Tell us about your Road Trips here

Hmm, I've done a few but I don't keep records of mileage, it is what it is, and it is always excellent. I find slowing down on a long trip false economy. An extra day on the road may result in an extra nights accommodation which would cost more than an extra tank of fuel, plus an extra night eating expensive meals.

TRIP 1
Adelaide to Townsville. Driver only.
About 6,000 kilometres travelled.
Fuel consumption averaged about 4.9 L/100km
Travel time 1 way was 36 hours including stops. Slept in the car. (I was on a mission and running late. I was going to ride my motorbike but it broke down on the way, 2 days earlier.)

Where did the Prius shine? On the sealed roads or highways. Overtaking was a breeze, cruise control set to 116km/h for most of the trip except during darkness when I was driving 80 to 90km/h because kangaroos are a real and ever present hazard at night across this country. In fact I did contact a kangaroo, fortunately going slow enough to swerve safely into the other lane and only the roos front claw contacted the left rear door handle taking a chip of paint less than 0.5mm diameter.
Slept in my swag in the back of the car on the first night for a few hours between 1AM and 5.30AM not because I was tired but because I didn't want to waste daylight trying to sleep, because I would have been tired by daylight.
The road north between Barcaldine and Torrens Creek was not Prius friendly.
The road started out as a full 2 lanes (one each way) but soon the centre line disappeared, then the bitumen got narrower until it was only wide enough for one vehicle, requiring each vehicle to move onto the shoulder of the road when passing. Thankfully I only met one vehicle, a triple road train, going the other way. Then the bitumen vanished, and the unsealed road became worse the further North I went. Over a 10km section I was on bush tracks, detoured from the road due to roadworks. I broke a fog-light and lost a plastic under-tray part on this section.

While in Townsville I camped in the show-grounds as I was attending a Ulysses Motorcycle Club rally. On my return journey I stayed in motels. I travelled home via Brisbane and sealed roads. It was a wet drive home which made me thankful I hadn't ridden the bike up. I saw many soaked riders on the roads and in roadside stops.

The Prius used less fuel than the bike would have,my 650cc bike averages 5.5L/100km

I recommend using the Prius for this type of trip but avoid unsealed roads which are not well maintained. Prius is well behaved on dry dirt roads and no dust entered the cabin.

TRIP 2
Adelaide to Alice Springs and beyond.
3 people and luggage.
Staying in Motels the whole journey meant no need to take camping gear but we did take food for on the road and cold drinks.
Overall distance, about 5,000km.
Fuel consumption was about 5.0L/100km with cruise control set on most of the journey at 117km/h but in Northern Territory it was set to 135km/h because the speed limit is higher there. Highest speed was on the speed limiter for about 10 minutes. (Sshhhh don't tell anyone.)
One section of road was very rough coming from Kings Canyon back to the main highway. Using a very badly maintained road cut 200km off the journey. It was 90km of rough dirt which I mostly covered at about 50km/h. No harm done.

I got 1 flat tyre at the centre of Australia near Central Mt Stuart. This was caused by a broken valve stem which was fitted when I had tyre pressure sensors fitted to the tyres. I fitted the spare and returned to Alice Springs and had all the valve stems changed back to normal ones. I have reason to believe the tyre fitter that installed the TPS system cocked it up, damaging a valve stem.

The remainder of the trip was uneventful.
Again I commend the Prius to anyone contemplating such a journey.

TRIP 3
I made another journey, I would rather not detail too much on line
The value of the auto AC was shown on this journey. Outside temperatures rose to 48 degrees and beyond, I only realised this when I noticed the noise of the AC fan was quite loud and when I got out of the car to refuel in the middle of the day, it was damn hot. The temperature on the road was around 52 to 54 degrees. The Prius was faultless in its performance, easily maintaining 118km/h on cruise control hour after hour. Fuel consumption was about 5.0L/100km.

Around town, where I do 90% of my driving in my Prius, I average 4.3L/100km.

 

This one will disappoint you.

Took the Prius to the grocery store the other day. Drove great and no back-ache problems in the 5 mile round trip. Didn't check the mileage, I'm sure it was great. Plenty of room for the groceries in the back.

 

Summer of '07. Coast to coast, national parks, etc. 7,500 miles. 5 weeks. One 28 hour non-stop. 2 adults + 2 teens. All the camping gear. Roof rack. 60 mph. 50 mpg. Flawless.

PA P

 

389 miles each way, Sacramento to Disneyland and back for a long weekend. Wife and two toddlers in the car. I will account more of the story later once this trip actually occurs...if anyone is still living and I'm not incarcerated for leaving my family by the roadside. Leaving Friday, wish me luck! 8(=-)

 

No fear! As someone told me prior to our trip-- by the time you get to Yellowstone you will want to feed your daughters to the bears. Didn't happen. Best family trip yet.

PA P

 

Why is it always the right rear?? The two flats I've had with
the Prius have been the right rear. The flat I had with the
Subaru was the right rear. My theory is that the front tire
runs over some crap, kicks it up and it's pointing vertically
upward by the time the rear tire rides over it. Or in most of
my cases it might have been backing over something while
turning around or the like.
.
_H*

 

Bought our "new" (2006) in February of 2009 in Portland, Or. The next morning we headed home to Boise,Id at about 7 AM, finding black ice within a few hundred yards. We pressed on as both I and my wife had to be to work the next day. I took the new ride with my poor wife following in our Sebring.

Down through the columbia gorge we went. Still black ice with heavy gusting winds. Car after car in the ditch, in the median, upside down on the road and even trying to climb the rock cliff (sitting nearly vertical on its front bumper, trunk pointed straight up the cliff). At one point I watched in the mirror as wifey fishtailed violently trying to change lanes to let the police, flashing light and all, go by.

Finally pulled into Pendleton and Yay! Clear roads! For about 5 miles. Back to packed snow and ice up cabbage hill into LaGrande. Clear roads again........for maybe 3 miles. Back to packed snow and ice over Ladd Canyon clear through to Ontario.

If finally let up a little at Ontario, Or., becoming mostly loose snow (maybe 1-4 inches) into Boise, Id. and home. A total of something over 400 miles of some of the slickest roads it has ever been my misfortune to drive on, and with a car that I had not driven a single mile in. We spent about 12 hours making what should have been a 6 hour trip. I doubt we drove over 10 miles at anything more than perhaps 45 MPH. A most interesting experience indeed.

On the plus side the prius performed very well, indeed. At no time did I feel out of control (except watching my wife drive sideways just in front of a patrol car!). Although I was concerned about making it all the way as we slowly worked our way up the corners of cabbage hill in packed snow, ice and fog heavy enough that visibility was not over 50' we made it with no slippage at all. On integrities. I was, and remain, impressed. Although it was certainly of secondary concern, I did watch the fuel usage, ending up at about 48 for our trip home.

 

In July 09, I drove a U-Haul from Bellingham WA to Greenwood MS, then a 2001 Subaaru Forester from Greenwood MS to Bellingham WA then a 1989 Toyota Corolla AllTrac from Bellingham WA to Elko NV. On the third of August I drove my 2009 Toyota Prius from Greenwood MS to Brunswick GA and back to Greenwood MS. The U-Haul was loud (you could not hear your cell phone ring) and got poor gas mileage. The Subaru was much quieter, got better mileage and rode better. The Corolla had no A/C and I missed it. The Prius got great gas mileage and was a joy to drive, but it is clear I am not very picky.

 

Where are the pics?

 

Drove from Raleigh, NC, to Michigan, MI, a few days before Christmas -- but being wimpy spent the night in Canton, OH. Driver, passenger, on dog, and car stuffed to capacity with luggage, food, drink and gifts. Weather fair for the whole trip, temperature mostly mid-thirties, average mpg 48, highway cruising 80. Left at 8:30 am, arrived Canton 4:40, after numerous stops (passenger and dog pee needs).
Left East Lansing around noon on December 28 in light snow which turned heavy by the time we reached Ohio turnpike. Car h andled well on slippery road but speed slower, temperature around 19 F. Stopped for the night in Canton mainly because vision was so restricted by snow. Completed journey next day in dry weather but cold. Average mpg this time only 44.
Car handles confidently in poor weather.

 

Girlfriend and I drove from N. Seattle to Seaside, Oregon last Christmas. With side trips along the Oregon coast and local cities, the total distance recorded on Trip B was 620 miles.

The temperature ranged from a low of 32 degrees at night to a high of 50 degrees during the day. My overall calculated trip fuel comsumption was 49 mpg, not bad for a combination of interstate driving at 65-70 mph, some two-lane hilly highways at 40-55 mph and city driving.

I was expecting a 44 mpg overall mileage due to the low temperatures but was pleasantly surprised at the results. I believe the grill blocking and also once the car reaches and maintains a normal steady-state operating temperature for a long period, the resultant mileage approaches that of spring time. We did not experience rain or snow during our trip.

I had no idea that the GIII would be a joy to drive on a long trip. Originally, I purchased the Prius as a commuter and a GMC Yukon as my trip vehicle. Now I'm thinking the Prius can handle these long trips (just the two of us) easily with the benefit of great fuel mileage and the Yukon can be sold.

I believe since the weight of the Prius is close to 3000 pounds that the ride and handling feels more like that of a larger car (Camry) than of a smaller car (Corolla). I can't wait until our next road trip, Reno maybe?

 

We took a drive To Edmonds Wa and rode the ferry to Port Townsend. Then we drove around looking at various state campgrounds. The weather was cool but mostly dry. During the return trip we drove around instead of taking the ferry back and avg 50mpg. During the first part of our trip a dog ran out in front of us while my wife was driving. She hit the brakes hard enough for the acitve brake system to take over and suck the brake down. These things stop fast!! She was able to easily steer around the dog and maintain perfect control. I'm sure that if we had been driving our old car, the pooch would have been a gonner!

 

Just arrived in PHX from Central Louisiana. 1387 miles at 70-85 MPH on I-20 and I-10. We just drove as we normally did in the old Corolla. Average for the trip is 43 MPG. Our new pkg 2 odometer had 300 local miles when we left.
Hopefully it will be better on the return trip.

 

We made it back from the mouse visit!

Not a whole lot of valuable info here, just a tale of a family trip to Disneyland...in the Prius.

We travelled 900 miles total from home in Northern California to Disneyland, and back. We left Friday before sunrise, putting the kids in the car still in their jammies. We had excellent weather and I-5 wasn't too bad traffic wise... until we made it to the other side of the Grapevine. Navi was telling us to take an alternate off of I-5, which actually worked out nicely. Those who have experienced L.A. traffic on a Friday afternoon know what I'm talking about. I'm an ex-native and had not missed it at all. Anyway, Navi got us around, along with the wife giving me traffic updates from her iPhone.

With a breakfast stop, a "Dad, I gotta go!" stop, and a lunch stop, we made it to the mouse in 8 hours. The average for the trip down was 46mpg, Batmobile loaded with two adults, two small kids, and all the Purel and Handy Wipes we could carry. We caravanned down with our neighbors, two adults, four kids, and all the gear they could cram in their lifted Ford Excursion deisel. Though he didn't have to fill up the whole trip, I'm not thinking his mileage was better than ours...ya think?

Friday night (my 7yr olds bday) dinner was at Rainforest Cafe in Downtown Disney. We topped that off with a visit to "Ridemakerz", a sort of "Build-a-Bear" for boys. You choose a body style, a chassis, custom wheels, RC add-ons, and numerous engine parts, pipes, decals, and assemble it all on site with power tools! [cue the Tim Taylor "grunt"] You can check them out here: www.ridemakerz.com

Saturday was spent at Disneyland, no hopping, we burned the whole day there until we had to carry the kids out asleep in our arms!

Sunday we started in Disneyland again, just for coffee and a quick ride before hopping over to California Adventure. We later that day took the wiped out kids back to the room, leaving them with the neighbors older daughter, while the four adults went back to Disneyland and did some kamikaze marathon big kids rides, the ones we had to avoid while the little ones were with us. We actually rode Indiana Jones, Thunder Mountain, Matterhorn, and Space Mountain, all in under 2 hours! Of course it did help that the rainy weather had arrived earlier during the day and many of the park visitors had bailed out early, we had no lines! We then jumped on the Monorail headed over to Downtown Disney again for some beer at ESPN Zone before calling it a night and heading back to our rooms.

Monday was homeward bound day. Before checking out, we started at IHOP for some all-you-can-eat pancakes...one less stop to make on the journey home. We made it out of Anaheim, and to the base of the Grapevine before either vehicle needed fuel. We topped off and headed over the pass. Cue the storm... It was raining very, very heavy. The wind was supposed to be at our backs, yet there was a quite difficult cross wind to deal with. We had one lunch stop in Kettleman City, and just under 30 minutes from home before I got the "Dad, I gotta go!" request. So we stopped to take care of business and picked up some Panda Express take-out for dinner to enjoy when we arrived at our door.

Made the trip again at 8 hours on the dot. The average this trip was 44.5, maybe the kids souvenirs, all the food we ate, and the fighting cross wind, all played a part in the drop. Still not bad for all highway travel I think. It was a good trip in the Prius though not as roomy as my truck, and definitely not enough stretch out room for four people in our opinion. I think we saved over $100 in fuel though, which gave us more to play with in the park. We'll just have to wait and see if the family is "game" enough to take the Prius again next year.

 

We drove from Colorado Springs to Des Moines, Iowa last summer. We took the northern loop out and a southern route back. At one point, we had a strong tailwind and got 53 mpg between fill-ups across Nebraska. Overall we got about 48 mpg while maintaining 65-75 mph the whole way. Coming back through Kansas it was 105 degrees and the A/C was blasting. Kept us nice and comfy as long as we didn't have to stop to get out to pee. Stopped at Ft. Riley, KS and felt like our shoes were going to melt walking across the parking lot.

We are driving to Arizona in March. We used to fly, but with the Prius... it is cheaper to drive. Besides, we don't have to limit our toiletries to one quart sized bag with a 3-ounce bottle of mouthwash. lol.

The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page. ~St. Augustine

 

Road Trip to Vegas

I traveled from Los Angeles to Las Vegas roundtrip putting in about 525 miles. Travel to Las Vegas averaged 45.7 MPG and from Vegas 52.4 MPG as shown on the FE display. Actual calculated mileage on first leg is about 43 MPG and still on the current tank for the return leg.

Impressions of the car:

Pros: Smooth, Quiet driving, Excellent mileage, Satellite Radio follows me around everywhere , option to listen to my own playlists, MP3s, podcasts from my Droid, Blinking fuel blip signals 2 gals left in tank.

Cons: Had to learn to use the Cruise Control correctly, Don't chase hills, passing trucks winds up the engine, Had to learn Voice Commands, Toyota should have came out with this car model 5 years ago.


Overall easy driving with very convenient features for entertainment and above average mileage.

 

We went on a 4500 mile (round trip) jaunt from San Diego to North Dakota. Our 2007 Prius performed flawlessly. Fuel consumption for the trip was 47.8mpg. Drove in all kinds of conditions, such as climbing the Rockies thru the Eisenhower Tunnel west of Denver, driving in 30-40mph crosswind thru ND, SD, NE, KS, OK, TX, collided with two pheasants near Pierre, SD. (cracked the front grill, but I repaired it with JBWeld Glue). ALMOST ran out of fuel traversing some desolate country north of Cheyenne, Wyoming, due to my own stupidity. We drove 526 miles on a single tank before we finally located a fueling station. The low fuel alarm was flashing for the last 27 miles. Best car I've ever owned--bar none.