Picked up my 2010 today finally!

After a long wait, and the dealer being shipped the wrong car I was finally able to pick up my (correct this time) prius!.

Blue Ribbon Metallic Tech Package W/ Dark Grey leather

The Dark Grey Leather is not as dark as I feared it would be and actually looks rather nice.

Took it for a bit of cruise this evening, getting the hang of keeping it in stealth mode.

:cheer2:`Corellon :cheer2:

 

Are you located in Toronto by any chance? Dealer I ordered from showed me a order for a Blue Tech with Misty Grey (That was my first choice, they didn't offer the choice till it was too late and got Dark Grey instead) Wonder if that was yours lol

 

Mine came set for the east coast USA, once I finally managed to get it set to canada it works rather well, couple of annoyances I've noticed so far though.

Only 5 storable locations
It wants to use the 407 (toll road) all the time, and there (not that I can find) is no easy way to get it to avoid it, you can eliminate routes, but only entrances to the 407 not the entire thing, and with only 5 avoid routes it's not enough to cover every entrance onto the 407...

Edit: Once I have time to read through more of the nav manual (Seperate manual, almost as big as the prius manual) i might be able to shed more light on it. I'll post more tomorrow, or grab it from the car tonight for some late night reading

 

I had already tried that earlier, but that was before changing the area from DC to Canada, I'll try it again and see if it recognizes it as a toll route now that the area is set corectly.

Do you know if the extended warrenty offered on priuschat is valid in canada as well? Just curious, also notice we havea 84/200k warrenty available in canada now too.

 

Well went out and about today and switching the area from DC to Canada did do the trick, the 407 is correctly recognized as a toll road (Odd it wasn't when it was set for DC) I went as as far north as 16th ave and it worked perfectly, I like how it offers 3 routes choices, quickest, shortest and alternate.

Nav input is disabled at higher speeds, seems to cut out around 20km/h or so, but at stop lights/signs and low speeds it's still available. You (meaning a passanger) can also continue entering input while driving so long as you start the process before moving. IE: as long as you select destination -> intersection before you get moving, the passanger can continue inputing the street names even while your driving above 20km/h.

moving the map around takes a bit of work, but figured out light presses in the direction you want to move it moves it 1 screen at a time in that direction, useful for looking up alternate routes manually. It's a little off, thinks my house is 4 houses before it really is but that isn't a problem I've found, the turn by turn guidence is nice.

The Parking assist is going to take getting used to, It's actually explained in the nav manual not the prius manual for some reason. It works but the back in mode I have to still find the correct startinging location for, haven't tried parallal mode yet but think it would be more forgiving in starting up.

68 Km/h is possiable without the engine, and sustainable on fairly even ground, Accelleration from 50 to 60 is possible on electric mode as well (though not a recording breaking acceleration) as long as you keep the acceleration meter below the middle bar. I find the acceleration rather sensitive even on eco mode, keeping it right at the middle line is difficualt, though I'm sure I'll be able to get the hang of it after a while.

Radar Cruise Control is nice, I keep it at the middle distance indicator and that's pefect for me. It's fairly intelegent it seems as it won't floor it trying to accelerate if the car infront moves out the way and another is still ahead, instead it will match the speed of the other car (or a slight increase if it's farther ahead then the set distance). Still not sure if the gas milage will be close to what is gotten driven without it though, seems slightly more aggressive then I would be. The only annoyance I've found with it is the radar screen, even when the auto screen change is disabled the rader screen will keep popping up.

Transition from Electric to Gas is smooth, without the Fuel Consumption Gauge it would be hard to tell which is propelling the car.

Took the car back to the dealership to customize some options, he went over every option available in their system, most of them are listed in the book, a couple weren't but are something you wouldn't touch anyways (like AC being automatic or manual) the AC does have a "reduce vibration and noise" option which I had him enable to see what it does (I think it runs it at a lower setting, good for removing humidity too if it does).

Turn signal is quiet compared to most cars, hard to hear if it's on or off without looking, backup camera positioning seems abit better then on the 2009, get a better view of what is where, Solar ventalation works nicely, but makes odd noises expetially on a cloudy day where the sun goes undercover now and then. Haven't used remote AC yet.

Maintance minders are built into the NAV system, can set reminders for oil, filters, engine, tire rotation, etc (most maintance has a minder there), will track the Km's for you till due.

135Km so far and my first Pip just disappeared from the gas guage, 695km left to go according to the estimate.

 

Well did some more testing with the nav and sometimes we were able to get it to accept input and sometimes not, seems to depend on what steps you are on.

Shame about the auto switch, know of anything for the MID? I find it annoying that the cruise control keeps popping up over the power overlay.

At least the cruise control seems to work in metric and not MPH converted to KPH (resulting in steps of 1,2,1,2,1,2 kph) and I do like how it displays the speed it's set for, much easier to use the decel/accel to adjust to changes in limits without having to slow down and reset manually

 

Been keeping a eye on the HSI to watch how the cruise reacts powerwise, notice it keeps the throtle a bit higher then I would think or I manage to do manually, expectially notice it aviods the middle line, staying a margin to one side or the other.

It's not just the HSI though but if I'm trying to keep a eye on the fuel consumption or anything else it it gets bumped by the radar.

I understand the prius is metric and converts, but from tests with other cars the cruise stick would increase it by 1 MPH rather then 1 KPH leading to the imperial to metric skips

 

Actually that was the point I was trying to make, is that the cruise seems to be metric too this time, if it's set for a certain speed in kh\m it will keep to it, and increment in 1km/h. It's a bit more forgiving too of hills, when climbing it will keep the speed near but allow it to dip slightly under and going down it will allow it to raise slightly before applying the brakes to slow. On the highway if it's set for 110 it will range between 109 and 111 depending on terrain.

In a couple months I probably won't be looking at the screen so often, but till I find the best range of speed, I think 70km/h is one of the sweet spots but the most efficent highway speed is something I'm still working out.

Had a full car yesterday with 5 people, It does put a noticiable strain on the car with acceleration still being ok, but not as good, more fuel and less ability to glide. Something that is doable when required but not that I will be making a habit of.

 

Yeah with 5 people even PWR mode isn't enough, It's fine for in city, but to accelerate onto a highway you either have to really floor it (dont' like the sounds the engine makes when I do) or just realize you'll have only moderate acceleration, short on ramps may be a small problem as I was only able to get it to 80km/h before merging. Just more something to be aware of rather then a problem. With just 2 people acceleration is more then enough to pass easily without straining the engine.