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Red bullet VVTI seloniod

Discussion in 'Prius c Accessories and Modifications' started by Max Taiwan, Apr 9, 2019.

  1. Max Taiwan

    Max Taiwan Active Member

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    I'm home! Was a good day! I could still hold my body together after 3 meals out.
    20190515_194018.jpg
     
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  2. CSuirp

    CSuirp Active Member

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    Been work'n on my mpg with this first full tank of gas since the Red Bullet was installed. At the start I was getting like 70mpg...was great. But then, over a 3 day period of driving long distances on highways in rain and wind this past weekend, my mpg hit the rocks too...went down to like 56mpg average. The car is so sensitive to weather conditions...even normal rain and wind. lol. Couple that with the fact that the car isn't designed for most efficiency via highways. I don't think it's any driving techniques I'm doing wrong or different. Oh well...i'll keep ya's posted when I get a refill and then do calculations.
     
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  3. Max Taiwan

    Max Taiwan Active Member

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    Hi CSuirp. I feel you! The car really suffers from highway, especially over 110km you are looking at those numbers you have now without reserve. The only thing to check is tire pressure. Reduce drag is all you can do at the moment. If you drop it down to 100km/h average speed you will increase the mpg by a fair bit i believe.

    Good to hear from you as always! Good Luck! Drive safe!
     
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  4. CSuirp

    CSuirp Active Member

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    Hey Max! Glad you're feeling back to your normal self again healthwise! I hear ya on the highway feedback. I usually don't go over 96km on highway. I'll re-check the tire pressure again, perhaps the Toyota service place tampered with the tire pressure when I last brought it in a week ago. I just filled up the tank again from 1/2 way empty...12 gallons filled it. My calculations from previous miles to recent miles left me with a sad 46mpg average. I reset the odometer for this tank full. Hopeful this tank will put me back up in the high 60's mpg average. Here's my ongoing spreadsheet...
     

    Attached Files:

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  5. Royston.K

    Royston.K Member

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    That's alot of details haha.

    I just got back my hybrid battery from reconditioning. Clocked 800km yesterday going from Singapore > Kuala Lumpur > Singapore.

    Sad news is I have 6 cells that aren't too good.

    Benchmark test soon!
     
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  6. Royston.K

    Royston.K Member

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    That's still insane compared to what I get. SG traffic doesn't really allow me to stay in EV. Plus now I'm on 205 50 16 wheels more resistance. However I'm pleased with the new grip level haha. Give me a week to observe any changes from daily drive.
     
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  7. Max Taiwan

    Max Taiwan Active Member

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    I hear you! Its nice to be back, food taste very different these days for some reason.

    Those numbers are sub Toyota officials too. I'm guessing something is wrong. The reason I'm saying that is because even without the hybrid system one could do better with a conventional power train running ICE all the way.
    A few things I would look at 1st. If you have some time might be worth to give it a look.

    a. How much throttle paddle do you need to sustain cruise at 100km. I am at about 10% and below as reference.
    And on the power bar display i would average around just a bit out of EV stretch to keep it nicely at 100km/h plus or minus a bit depending on gradient. The picture below is from a newer year i believe, i have a longer eco band. But it does give you a idea of where I hold it at. Screenshot_20190516-172306.jpg

    b. Your city was doing pretty well, and also sub highways speed had great numbers too.
    I would have a look at exhaust coating for rich mixture, air filter last replaced date, and if everything checks out, then go for a treatment of STP fuel injector cleaning additive or things that work to a extent. But please discard that treatment round of logging because they usually have high octane or Avgas added in there. Wont be accurate data.

    c, Have a look at your wheels, any brake dust on your rims,(normaly should be minimum to none for hybrids, with your light footed driving should be nothing at all). It is also rare for both calipers to bind at the same time. At a glance are the shade different on your front rims.

    If you can lift the rear wheels off the ground to rotate, should be easy and smooth. Another way to tell if your drums and bound, carefully touch them after a long drive, they should be cold.
    Front wheels with both off the ground should be easily rotated.
    Check if tire wear is even on both inner and outer treads for all four to check the alignment and toe.
    We are mainly looking for mechanical faults in c but for that amount of reduced mpg I'm guessing it might be a combo of both b and c.

    Don't despair we will be here to help you every step of the way. Oh tire pressure is 33 psi here i think the rear is 32 psi but it shouldn't matter that much.

    Let us know CSuirp!
     
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  8. Max Taiwan

    Max Taiwan Active Member

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    You clocked 800km a tank? Or that was round trip driving? I'm trying to help CSuirp out with his mpg, I remember that was the main reason he wanted the Red Bullet, he has experienced the improve power and pickup but it missed his expectation of the increase in mpg,
    I know Royston is a knowledgeable mechanic, any pointers?

    " Rant alert " I apologise ahead of time!
    Oh by the way the Eos went in today to VW. I had to get on the international phone with those stealership nice person.
    They wanted to charge inspection fee, said to us without looking at our warrenty and said it was out of date. We were good until 2020 January is what he found out after I was through with him. And then he must have felt so stupid trying up sell again to authorise the inspection cost before hand. We booked in the appointment with a check engine light 3 weeks ago for transmission code, we even booked a replacement vehicle for warrenty inspection free of charge which was only available 3 weeks after the fact, and he wanted pre authorisation on inspection fee. What a joker, and then I asked my wife to hand him the photo of the code we scanned again the night before, he says he has it in his systems I mean how ignorant can you get...
    Anyways the kicker was when my wife went back in the afternoon to pick up the car... the car was in the same place she parked it in the morning...

    Guess what!

    They lost the keys to the car so they didn't do anything for the whole day. Asked if the customer which is us if we had a spare set.
    Yeah for sure we do! 10,000km away! We will need pre-authorization of EMS please!
     
    #188 Max Taiwan, May 16, 2019
    Last edited: May 16, 2019
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  9. ztanos

    ztanos All-around Geek!

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    View my fuelly in my signature. 800km is pretty easy to do on a tank. I've done it on 21% of my tanks. :D The 3 years I lived 6 miles from work really hurt me from getting mpgs.

    Lifetime of the car, I'm averaging 746.09km/tank.
     
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  10. Max Taiwan

    Max Taiwan Active Member

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    That is great to know! What do you think is going on with CSuirp's vehicle?
    I did the math for him and from what i can tell, he is running on fumes right around the 750km mark. It would be really tight for him to get to 800km with good margin.

    Here are some updates so far.
    20190516_220344.jpg

    I think the 3rd bar will be gone by tomorrow moring commute then will be the tense few days. Right now from my estimate should be not a problem.
     
    #190 Max Taiwan, May 16, 2019
    Last edited: May 16, 2019
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  11. ztanos

    ztanos All-around Geek!

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    Colder weather or highway speeds over 70 can drop that pretty easily. I also push the car to just about fumes every time. Not everyone is that comfortable doing that.
     
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  12. Max Taiwan

    Max Taiwan Active Member

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    Yeah I agree, if it wasn't for the highway Cruise I did last time which informed me that the Toyota fuel gauge is very accurate and it also gave me an idea of how it behaves, I wouldn't have the confidence to do it with this 900km challenge right now. Now i don't break a sweat unless I've been on the flash bar for more then 50km.
     
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  13. CSuirp

    CSuirp Active Member

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    Hi Max! Thanks so much for taking an interest in helping me figure out what's going on with my Toy. I really appreciate your help and everyone else's in PriusChat. Below are my replies to a,b,c points:
    a) You drew a line on your gauge for your throttle pressure to maintain 100km (62mpg). My throttle pad line is about the same as yours given flat highway terrain. The line will increase as i hit hills and such on highway but I will monitor it today as i come home from work and see where that line actually is at maintaining 100km, just to be sure my memory is correct.

    b) The air filter was replaced by myself probably when I got the car at 46k miles. I checked the filter last week when I did the Red Bullet and it looks clean and good. Regarding the STP treatment, I just had the injectors and throttle body (chamber and plate) cleaned by Toyota on 5/9/19 for a rip off price.

    c) Toyota did inspection on car's Tires and Brakes when I brought it in for injector/throttle cleaning on 5/9. Tires wear pattern/damage report came back as "found yearly maint due"....which I'm assuming is a rotation. All 4 tires are new and installed on 6/14/18 at 47,957 miles. Champion Fuel Fighter tires, 175/65R 15 with 70,000 mile warranty. Tires all balanced and aligned at that time. The car does have a light cycle vibration when i keep it at around 100km or slightly more. I brought the car back to tire place after test driving and told them of the vibration. They re-balanced them and it got better, but they said it may be due to a warped/bent rim.
    Front Brake Condition on Toyota report shows front brake lining at 5mm and 6mm. Both are acceptable in thickness atm.

    I'll check the rotor/drums temp when I get home after work today. Times like this i wish i had a digital infared tester. lol.
    I'll also inspect tires treads soon. I check my tires daily and feel for any bubbles. I keep the PSI in them higher than normal to help with fuel economy.. all around 40-45 PSI.

    I'll reply again tonight after I do those checks, including the 100km throttle pressure line.

    Thanks!!
     
  14. Max Taiwan

    Max Taiwan Active Member

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    When did you say you changed the air filter? The paper ones I get a new one every two years regardless of mileage, I had brand new show room filters fail on me before due to years in the moist air box environment. Now i try to use K&N when i can. in it goes and never think about it until you think about changing spark plugs.
     
  15. CSuirp

    CSuirp Active Member

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    I changed the air filter about a year ago. I'll check it again today but I recently checked it with the Red Bullet change out and the filter looked good...no dirty clogged areas and the box looked clean.
     
  16. Max Taiwan

    Max Taiwan Active Member

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    Oh for the record I'm not running the K&N on my Prius C. I have the OEM. I'm thinking about it though.

    I hope we can find what's up and get you rolling CSuirp! Let us know what you find! Doesn't hurt to put in a cleaner later but let's rule out the mechanical stuff first.
     
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  17. Montgomery

    Montgomery Senior Member

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    Nice to know dealerships are the same....................worldwide!
     
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  18. CSuirp

    CSuirp Active Member

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    ikr Montgomery...such a rip
     
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  19. CSuirp

    CSuirp Active Member

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    So I checked the air filter and tires before leaving for work today. Air filter is clean and so is the box it sits in. Tires look good, no bubbles, no uneven side wear on the treads. PSI on all is 42. I travel 16 miles one way, 32 per day, 5 days. Today, the 16 miles was about 57mpg on full tank with absolutely clear sunny spring weather. When the bullet was put in about a week or 2 ago, I was registering about 65-68mpg same conditions. Weird. I checked all the ignition connections to plugs...all snug, engine clean, no leaks. Perhaps it's the fuel/air mix that needs adjusting...not sure. I'll check the rotor/drums after I get home to see if they are hot or not to hopefully rule out frozen calipers.
     
  20. Royston.K

    Royston.K Member

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    Haha nope took me 2 tank of fuel because I wasn't cruising at ideal speed. 130kph - 180kph depending on traffic. Was getting about 13km/L for such driving considered good still compared to my other rides going 6-7km/L

    Your suggestions to CSuirp are great. A huge chunk of the fuel saving boils down to driving style and road condition. Like for my case not possible to retain throttle at that graph you showed. Mine's usually all the way before Power.

    I'm running 32PSI on 205/50/16 PS4 and it's rolling resistance is quite a fair bit higher as its tougher to glide now. Well gain some traction and stability lose some "eco" features I'm fine.

    I'll be spending my Sunday & Monday tinkering with the car and shall explore maybe EGR cleaning?

    Current plan is to re-wrap headliner and pillars to black and vinyl wrap the entire car. Little project with my fiancee so we can enjoy bickering while we work on it.

    Hopefully I'll get the EGR part done and share details here.



    About Stealership I'm not surprised haha. Hope they sort your key issue as normally the ECU only allow about 5 keys to be paired to the immobilizer.
     
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