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Driving Report: To the Top of Snoqualmie Pass!

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by daveleeprius, Feb 12, 2007.

  1. daveleeprius

    daveleeprius Heh heh heh you think so?

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    Just wanted to chime in my weekend road trip results. My wife and I went out on Saturday to take a drive up to Duvall, where there is a great used book shop. I had two boxes of books I wanted to unload. Anyway, so we head out onto the freeway and I decided I wanted to drive up to the top of Snoqualmie Pass. It's not a high mountain pass at only 3,000 feet, but it's got some ski areas and a lot of hiking. It was 58 degrees when we started out and 37 degrees at the summit.

    I set the cruise control at 65mph and just let the car do its thing. Wow, we made it up to the top with no struggle from the engine at all, no high revs, nothing. And the battery never went below half, in fact it was only two pips from the top! Very impressive.

    Of course going down we got 75-99.9mpg for 10 minutes.

    What a car! Can't wait to drive it to California this June (which takes you over two major mountain passes, one in Southern Oregon and another around Bakersfield north of LA)

    Dave
     
  2. MechaJohn

    MechaJohn New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(DaveLeePrius @ Feb 12 2007, 11:52 AM) [snapback]388946[/snapback]</div>


    Cool! Glad to see my car could perform well in the mountains, if I ever get a chance to drive in some. It seems to take the Houston overpasses pretty well, though. :D

    Have fun on your trip in June, and let us know how the Prius performs.
     
  3. dmckinstry

    dmckinstry New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(DaveLeePrius @ Feb 12 2007, 09:52 AM) [snapback]388946[/snapback]</div>
    I could give you more of a challenge. Head east to the Columbia river at Vantage. Head west on that. It's steeper than most of the eastbound approach to Snoqualmie summit and continues that way for about 10 miles. The last time I did it, I reached a state of WOT (wide open throttle) as indicated by CAN-View. I was traveling 65-70 mph at the time, but it still maintained the speed. Of course, the mpg during that stretch was really low. The overall trip from Cheney to Olympia and then round trip of Olympia to Aberdeen and back was still 52 mpg (on MFD) though. By the time I got home, the trip from Olympia to Cheney only averaged 42 mpg. The temperature was cooler on the east side. Also, ups and downs are many and give a net rise of about 2500 ft. from Olympia to Cheney.

    I still agree with that "What a car."

    Dave M.
     
  4. fphinney

    fphinney Member

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    Mountain driving can be a hoot!

    On the east side of San Francisco Bay is a little hill called "Mt Diablo." It's 3,849 ft. high. As you might suppose, the road to the top is uphill almost all the way - - this can produce an impressive MFD display when you go back down - - 100% full to the top, yellow bars, all the way across! When the last one showed up, we cheered!
     
  5. Sufferin' Prius Envy

    Sufferin' Prius Envy Platinum Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(DaveLeePrius @ Feb 12 2007, 09:52 AM) [snapback]388946[/snapback]</div>
    At 4,183 feet, “The Grapevine†(Tejon Pass) is only ~ 1,100 feet higher than Snoqualmie Pass.
    Siskiyou Pass is a little higher than that at 4,310 feet.
    But, because of their more northern latitudes, Snoqualmie and Siskiyou are much more treacherous winter passes than Tejon.

    If you really want to give your Prii's lungs a good workout while in California . . . visit Yosemite National Park and enter or exit the park from the east. At 9,941 feet in elevation, Tioga Pass is the highest auto pass in California. If you do, first check to see if they finished clearing the snow and opened the road. The last two years it opened on June 24 and June 17 respectively.
    http://www.nps.gov/archive/yose/trip/tioga.htm#dates

    When you are at “The Grapevine,†be sure to thank the San Andres fault for saving you from having to climb over a much higher pass. Most people don't know that that is the San Andreas' handy work. :eek: :unsure:
    http://epod.usra.edu/archive/epodviewer.php3?oid=276672

    P.S. The Prii does fine going over the Tioga Pass. And if you are going down into Yosemite Valley, you will have maxed-out 5-minute bars on the MFD BEFORE you reach the valley floor. :D
     
  6. dzucc

    dzucc New Member

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    Don't forget to try the Steven's Pass drive. A little higher, but, the downhill should be fun.