coast to coast ...

Just a quick trip report...

On my west to east journey from Sunnyvale, California to Yonkers, New York, I drove 3,165 miles. The Prius has performed flawlessly throughout. It is quiet, powerful enough for good performance in any circumstances I've encountered, handles stably and surely. I'm glad I fitted the Goodyear Comfortreds, BT plate and did the alignment up right. It tracks very nicely now and is very stable in sidewinds, handles the way I expect it to.

I have filled the fuel tank 8 times so far, at about 365 miles on the tankful with a couple of pips left on the fuel capacity gauge, with an average of 8.4 US gallons per fill up (total tank capacity from dry is 10.9 US gallons). The fuel economy right now calculates to a cumulative average of 44.4 miles per US gallon. Total cost for this traveling has been ~US$160 worth of regular grade no-lead gasoline/petrol.

Considering that most of those 3100+ miles were spent at highway cruising speeds of 70 to 85 miles per hour, I consider this pretty darn good performance.

I passed the 5000 mile service point somewhere in Illinois. I'm having the service done on Monday morning before heading West again.

Godfrey

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Prius The First @ Nov 25 2006, 06:52 PM) [snapback]354089[/snapback]</div>

Will do.

Another note: I took the Prius to Rockland Toyota for the 5000 mile service (with 7,200 miles on the clock ... hard to get to it fast enough when you're on the road). Had the standard Toyota service done (oil and filter, 19 point inspection, tire rotation). $64 out the door, not bad.

Seems they normally do an 'extreme conditions' service ... when I asked what the difference was, they said they do wheel balancing and other things to counter the constant pothole pounding that the cars in the area have to suffer. Costs $60 more. Anyone ever heard of this before? Sounded ridiculous to me, but then I don't live here.

No matter, they did what I wanted and had the car ready in two hours, and were reasonably pleasant about it (unlike the other Toyota dealer I called to see if an appointment was feasible in the limited time I had).

begin minor rant/
What it is with this BS of changing license plate frames? My car had the frames from the dealer I bought it from in Sunnyvale. These yutzes fitted Rockland Toyota frames. I didn't ask for that, had no desire for it. If they spent even 5 minutes doing it, they're wasting my money. I'll soon replace the frames with simple black plastic ones, my car is NOT a rolling advertisement. Feh.
end minor rant/

I start my journey back to California today.

Godfrey

 

Hallo again!

With my mental radar firmly fixed on getting home, i left Avondale, AZ at 7:15 am (Mountain time) yesterday morning and arrived home in Sunnyvale, CA at 5:30pm (Pacific time), a good 718 miles at 65 mph average all the way. Only stopped for breakfast, once for fuel, and for lunch, about 20 minutes time each, so I made just about a real 70 mph all the way through. That's one of the best long-distance average times I've ever made.

(With all the hill-climbing and continuous high-speed cruising between Avondale and Sunnyvale, fuel economy for yesterday was slightly down from average: I left with a full tank and fueled in La Canada, CA for 41.8mpg and then again half a mile from my door in Sunnyvale for 40.9mpg, US gallons of course.)

For the record, the trip in its entirety was 7,792 miles door to door, which consumed $424 worth of fuel at a 44.5 mpg average. The Prius operated flawlessly throughout the trip, never missed a beat. Hottest temps on the road were 85 F degrees in the eastern California desert at sea level, coldest temps were 16 F degrees in the morning at Gallup, NM ... it woke up without a hitch after cold-soaking at that temperature overnight, no problems at all, and the front and rear defrosters cleared the windows in short order. My highest altitude of operation was, I believe, about 8000 feet above sea level.

One of the most amazing things to me is how well this car holds a cruise control setting regardless of altitude and steepness of the climb ... even at 80 mph on the clock! The engine is working very hard in those situations and you can see the battery level being pulled down quickly from the electrics supplementing the ICE, but the battery never goes flat and the drive system does its job with superb competence.

The first service was performed 2300 miles late while i was in NY (at the 7300 mile mark) and cost $65. I'm now overdue for the second service by 1400 miles, which I'll have done this week coming. No oil or coolant was consumed at all in the course of the trip, and the oil still currently looks like new with no discoloration.

A good trip, and a fine car to do it in. I even found the seat very comfortable: no back problems for me at all. The only thing I wish for is an extra inch or so of legroom so I could change leg positions a bit.

Godfrey