Back from 6,400 mile drive

Got home last night from our annual long drive visiting family. The drive covered a little over 6,400 miles and 16 states from coast to coast. We were gone about 3 1/2 weeks. The car performed like a champ.

Car prep: 120k service done a few thousand miles early, including new serpentine belt and 12v battery. I also used the Prolong Deluxe battery conditioning system on the hybrid battery since it was showing some signs of age. Tire pressure was set to 40 psi front, 38 psi rear Griot's bug protectant applied to the front of the car after a serious washing and waxing.

Conditions: Almost all of the driving was between 65 and 80 mph and the air conditioning was on 100% of the time. Temperatures were always between 90 and 104*F as we traveled only during daylight hours.The car was loaded with my wife, one daughter (she's 5'10"), myself, four suitcases plus cosmetic bag and CPAP unit, two ice chests (one medical, one food and drink) and other items for delivery to family that were replaced by souvenirs and stuff as we went along. We were also carrying four seat cushions.

Observations and end results: The air conditioning performed flawlessly, even in high humidity while climbing.

Entertainment was provided by a tablet with a 64 gb microSD card plugged in & placed into the console. It was a great way to go, compact and thoroughly enjoyable.No need for CDs or the radio.

We didn't use the seat cushions a lot as the seats were a little more tolerable than we thought they would be. Next year we'll only take along two of them.

The car never struggled to maintain speed, even over mountain passes. We had a couple of days where the battery was down in the purple almost all day long due to gradual climbing but it recovered nicely when it had the opportunity.

The car is burning about 1/2 quart per 3,000 miles.

A big shout out to Modern Toyota in Winston-Salem, NC for the great treatment during the 5,000 mile service performed on that side of the country. Great service and very accommodating.

I wish I had the bottle of Griot's bug protectant with me. That stuff is phenomenal for keeping the bugs from sticking but it needs to be reapplied after each downpour or wash.

The car averaged 44.2 mpg for the entire trip, raising the average since we bought the car to 43.0 mpg.

We fell in love with this car all over again and can't wait to do it again next year.

 

On the MFD screen the state of charge was changing rapidly up and down and it was not holding in the upper blue area as well as it should. When first starting out in the morning the car was in the purple within a block no matter what the conditions.

Now it's holding the charge much more consistently; it's not nearly as volatile.

One big change now is heading up the Cajon Pass near our home. The car was drained to the point of showing a white screen (not even a purple bar), something we didn't see with the previous Prius. Since the Prolong treatment I've climbed that pass twice now and had two bars at the top both times.

 

Travel with a spouse who needs frequent restroom stops or stop at almost every rest stop and utilize them to get out of the car yourself. Walk around for a couple of minutes while stretching the legs and back. Also, rotate seat cushions in and out so you are constantly changing the feel, cushion and support of the seats. We mainly used some seat cushions that had really good removable lumbar support pillows. They separate so you can use the full seat cushion with lumbar support, full seat cushion without lumbar, just the cushion under your derriere, just the back cushion or just the lumbar pillow. Picked them up at a Costco outlet store for less than $20 each.

 

A very important consideration is avoiding deep vein thrombosis (DVT) from sitting in one position too long. Those blood clots are what recently killed a 35 year old mom who used to bring her child through my crosswalk. No matter which seat cushions you get make sure you are changing your position, getting out of the car, walking a little and stretching from time to time. Keep the blood circulating.