3 days in a rented Prius

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Per @ Sep 17 2007, 12:14 AM) [snapback]513550[/snapback]</div>

No idea, what you're talking about. I live in Vegas and the A/C works just fine in our hell climate. In fact, I rarely have to set it to more than 78F Low.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(PriusOwner004 @ Sep 16 2007, 09:50 PM) [snapback]513563[/snapback]</div>

Is your car garaged or otherwise out of the sun?

Here in Albuquerque (and in the desert Southwest generally), I've noticed that the AC is great in a steady-state -- but if the dash, seats, roof, etc are all hot from being exposed to direct sun, it takes a long time for the AC to fight back down. Once it does, you're right that 78° does a fine job of cooling. But if you don't have a garage (or if your garage is full of junk, sigh), then I can see the complaint. (And short trips up and down the strip would be a typical "not long enough to fight off the solar heating" scenario.)

 

I have noticed that the Prius' A/C doesn't have the "biting" cold air that normal cars do (at least not in the middle of a Texas summer). Anytime I take a ride in someone else's car I confirm this over and over. And btw I have my A/C set to the lowest setting and highest fan when necessary... I mean it works ok for me, but I can see how others more sensitive to heat will not like it.

Also, the A/C at max drains the battery QUICK. So if you're in 5-10 mph rush hour traffic AND in the blazing heat, your MPGs will drop like a rock as the engine constantly cycles on and off (even with feathered acceleration)..not to mention you'll feel the car vibrate a little each time- which can be annoying if you're constantly driving in stop and go traffic with the A/C. The Prius really should allow you the option of driving entirely in gas engine mode if you're so inclined.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Per @ Sep 17 2007, 12:14 AM) [snapback]513550[/snapback]</div>

Sorry to dispute your evaluation of the Prius verses the Avalon AC. I own a 05 Avalon and an 07 Prius. The Prius AC works every bit as good as the one in the Avalon. Like your wife, mine has to have the AC on all the time and really blowing cold. The Avalon does have two things going for it that the Prius does not. One is the fact that the AC has dual zone settings so she can and usually does have her side set cooler than mine. The other is that there are AC ducts to the rear seat area, which puts some cold air behind you and is nice for the back seat passengers if there happen to be any.

Other than those extra items, I would say that they both work equally well. It may not get to 116 in Oklahoma, but it does get hot, and with all the lakes we have in our corner of the state, (mostly man made), we have a lot of humidity.

The seats in the Honda Civic Hybrid that I owned for almost 5 years weren't any better than the ones in the Prius and the AC was not as good as the one in the Prius. Come to think of it, there are a lot of things that are better in the Prius. I would not trade back for anything.

Oh well, just my thoughts.

 

I have a Black '07. It was like an oven when left out in the sun. Within a week, I tinted all the windows, and use a cheap pop up sun shade when left outside. Wow, what a differance!

Alex

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Per @ Sep 17 2007, 01:14 AM) [snapback]513550[/snapback]</div>

After owning a Prius for over a year, I find I run the radio and climate controls mostly from the steering wheel buttons. There is seldom a need to use the MFD, unless the passenger is doing the controlling.

Tom

 

Thanks Tom. I was going to say that

 

A/C tips for the Prius:

When getting into a Prius that has been parked in the blazing sun for a while, the first thing to do is roll down all the windows to let all the hot air out, and leave them down for the first few minutes of the drive to let the wind from the moving car to carry away as much hot air from the cabin as possible.

Then crank up the windows, but leave half-inch gaps on the rear two windows. This allows the cold air coming from the A/C to displace any hot air left in the cabin out of the car. Once the cabin reaches a comfortable temperature, close the rear windows fully.

Also make sure you have the A/C running in recirculation mode and not ventilation.

When I know the weather was going to be sunny with no chance of showers, I also tend to park my Prius with the windows cracked open by about half an inch. This helps quite a bit in preventing the cabin from becoming stupid hot when sitting in the sun.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(JustLurkin @ Sep 17 2007, 10:35 AM) [snapback]513676[/snapback]</div>

I this may be bad advice. The prius has vents that exhaust air from the car after it crosses the batterey pack. So, I don't think you are getting any extra airflow OUT of the vehicle by leaving the rear cracked, but you would deprive the batteries of some cooling and cause some drag on the vehicle. These would have a very minor effect, but i thinks it's better to leave the windows up all the way once you get up to speed.

Also, I beleive this is why the prius prefers outside air when AC is set to auto, despite the fact that recirculation would be a more efficient way to cool the pasengers.

But I could be wrong.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Greenkeeper @ Sep 17 2007, 10:16 AM) [snapback]513701[/snapback]</div>

Note that I'm not advocating leaving the rear windows cracked for the duration of the trip.

Once the A/C has taken hold and the cabin starts feeling close to comfortable, you close the windows all the way.

Getting a sun-baked car cool is all about displacing the stagnant hot air from the cabin as fast as possible.