Worst doors on a car I've ever had -- are all Prii like this?

Also about the doors -- I've never had a car rattle more in my life with the windows slightly cracked or 1/3 down before in my life (one owner compared the noise going over bumps to riding the city bus at times). And looking at the forums, it looks like this is a design defect affecting even brand spanking NEW Prius owners having these rattling windows (mostly when cracked slightly to 1/2 way open).

It seems that some people think it's the felt window guards thingies that don't tightly hold the window glass tightly enough.

Has anyone here modded their Prius' window channel thingies (not sure correct term here) at all to a tighter tolerance so that the car doesn't sound like a rattle trap? I think it's affecting all of my windows....not something I really thought about at first but after I drove the car longer you get to know it better. I mean, I could just drive with the windows up and use the A/C, but I'm still in the process of fixing the A/C, so that's why I really noticed the windows when they're down.

 

I agree, it's a great car! I just always want to "perfect" things....or take the parts of my old car I loved and keep them going with the Prius. With my Volkswagen Passat, the car was very solid feeling and quiet for the most part on the road. The windows and doors felt absolutely solid. Even the motors that ran the windows up and down felt more solid and sounded quieter too.

As one member noted, that's the price we pay for having all that awesome engineering in the hybrid system, a cheaper cabin. Maybe if Acura were to build a hybrid.....hah!

Interesting about your MPG changes. I'm still discovering my mpg....at the moment I've driven 240 miles on this tank of gas with the display reading 39mpg which is mostly driving up and down a 1,500 foot hill to and from home. I've not really used up many tanks of gas though so I'm still feeling out what's happening with the car. I was hoping for mid 40's but it may too much to ask given the really long hills here.

 

jdonalds, thanks for posting your info. I've a bit of mixed to town and back driving and some longer rides.

Tomorrow, for example I have the roller coaster driving which has a nice 42 minute drive which is 33 miles long and has an elevation gain of 1,500 feet. The return trip of course is the drop of 1,500 feet. Along this route I've been very careful driving (around 50mph on average) with all the Prius tactics including roller coaster driving faster downhills gently to ease on the uphills, letting off the gas and coasting long distances and basically I can sense pretty well how to maximize the efficiency of the car (the 39mph ICE cutting out speed part you mentioned is interesting by the way).

I was fairly surprised when last time I did this route my mpg rose from the low point of 35mpg (going straight up and down the hill all day long) creeping up to 37 topping out around 40 and now dropping back to 38 after a few shorter trips to town and back again. What surprised me the most is how with such a long route, I expected the mileage to really climb into the mid to higher 40's pretty rapidly but the mpg seemed to really very slowly climb up despite carefully using Prius driving techniques.

I'm really interested to see what my actual mileage will be at the pump. If the computer is 2mpg optimistic then that means I'm averaging 36-37 mpg at the moment....after driving almost 250 miles here (careful, mindful, energy conservative driving mind you).

 

Thank you for that idea.

Coasting. Ah yes, coasting VS gliding. I just realized that I've been doing that a bit wrong. I've been trying to get up to speed rather quickly (not aggressively), and then taking my foot OFF the pedal, which is not a true glide....I believe like you were talking about, the glide is the no arrow state of being. It's funny because I've read so many tips for driving the Prius, yet that one didn't really clink into my brain just until now.

Onto my Mountain Driving....
So, I just filled up the tank (after driving 320 miles) and what's really interesting is that after driving up and down 1,500-3,000 feet hills and roller coaster driving and short commutes down into town and back, my MFD was saying I was getting 42.6 and what amazed me is when I filled up the tank and calculated the mileage it was SPOT on. The accuracy really impressed me! Anyways, I'm moderately pleased with this mpg considering how extreme this terrain seems to be on cars here. Heck, I getting double what I ever got with my Passat (and that used premium gas too!). Still, I've read lots of threads on drivers getting fairly unbelievable gas mileage despite the mountainous settings and I covet better gas mileage.

I'm going to now ask EVERY prius owner (Gen 2) what mileage they get in Hawaii here, because although i lust after getting mid 50's, I doubt I'll EVER get it here. Then again, I might change out my spark plugs and have a pleasant surprise. Oh yes, and check the oil level....and the tire pressure.....and.....and.....