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Grill blocking My Prius Taxi's?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by lucky1, Oct 22, 2008.

  1. lucky1

    lucky1 Member

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    I see that many on this site block the grill for better fuel economy in the winter.I have noticed a big drop in fuel economy over the last couple of weeks. Most of the summer I was usually around 4.5L to 4.8L/100 km each day. Lately I am 5.1 to 5.6L/100km each day.
    Temps are starting to hit -3 Celcius overnight with highs around +8.
    I assume it will be ok to block the grills even with the cars being in use 20 hours a day weekdays and 24 hours a day on the weekend. this time of the year the cars are on the move around 65% of the day and when the cold weather hits the cars are on the move 80 - 95% of the day.
    I will put about 60,000km on each car before the warmer temps return and am looking to save a few dollars by doing what it takes to keep the fuel consumption down.
    Any opinions would be appreciated.
     
    #1 lucky1, Oct 22, 2008
  2. efusco

    efusco Moderator Emeritus
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    I think you'd be absolutely safe blocking the upper grill any time the temps are consistantly below 70F and blocking upper and lower completely any time temps are consistantly below 50F. Although you're "on the go" much of that time is sitting with the engine NOT running and thus it's cooling off so you're constantly using energy to reheat to get into the more efficient temp range.

    If you've read the long grill blocking thread you'll see some hard numbers for ICE and inverter temps from me and a couple other folks using grill blocking under some pretty high demand conditions and none every came near a danger range under the temps listed above.
     
    #2 efusco, Oct 22, 2008
  3. lucky1

    lucky1 Member

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    Thanks Efusco-- I will pick some insulation up and install it tomorrow. Most of my driving is under 70 km/hr and I am gliding half of the time. Looking forward to see how it helps with the fuel consumption.
     
    #3 lucky1, Oct 23, 2008
  4. Codyroo

    Codyroo Senior Member

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    By the way, thank you very much for driving a Prius as a Taxi cab. It would seem to be an incredibly sensible car for this purpose and I'm glad to see that you've chosen a very low emission vehicle to do that task.

    I wish you continued success with it.
     
    #4 Codyroo, Oct 23, 2008
  5. eagsc7

    eagsc7 Geocacher

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    Ok... This is NOT the first time that this has happened, BUT Please Give Links to the Longer threads.
     
    #5 eagsc7, Oct 23, 2008
  6. efusco

    efusco Moderator Emeritus
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    #6 efusco, Oct 23, 2008
  7. lucky1

    lucky1 Member

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    CODYROO- I don't regret for 1 second replacing my 2 Honda cabs with the Prius. I was talking to the owner of the Taxi company that I am with today and he crunches the numbers a little closer than i do. He has been replacing his transmission eating gas guzzling Impala's with Prius cars and he says it takes him 1 1/2 years to recoup his investment between fuel and repair savings. It will take me 2 years because my Honda's were more reliable and fuel efficient than his cars.
    The owner of the company paid $500 a car to have lettering on the back that says--- (name of company) saving the planet 1 customer at a time.
    It also says --- Think green call (name of company)
    If I have 30 trips a day, at a minimum 20 of them ask me all about the Prius and how it works.I mentioned that to the sales people at the local Toyota dealership and suggested they give me a good deal on a Prius when I aquire a couple more plates in the next year because of all the word of mouth advertising I am doing for them. They were not much more responsive than they were 7 months ago when I was forced to go out of market to save $2200 total on the 2 cars. ( some people never learn)
    Every 4 years I would be buying 4 Prius from them and they still have the attitude that because the supply is short and the demand is high that they don't need to deal with anyone. Oh well, their loss.
     
    #7 lucky1, Oct 23, 2008
  8. David Beale

    David Beale Senior Member

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    In Edmonton (similar temps to what you posted) I have -both- grills blocked. The ONLY time the coolant temp rises much above 80C has been when I get on the highway. Even when it was +28C one day on the highway the coolant ran at 95C. Still very safe. The fans weren't even running at high speed. At lower speeds/loads the coolant ran cooler. Note that when the A/C is on cooling it seems to trip the fans earlier, and this tends to lower coolant temps. i.e. the day the temp went up to +28C I found myself driving that night - ambients were down to +20C. Without the A/C on (auto - cab temp set at +24C) the coolant went up to 90. Curious, I turned on the A/C, and the coolant quickly went down to 85C.

    My coolant temp readings were taken with a Scangauge II. Outside temp readings were taken with the MFD and with an indoor/outdoor thermometer I have installed in the car (because I didn't know how accurate the MFD was after blocking the grills, or how closely the A/C system controlled the interior temp.).

    You'll be just fine with both grills blocked. Remove the blocking next spring after ambients start reaching 20C regularly. You will also find the drivers and passengers will be happier as the interior will be warmer and will warm up quicker from a cold start.
     
    #8 David Beale, Oct 23, 2008
  9. lucky1

    lucky1 Member

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    Blocked both grills tonight and traveled 80 km around the city in 3 1/2 hours.
    Ended up 4.6l/100km. The last 3 weeks I was running at 5.1 to 5.4L/100km.
    I will get a better read tomorrow when I get the car cold at 6 a.m.
    My temperature reading was 10 degrees celcius and moved up 18 at one point.
     
    #9 lucky1, Oct 23, 2008
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