How often do you rev your engine high (4000+rpm)?

Well then, swap the Subaru for my spouse's daily driver, a 1989 Integra, closer in size to the Prius at 1.6L, and with the same I-4 configuration as the Prius. It also has a manual transmission, geared to spin at higher RPM than my old Subaru. When should it start burning oil?

Do today's common 75 mph expressway speeds, which require 4000 rpm with their gearing, force oil consumption in those Integra engines? Or are they protected by something that a 2010+ Prius lacks?

 

You are not comparing Apples to Apples, the Integra redline is at 7,000 RPM, so at 4,000 RPM you are still 3,000 RPM from redline. That is a pretty big safety margin, and the Honda motor is not working that hard. The Prius is a totally different designed motor.

 

Don't you guys worry about you or your loved ones getting whiplash when you daredevils accelerate to redline in your Prii??
























Lol! That's an ongoing joke between the wife and I.

I tell her to hold on I gotta floor it, don't want you to get whiplash.... Hahaha!!!

 

More worried about wearing out my tires, with all the tire smoking hard starts!

 

And with a different redline? 5200, according to this (unsubstantiated) ecomodder link:

Gen III 2010 Prius - Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum - EcoModder.com

 

Thanks for the memories guys. My 1995 Integra GSR had a redline at 8100 rpm. Most of my highway stints were at 4000 rpm because that was how fast the engine spun on 5th gear at 80 mph. Absolutely thrilling when I first got the car and drove me nuts when I converted from college student to 9-5 commute. Even at speed limit of 65 it was screaming over 3000 rpm. If it used any oil, it wasn't significant at my 7500 mile OCIs and pouring back into the bottles to recycle. 170 hp out of a non turbo 1.8 liter averaging 25 mpg was impressive. But 50 mpg out of a 1.8 liter engine is a lot more impressive in my book.

No tach on my Prius and I don't really care to have one. It's not a manual. I stomp on it when I need to. I limit how much I do it same as I did with the Integra. I don't want to stress out the engine and cause unnecessary wear and tear. I rarely ever brought the Prius to the PWR zone when I first got it. Now that I've moved and live among hills, I have to make the engine work hard every time I go on the freeway. It's the only way to get up to speed otherwise, I'd dangerously be going half the speed limit on the freeway as I crest the hilltop.

 

But the Integra will be running at the speed full time on the expressway, whereas the Prius will be doing it only briefly. The vast majority of the Prius operation is between 1500-2000 RPM, leaving it more than 3000 below redline also. The last time I checked, none of those 5-7% uphill grades are anywhere near 100 miles long.

 

This is true. However, I have stated before that a friend of mine who had to commute up some very steep grades on daily basis, saw much oil consumption in his G3, as he reached 100K miles. He admits he was hard on the ICE.

 

Listen, ultimately it's a car not that different from any other. If you floor it and slam on the brakes constantly, it'll have a shorter life. If you hit the gas as needed to accelerate or pass, or to get out of a dangerous situation, or just for fun, that's its intended use. Enjoy the car, have fun, and worry not.

 

How much is "much"? It would be good to know whether that premature oil consumption resulted from the steep grades, the way he drove, the kind of oil he used, the frequency with which it was changed, or some other destructive factor.

 

Dam now I need to find the tachometer screen.

 

It is strictly add-your-own.

 

Yeah if you want to see RPM you need an add-on. ScanGauge or some smart phone app. Funny, I haven't even displayed RPM on my ScanGauge, for maybe the last year or so.

My 2 cents: someone doing a lot of "dramatic" freeway entrances, frequent passing maneuvers and flooring it "for fun" is putting extra stress on the engine. All things being equal, those are the engines that'll start burning oil and so on, sooner than later.

 

There's even an old thread here somewhere about how to connect a conventional analog tachometer in a second-generation Prius. I haven't yet investigated whether it's possible in a 3rd-generation. I might try, some dull winter day.

 

Go big or go home that's my motto

 

Don't know how much, but enough that he traded it in on a new car.....for me any oil burning is a bad sign, it will only get worse.

 

Every single time I drive it. I hold my foot to the floor for towing a trailer as fast as I can. I ride the governor everywhere I go. The motor is still quiet.

 

I'm pretty sure you all are fine. These cars are used as Taxi cabs don't forget and can take unlimited beating. There's nothing you can do that will ever phase this car as long as you change the oil. On my BMW, I've tracked it and redline it (close to 7,000 RPM) on a daily basis and it has 160,000 miles. Still purrs and runs silently and 100% reliably. Never a single hiccup or breakdown. I'm sure these Priuses can handle their own =)

 

I enjoy the challenge of seeing how long I can hold my foot to the floor. I once run wot for hours on end. I refill the tank every 2 hours because I pull a trailer with two bikes. I peg the throttle wide open in 97 degree weather. I routinely travel like this and the motor runs fine. In my Gen2 I used 5w-40 rotella for diesels. Of course I destroyed my cat. I'm now considering 0w-40 mobil1 for my Gen 3. Any thoughts?