Cold Morning Warm Ups

some say, (unlike regular car) let it idle in the driveway until it shuts down, then drive off normally. i have a hard time with that and just start it and drive gently for a while and pick up speed after a few minutes. but i'm in a garage which moderates the temp a bit.

 

Not diggin' the winter MPGs... Still enough to make any other auto driver envious but it's getting harder and harder to keep them up where they were.

 

Get in. Start the car. Drive...

 

Lots of tips in the Fuel Economy forum. Make sure tire pressures are nominal (pressures drop as temps drop), lower radiator block, but in general temperatures dropping means MPG will also go down. I'm using my block heater to preheat for a few hours (with a timer) before I head out in the morning, and it does make a difference as to how fast the engine warms up & I get heat inside the car. Snow tires (Blizzaks) have meant about a 15% drop on my mileage (arrg), but I feel more secure on the roads.

 

Since you're not jumping immediately on a highway I'd second the 'just start it up and drive away' answer. You might investigate some of the threads on grill blocking to try and minimize the engine running just to keep the coolant temperature up, or possibly install an engine block heater - 3 hours or so plugged in will bring a cold engine up to the point where it would shut off when standing still (103 deg F).

Also if you're stopped at a light the engine might keep idling if you have the heat on - turning the heat off while stopped will allow the engine to shut down and not waste that gas. Unfortunately it's a fact that you will get lower mileage in the winter. It's still better than 95% of the other cars on the road, however.

 

This could be one of the reasons Toyota uses 0-20 oil because it flows well at very low temps.

 

I have three city blocks to drive before I get to a 45 mph thoroughfare. By the time I drive 25 mph through my residential neighborhood and get to the thoroughfare, my car is above the 105-110 degree F warmup threshold. So, by the time I have to accelerate briskly to get on the thoroughfare the car has warmed up sufficiently. So, I jump in and drive on cold mornings.

I also lower my Climate Control temp setpoint during this warmup time and do not turn it up until the coolant temp is up to temp and ready to blow warm air. This will help keep the engine from running to heat the cabin if I have to stop before the engine is warm.

 

Exactly ....


REV

 

It gets colder than you think, but just not as long as it does in NJ Last winter we had a few weeks of 20 degree weather and a few days in the teens !

 

From NH. Get in, start car, scrape windows if necessary, drive off.

 

So Tideland, does the exhaust heat recovery system work better than the older thermos system?

How bad can the mileage drop? Well, summertime I average 4.5 l/100 km if I'm careful, in the city, short trips mostly. Today I'm seeing 7.0 l/100 km on the MFD (it's usually quite close to reality in Pearl). I've been bad on this tank, letting the engine run while stopped at lights. Hey, it's cool right now and I'm getting lazy (-15C tonight, just above 0F).

I start and drive gently (garage parked, insulated but unheated garage). If you let it idle, it takes a LONG time to warm up a Prius. At least a GII.

 

Just drive it but don't beat on it for the 1st 10 mins.

 

I get in my car and drive. I don't use the heater/defroster unless I am going downhill or uphill, I don't use it at stoplights. I also block my lower grill and would appreciate advice on blocking the small upper grills.
Good luck,

 

If I were you, I let it do an initial warming up during the first 50 seconds of S1a in P position, then start driving.

Ken@Japan