Back from our SoCal - Denver trip.

Well, we're back after a week away. We're very happy with the way the Prius performed. The car was loaded with four adult sized people, four suitcases, ice chest and other things probably totaling around 725 pounds. Started crunching numbers and it looks like just a hair under 44 mpg for the entire trip.

Leaving southern California using I-40 to Albuquerque then I-25 to visit family in Colorado Springs the car performed like a champ even though the temperature was well over 100* almost all the way. We did discover that the gas mileage drops off quite a bit in the 70-75 mph range. Climbs were no problem.

After moving on to Denver the week went without issue, including a trip from Arvada (5,400 feet) to Estes Park (7,500 feet). We were able to maintain the speed limits without any strain on that day trip.

Coming back yesterday was interesting. We left Denver about 6 a.m. so we would have very little traffic and could enjoy the scenery most of the way. The car actually had more difficulty with some of the summits in Utah than it did climbing to the Eisenhower Tunnel and tackling Vail Pass. Even on those, however, the car maintained 55 mph on a depleted battery without excessive working of the ICE.

Maintaining the 80 mph speed limit in Utah was not a problem on downhills, flats and smaller uphills. The car handled very smoothly and actually appeared to get better mileage at 80 than 70-75 mph.

The only problem appeared last night about 40 miles before we got back. The "Maintenance Required" light came on. We had it serviced right before we left and there were no other negative indications so we drove it on home and I'll pop over to the dealer tomorrow to have them check the code. I may just have them change the belt early as a precautionary move, too. It has some tiny cracks in it.

 

Thanks, JC. I'll send Jorge (Crown's assistant service manager) an email in the morning to let him know about it. Their customer service is excellent and it may just save a future Prius customer some anxiety and aggravation.

 

Only passed through Utah. We left Denver about 6 yesterday morning and were home here in SoCal at 11 last night.My wife has to be back at work tomorrow so we only had time to snap a few photos from scenic turnouts on I-70.

My wife retires next spring so we'll have more time for sightseeing when we visit other family in the Salt Lake City area next June. We also have family with a "vacation available" cabin in Escalante.

 

Thanks for posting that method. It worked after JC's method didn't. I guess different methods work on different cars so it was nice to have both ways to try.

And yes, you guys are all correct. It did flash briefly earlier in the trip when starting the car but then went right off. The service records show it was exactly that mileage interval since the last oil change when it started appearing.