Long trip report

bulek · 07-27-2007, 05:30 PM

Hello All,

I thought it might be interesting to some of you to know my driving impression during my long trip this summer. It's just a few loosely connected things I noticed. So I had this idea of spending my family vacation in Spain. Of course (what may be quite strange for some of you) I had to drive from Poland to Spain about 3700 miles both ways :-). Just a remark... it is not a "hypermiler" type of report.

- Driving distance was as I mentioned a little more than 3700 miles. 90% of it on highways.

- Car load was quite simple: 2 adults + 2 children of total weight 440 lbs. Our baggage perfectly fitted car trunk up to plastic cover. I actually planned to mount our roof rack but I succeeded with convincing my wife to take a bit less stuff - that was a very good idea.

- I usually prefer moderate driving style. It is not always P&G so I have 45 MPG in average. This time I decided to test CC because of lot's of highway driving. I think I was using it for 80% of whole distance. My total mileage was 40 MPG (read below what could impact this).

- In Poland we almost do not have highways, average speed on distance of 440 miles was 60 MPH. In Germany there is no speed limit on highways, I had CC set to 85-95 MPH for 1260 miles. In France I set CC according to speed limit - 80 MPH for 1000 miles. In Spain similar way - CC set to 75 MPH for 760 miles.

- The highways were far from straight and flat roads. Very often it was driving up and down for hours. What I can say about CC when climbing up with 90 MPH speed is that the sound that Prius makes is like a mower on steroids

.

- I had all possible weather conditions with exception of snow of course. I had Auto A/C set to ON for all the time.

- Even driving whole day with temp of 90F Prius was never overheated. A/C was working just fine - not too hot, not too cold.

- When driving in high mountains suddenly very dark clouds came and it started raining so much that I couldn't see more than 50-70 feet in front of the car. It took 2 hours to go out of the cloud with average speed of 30 MPH (because of possible aquaplaning). I saw 4 crashed cars during this event but our Prius was very reliable. No single water drop went inside a car.

- In Spain I had nice whole day trip in high mountains with very narrow and steep roads. Again the car was "unstoppable"

. During the trip for the first time I could see all the green bars of the battery charge. "B" mode was helpful when driving down.

- It happened a few times that I spent time waiting for my wife (doing shopping of course) in my car. I noticed if I start with green bars the car can stay on battery with A/C for at least 30 min. That was very good experience.

- The car is doing very well in moderate traffic jams. Fresh cold air, silence, smooth moves... all the best

.

- When driving on highways over 80 MPH with strong crosswinds I noticed the car was had some problems to stay on track. I had however similar trip to Italy two years ago in Corolla and for sure Prius was much more stable on the road.

- I had very strange "adventure" when driving back on one of French gas stations. I parked the car and tried to close it as usual by pressing knob button - it did not work (I use SKS). I tried several times (also my wife did) without success so I pressed "lock" button on my pilot - that worked and I ignored initial problem and went to eat something with my family. When I got back I could not open the door by pulling them as usual. Things got more serious when my pilot was not able to unlock the doors. After five min of trying I was almost ready to use the key but I was not sure how my alarm with react on this. Fortunately my wife unexpectedly was able to unlock the car with her pilot. Uff... I tried to start the car but no success. So I disabled SKS and but my pilot to proper slot - that worked and we continued our trip. At that time I was not sure if there is something broken in my car or not and I did not want to check it so far away from home. From that time I was using only a metal key to lock the car (do you know that there is a special sequence of actions to fully lock the car with just a key?). Now at home it turned out that everything works fine so I think there was some kind of strong EM interference on this gas station.

- I saw 2 Priuses in Germany, 2 in France and 1 in Spain. I waved to the one in Spain but he ignored that... probably language problems

.

I skipped the best part which was 10 days in Spain in rented house, pool, sea, family, free time and all the other stuff but it's not relevant to the topic. I am very glad to have this car. Since it was quite new I was not sure about its reliability but now I know it is doing excellent in many different driving conditions.

Cheers,
- Piotr

Rae Vynn · 07-27-2007, 05:35 PM

Thank you! What an excellent report!
Now, seriously, did you do this entire trip without photos?
Come on! Where are your photos???

noelty · 07-27-2007, 05:36 PM

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(bulek @ Jul 27 2007, 02:30 PM) [snapback]486352[/snapback]</div>

Quote:

Hello All,

I thought it might be interesting to some of you to know my driving impression during my long trip this summer. It's just a few loosely connected things I noticed. So I had this idea of spending my family vacation in Spain. Of course (what may be quite strange for some of you) I had to drive from Poland to Spain about 3700 miles both ways :-). Just a remark... it is not a "hypermiler" type of report.

- Driving distance was as I mentioned a little more than 3700 miles. 90% of it on highways.

- Car load was quite simple: 2 adults + 2 children of total weight 440 lbs. Our baggage perfectly fitted car trunk up to plastic cover. I actually planned to mount our roof rack but I succeeded with convincing my wife to take a bit less stuff - that was a very good idea.

- I usually prefer moderate driving style. It is not always P&G so I have 45 MPG in average. This time I decided to test CC because of lot's of highway driving. I think I was using it for 80% of whole distance. My total mileage was 40 MPG (read below what could impact this).

- In Poland we almost do not have highways, average speed on distance of 440 miles was 60 MPH. In Germany there is no speed limit on highways, I had CC set to 85-95 MPH for 1260 miles. In France I set CC according to speed limit - 80 MPH for 1000 miles. In Spain similar way - CC set to 75 MPH for 760 miles.

- The highways were far from straight and flat roads. Very often it was driving up and down for hours. What I can say about CC when climbing up with 90 MPH speed is that the sound that Prius makes is like a mower on steroids

.

- I had all possible weather conditions with exception of snow of course. I had Auto A/C set to ON for all the time.

- Even driving whole day with temp of 90F Prius was never overheated. A/C was working just fine - not too hot, not too cold.

- When driving in high mountains suddenly very dark clouds came and it started raining so much that I couldn't see more than 50-70 feet in front of the car. It took 2 hours to go out of the cloud with average speed of 30 MPH (because of possible aquaplaning). I saw 4 crashed cars during this event but our Prius was very reliable. No single water drop went inside a car.

- In Spain I had nice whole day trip in high mountains with very narrow and steep roads. Again the car was "unstoppable"

. During the trip for the first time I could see all the green bars of the battery charge. "B" mode was helpful when driving down.

- It happened a few times that I spent time waiting for my wife (doing shopping of course) in my car. I noticed if I start with green bars the car can stay on battery with A/C for at least 30 min. That was very good experience.

- The car is doing very well in moderate traffic jams. Fresh cold air, silence, smooth moves... all the best

.

- When driving on highways over 80 MPH with strong crosswinds I noticed the car was had some problems to stay on track. I had however similar trip to Italy two years ago in Corolla and for sure Prius was much more stable on the road.

- I had very strange "adventure" when driving back on one of French gas stations. I parked the car and tried to close it as usual by pressing knob button - it did not work (I use SKS). I tried several times (also my wife did) without success so I pressed "lock" button on my pilot - that worked and I ignored initial problem and went to eat something with my family. When I got back I could not open the door by pulling them as usual. Things got more serious when my pilot was not able to unlock the doors. After five min of trying I was almost ready to use the key but I was not sure how my alarm with react on this. Fortunately my wife unexpectedly was able to unlock the car with her pilot. Uff... I tried to start the car but no success. So I disabled SKS and but my pilot to proper slot - that worked and we continued our trip. At that time I was not sure if there is something broken in my car or not and I did not want to check it so far away from home. From that time I was using only a metal key to lock the car (do you know that there is a special sequence of actions to fully lock the car with just a key?). Now at home it turned out that everything works fine so I think there was some kind of strong EM interference on this gas station.

- I saw 2 Priuses in Germany, 2 in France and 1 in Spain. I waved to the one in Spain but he ignored that... probably language problems

.
I skipped the best part which was 10 days in Spain in rented house, pool, sea, family, free time and all the other stuff but it's not relevant to the topic. I am very glad to have this car. Since it was quite new I was not sure about its reliability but now I know it is doing excellent in man different driving conditions.

Cheers,
- Piotr
[/b]

So...where are the photos from your trip?

PriusTouring07 · 07-27-2007, 06:21 PM

Great to hear a confirmation on the reliability of the Prius on long trips, as I got my Prius mainly for long trips.

And you need not worry about overheating issues with this car. I test drove it through the hottest place on Earth, Death Valley. On my way back from the bottom of the valley I ran into some VERY steep hills at 120 some degrees F (about 50C) outside temp, A/C at full blast and no issues at all. During that trip I still managed to do about 50 mpg without doing anything really special or obsessing over mpg and I was also with a passenger and luggage.

Good stuff!

desertbriez · 07-27-2007, 09:59 PM

OMG! yes PLEASE! pics! Pics! PICS!

bulek · 07-28-2007, 05:44 AM

Quote:

Come on! Where are your photos???
[...]
So...where are the photos from your trip?
[...]
yes PLEASE! pics! Pics! PICS!
[/b]

Hey... pics are OT... it was just car related info from travel across the Europe. I'm glad you liked it, people around just say 'why didn't you fly there?'

.

Ok... for those expecting some graphical addition to the report click on the picture:
[attachmentid=10212]

Not too many pics of the car itself... just a few of mine and there is one Prius I spotted in France. Majority is just a nature and my family (including myself sleeping during siesta time).

- Piotr

okiebutnotfrommuskogee · 07-28-2007, 12:13 PM

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(bulek @ Jul 28 2007, 04:44 AM) [snapback]486618[/snapback]</div>

Quote:

Hey... pics are OT... it was just car related info from travel across the Europe. I'm glad you liked it, people around just say 'why didn't you fly there?'

.

Ok... for those expecting some graphical addition to the report click on the picture:
[attachmentid=10212]

Not too many pics of the car itself... just a fw of mine and there is one Prius I spotted in France. Majority is just a nature and my family (including myself sleeping during siesta time).

- Piotr
[/b]

Really nice pictures and it looks like you had a wonderful vacation with your family. Thank you for sharing them with us.

morpheusx · 07-28-2007, 09:58 PM

I also once ran into a key fob issue, but for me it turned out that the wifes purse was in the trunk with the second key. As she didnt want to take it into cedar point, luckily the kid had ate some poptarts and i slid her keys into the foil wrapper and believe it or not it allowed me to lock them inside this way.

Oh I also wanted to add that your english is excellent.

07-27-2007, 05:30 PM	#1
bulek Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 44 My Car: Package: Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTM Awards: 0 Friends: 0	Hello All, I thought it might be interesting to some of you to know my driving impression during my long trip this summer. It's just a few loosely connected things I noticed. So I had this idea of spending my family vacation in Spain. Of course (what may be quite strange for some of you) I had to drive from Poland to Spain about 3700 miles both ways :-). Just a remark... it is not a "hypermiler" type of report. - Driving distance was as I mentioned a little more than 3700 miles. 90% of it on highways. - Car load was quite simple: 2 adults + 2 children of total weight 440 lbs. Our baggage perfectly fitted car trunk up to plastic cover. I actually planned to mount our roof rack but I succeeded with convincing my wife to take a bit less stuff - that was a very good idea. - I usually prefer moderate driving style. It is not always P&G so I have 45 MPG in average. This time I decided to test CC because of lot's of highway driving. I think I was using it for 80% of whole distance. My total mileage was 40 MPG (read below what could impact this). - In Poland we almost do not have highways, average speed on distance of 440 miles was 60 MPH. In Germany there is no speed limit on highways, I had CC set to 85-95 MPH for 1260 miles. In France I set CC according to speed limit - 80 MPH for 1000 miles. In Spain similar way - CC set to 75 MPH for 760 miles. - The highways were far from straight and flat roads. Very often it was driving up and down for hours. What I can say about CC when climbing up with 90 MPH speed is that the sound that Prius makes is like a mower on steroids . - I had all possible weather conditions with exception of snow of course. I had Auto A/C set to ON for all the time. - Even driving whole day with temp of 90F Prius was never overheated. A/C was working just fine - not too hot, not too cold. - When driving in high mountains suddenly very dark clouds came and it started raining so much that I couldn't see more than 50-70 feet in front of the car. It took 2 hours to go out of the cloud with average speed of 30 MPH (because of possible aquaplaning). I saw 4 crashed cars during this event but our Prius was very reliable. No single water drop went inside a car. - In Spain I had nice whole day trip in high mountains with very narrow and steep roads. Again the car was "unstoppable" . During the trip for the first time I could see all the green bars of the battery charge. "B" mode was helpful when driving down. - It happened a few times that I spent time waiting for my wife (doing shopping of course) in my car. I noticed if I start with green bars the car can stay on battery with A/C for at least 30 min. That was very good experience. - The car is doing very well in moderate traffic jams. Fresh cold air, silence, smooth moves... all the best . - When driving on highways over 80 MPH with strong crosswinds I noticed the car was had some problems to stay on track. I had however similar trip to Italy two years ago in Corolla and for sure Prius was much more stable on the road. - I had very strange "adventure" when driving back on one of French gas stations. I parked the car and tried to close it as usual by pressing knob button - it did not work (I use SKS). I tried several times (also my wife did) without success so I pressed "lock" button on my pilot - that worked and I ignored initial problem and went to eat something with my family. When I got back I could not open the door by pulling them as usual. Things got more serious when my pilot was not able to unlock the doors. After five min of trying I was almost ready to use the key but I was not sure how my alarm with react on this. Fortunately my wife unexpectedly was able to unlock the car with her pilot. Uff... I tried to start the car but no success. So I disabled SKS and but my pilot to proper slot - that worked and we continued our trip. At that time I was not sure if there is something broken in my car or not and I did not want to check it so far away from home. From that time I was using only a metal key to lock the car (do you know that there is a special sequence of actions to fully lock the car with just a key?). Now at home it turned out that everything works fine so I think there was some kind of strong EM interference on this gas station. - I saw 2 Priuses in Germany, 2 in France and 1 in Spain. I waved to the one in Spain but he ignored that... probably language problems . I skipped the best part which was 10 days in Spain in rented house, pool, sea, family, free time and all the other stuff but it's not relevant to the topic. I am very glad to have this car. Since it was quite new I was not sure about its reliability but now I know it is doing excellent in many different driving conditions. Cheers, - Piotr __________________ Magnetic Gray, 2007 package SOL (similar to T3).

07-27-2007, 06:21 PM	#4
PriusTouring07 Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 177 My Car: Package: Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTM Awards: 0 Friends: 0	Great to hear a confirmation on the reliability of the Prius on long trips, as I got my Prius mainly for long trips. And you need not worry about overheating issues with this car. I test drove it through the hottest place on Earth, Death Valley. On my way back from the bottom of the valley I ran into some VERY steep hills at 120 some degrees F (about 50C) outside temp, A/C at full blast and no issues at all. During that trip I still managed to do about 50 mpg without doing anything really special or obsessing over mpg and I was also with a passenger and luggage. Good stuff! __________________ Jealousy is a disease. Get well soon!

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07-27-2007, 05:35 PM	#2
Rae Vynn Resident Witch Join Date: May 2007 Location: Grays Harbor, WA, USA Posts: 2,832 My Car: 2007 Prius Package: Base Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTM Awards: 0 Friends: 52	Thank you! What an excellent report! Now, seriously, did you do this entire trip without photos? Come on! Where are your photos???

07-27-2007, 09:59 PM	#5
desertbriez Senior Member Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 369 My Car: Package: Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTM Awards: 0 Friends: 0	OMG! yes PLEASE! pics! Pics! PICS!

07-28-2007, 09:58 PM	#8
morpheusx Professor Chaos Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Akron, OH Posts: 1,227 My Car: 2007 Prius Package: #2 Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTM Awards: 0 Friends: 3	I also once ran into a key fob issue, but for me it turned out that the wifes purse was in the trunk with the second key. As she didnt want to take it into cedar point, luckily the kid had ate some poptarts and i slid her keys into the foil wrapper and believe it or not it allowed me to lock them inside this way. Oh I also wanted to add that your english is excellent.