Boy this car likes the warmth I Blocked front grille to experiment

Thanks. That cover has been in my way all summer. I was tickled to find something to use it for.

The cover itself was not aerodynamically efficient enough to provide better mpgs. It's been cold and any improvement was impossible to tell. 10* mornings, heater blasting, cold oil, cold grease, cold tires, seat heater, and defrosters all add variables and any improvement was within background noise. When it warms up into the 20's it may be different.

Placing the pipe insulation in the top vent was very discernable in the temperature rise. I put it all the way across. The inverter coolant temp in the summer is usually about 6* above ambient. This morning it was 40+ above ambient with all the grills blocked. I don't see that as a huge problem, but it makes me uncomfortable none the less.

Water temp remained much higher than it would without blocking. On the way to work with no blocks it struggles to stay above 139*. With both blocks it was easier to stay 150*+. Highway temps (60mph) were easily staying at 184-193*. Temps went up on hills.

I stopped and took one section of the pipe insulation out. All temps dropped some, with the inverter coolant dropping from 53* to 42* at 55mph. Water temp remained good. The one small hole didn't drop it too very much.

Will continue with the lower blocke and the 3/4 top block during the next few days to see how it keeps.

MPGs struggled mightily at 10*F. Best I could manage was low 40's...42-44. Pre-block, though, it struggled to get into the 40's. I'm mostly after a better heater, myself. Heat is good. I've got a job, I can afford another lump or two of coal for the fire.

 

With all the temps rising with grill blocked is there a limit to set off the warnings from the car? I don't have a scangauge or ultragauge so I'm afraid of the damages to the engine if the temps are too high.

 

You really should get a Scangauge or other suitable device before blocking the grill. Everyone's driving conditions and weather conditions are different.

 

Well, not very good results so far the way I set mine up. It's possible I didn't block enough- I noticed some kind of an air intake on the far (car's) right side of the top grill that was completely open. That may or may not have meant what I was doing meant next to nothing as far as keeping the heat in. I went ahead and blocked all the way across the top grill. The bottom is still only 60% blocked. It doesn't get THAT cold here (it's been roughly in the 40's and lower 50's recently), so this makes me a little nervous, but I have a ScanGauge and I'm going to keep an eye on the engine and inverter coolant temperatures. We'll see how it goes.

 

Alright, so that additional blocking definitely made a difference. My mpg is back around normal, it seems. I wonder if making sure that intake is getting warmer air from the engine compartment is the key?

 

Simply keeping the cold air out is likely the biggest help. A warm C is a happy C, it seems.

 

Since no one's mentioned, you may also be able to hold the heat in by blocking the engine bay exits. Here what I did with a regular Prius. The C might be similar:

 

So I blocked the grill of our C late last week before we did some traveling for the holidays and now we get right about 50MPG on the freeway. Before the gill blocking, we couldn't get any better than about 46MPG during any type of driving let alone on the freeway.

I only blocked about 2/3rds of the bottom grill and none of the top grill.

 

Woa, my C does not like 20 degree driving. Could not get it to run much over 40 mpg on 26 mile trip this morning.
AND, that was at 60 mph with a blocked grille.
Dan

 

How about around town driving? Though 60 mph is an optimal driving speed on the highway, I am curious to see how it holds up in town driving (less than 45 mph) at those temps. If you are reading this Canadians, I am looking at you .

 

I know there is another thread for this, just would like to see more comments in either that one or this one regarding winter fuel economy. Thanks all for your posts!

 

Winter fuel economy sucks. Period.

 

Wish someone made a nice aesthetically pleasing grill block for the C. Was looking at the foam at Lowes and it was grey rather then black and doesn't look good when pushed it in.

 

I noticed 12 feet at Walmart for 3 bucks today.
Dan

 

PlastiDip over it?

 

Interesting never heard of it till now and I can use that to repair some stuff hehe. Would I coat the foam with this or fill in the grill???

 

Think of PlastiDip as a thick rubbery paint and you won't be far off. Very useful but not for filling holes much beyond pinholes size.

 

I was thinking about filling the open slots with the usual foam insulation then PlastiDipping over the recessed part of the grille so it's all one color. I'm not sure how it would look honestly. It was just an idea because many Prius c owners already use PlastDip on their front bumper to give the blacked out larger grille look.

 

Any one in Orlando can help Franklin make a nice grill block? I emailed him and he needs a test car to make one for us. Boy was it cold last night 34f! That is super cold for us and rare. I barley got 50mpg shown on a 22m hilly route. I have seen 70mpg when im in good weather.


Yes we plan on getting a prius C into the design shop soon. We will have to find a car to use but it should not be long I hope before we have a grill block for the C. We are based in Orlando and I hope to find a car locally to use to prototype parts from

Thanks Franklin

Company: Hybrid Effects
Country: United States
Location: Madison Heights VA
Phone: 1 434 384 3113
Site Description: Design, prototype and Sell Hybrid car Accessories
Website: www.HybridEffects.com
Email: [email protected]

 

Please make it easy on / easy off. And, if possible in 2 or 4 sections for partials. Thanks