The computers will not let the engine over-rev.

07-19-2007, 12:07 PM	#5
ohershey Because, if I wear it anywhere else, it chafes. Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 633 My Car: Package: Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTM Awards: 0 Friends: 0	There is some pretty extensive discussion of mountain driving in the Prius in this thread. It won't climb like a V8, or even a V6, and your mileage will suffer. No surprises there. I've never yet found a mountain mine couldn't climb, though I have found some where I had to climb pretty slow.

07-19-2007, 07:09 PM	#7
richard schumacher nacreous lacquer Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: United States Posts: 4,131 My Car: 2004 Prius Package: #6 Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTM Awards: 0 Friends: 0	One other thing: if you find yourself riding the brakes while going down a long hill, shift to "B" to prevent the brakes from overheating. Remember to shift back to "D" when the danger of riding the brakes has passed.

07-20-2007, 12:39 AM	#8
Ronald56 Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Stony Brook, New York Posts: 49 My Car: 2007 Prius Package: #6 Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTM Awards: 0 Friends: 0	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?

07-20-2007, 05:58 PM	#10
richard schumacher nacreous lacquer Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: United States Posts: 4,131 My Car: 2004 Prius Package: #6 Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTM Awards: 0 Friends: 0	You're right, but engine braking will be used only if you shift to "B". Once the traction battery is fully charged there's no other place for the energy to go, and the computers shift the braking effort to the mechanical brakes. On a long downgrade there is a danger of the mechanical brakes overheating. Shifting to "B" enables engine braking, which reduces the load on the mechanical brakes. As to how steep a hill one can climb with the CC set to 70 MPH: try it and see. It cannot hurt anything except fuel economy.