Alcan Prius prep and questions

I’m a new Prius owner (’07 silver package 2) who unfortunately makes the trip from Los Angeles to Anchorage and back once a year. In the interest of minimizing environmental impact and cost I figured it was time to see if anyone on these forums had general advice for such a trip as well as posing some specific Prius related questions.

1.) I’ve noticed that optimum glide (when there are no arrows on the default LCD diagram) is much easier to attain when the ambient temperature is higher (cake in the 70’s but around 55 degrees it’s almost impossible for me to get while still paying attention to the road). About what ambient temperature does the prius start to lose efficiency and is there a temperature where it really starts to take the piss (relatively speaking of course)?

2.) Traction control. Some folks have little to no problems with it and some are crying doomsday. I was wondering if there’s anyone here who can advise from personal experience on how the traction control performs in packed dirt, loose gravel, and light mud? I’ve seen all of these on alcan construction detours and I want to be as ready for them as possible. I’m not concerned with clearance because the Prius actually has almost the same amount as the ’88 Camry I traditionally drove for this trip.

3.) P+G tips for rolling hills at around 80-100 KPH (variable to below/above if necessary because there is NO traffic to speak of). This terrain seems ideal for optimizing efficiency and it comprises a huge part of the trip. I’ve seen a lot on the forums about freeway driving (I-5 in particular is a popular one) and city style stop and go but not so much on the rural 2 lane non-divided highway scene. To maximize mileage with my old Camry I accelerated slightly down the hills and kept the engine working at exactly the same load going up them (slowing as I climbed to the crest and slightly accelerating down the next one). With the Prius I’m pretty sure I should using optimal glide (no arrows) down the hills but I’m not exactly sure what the best thing to do on the way up would be. Maintain speed? Gradual loss of speed to keep the engine load down? I just don’t know the car well enough yet and was hoping some of you could help.

4.) Sustained climbing with 1 person+ about 200 lbs of equipment (could just figure two people I guess). How much does it hurt mileage as compared to a conventional ICE vehicle of similar size? There are some pretty long stretches without gas and longer stretches without gas that doesn’t make you pay through the nose. By the time I get to northern Canada I’ll have pretty well established expectations with regard to fuel consumption. I’ll have to alter these expectations when I hit the Stone Mountain section of the highway and I’m just looking for some sort of heads up as to how much I should be planning on altering them so I don’t have a rude awakening in the middle of nowhere.

5.) Warm up period. It’s entirely possible that I’ll be starting cold in ambient temperatures of around 35-40F. Would it help fuel consumption to take it easy on the speed for a while as I get going in the morning (as it did with my old car, actually I just let it warm up for a bit before putting it in drive but that’s not an option with the Prius) or does that not have any sort of appreciable effect? If it does, does anyone have a timeframe/procedure that maximizes efficiency?

6.) Anything else folks could offer that they think would be helpful for such a trip.

Thanks for any replies in advance.

 

Thanks! I'm looking into the full sized spare/pump option and possibly the radiator thing, though I'm leery of self-modifying a car that's under warranty so I'll probably pass even though it seems like a good idea given the temps.

I found threads with links to the 5 stages of prius article but they're all dead. :-( Does anyone have a functional link to Dan's article?

(Edit: I found Hobbit's reconstruction of the article. Very nice and exactly the sort of thing I'm looking for!)