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Start up/Warm up

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by krzysiu, May 26, 2010.

  1. krzysiu

    krzysiu Will knock you out...

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    Well I bit the bullet and bought 2010 Silver Prius V over the weekend. I finish my residency next week and will be driving quite a bit. i think the Prius will be a good fit for me. Needless to say, I've never owned a hybrid before. What is the appropriate way to "warm up" such a vehicle? What I have been doing is, upon start up, after a few seconds the conventional gasoline engine kicks in and idles. I wait for the gasoline engine to "turn off" and then I'll put it in drive and go on my way. Is this appropriate? What do you guys recommend? Thanks!
     
  2. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    congratulations! car and med school! my son is finishing his second year. what's your specialty? :focus: start the car and begin driving, the engine will take care of itself. drive moderately for a few minutes, especially in cold weather. really no different than any other car. all the best!:)
     
  3. xpcman

    xpcman Senior Member

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    No warm-up is needed. Just drive away. You might need to warm-up the inside during those cold Chicago winter days.
     
  4. Philosophe

    Philosophe 2010 Prius owner

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    You don't need to wait for the engine to stop before moving. In fact it would be inefficient to do so. Simply use a lighter foot for the first 1-2 minutes.

    If you want to learn more about the HSD, you may want to read the Gen III stages (do a search).
     
  5. qbee42

    qbee42 My other car is a boat

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    Just get in it and drive. For better mileage, try to take it easy on the gas for the first few minutes.

    The only exception to this general rule is if you live on a very fast street. If you need to drive like an Indy racer from the moment you leave your driveway, you might want to warm up a bit first. The Prius tries to avoid using much power from the gas engine until it gets warmed up.

    Tom
     
  6. krzysiu

    krzysiu Will knock you out...

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    I'll be passing gas...(anesthesia) Thanks everyone for the info!!!
     
  7. F512M

    F512M Member

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    Congrats on your new Prius.:welcome:
     
  8. hsiaolc

    hsiaolc New Member

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    You don't really need warm up the Prius during start up in a warm season area. Even in the winter season you don't need to warm up the car till the engine cuts off.

    Let the engine come on to warm up itself and just sit still for a few seconds to let the oil cover the entire engine and then drive off slowly. I tend to drive off with bar well within the half of the indication bar so the ICE won't come on (although it is on still) and drive off till the ICE shuts off when I am in the first half of the area. Once the engine is warm then I will step on the gas more.

    I step on the gas more because I adopt the fast heavy accerlation technique and then just try to cruise as much as possilbe without ICE on.