Hymotion & Grill Blocking

Hi Kent,
I've had the same questions. I put in an upper block (pipe insulation) 10/12. My fWt didn't change much. I put in a lower block (10/17) Saturday (vinyl house siding with toggle bolts). Initial trip same observation as upper only, except the second trip of the day, with a large uphill section, my MPG was 144. Today was my first commute with both blocks. Like you the MFD temp was 32F today. The temp still dropped from 155f to 139f on the last 2 Mi. of my commute and I did see the ICE run a couple of times during this leg. One way MPG was 89 this morning.
Now I just need the EBH. I could not get my arm in far enough. I'm going to check with my local mechanic about seeing if he'll attempt it.
As for upper temp limit I have read in the 190's f. I have no idea about the inverter temps.
Chris

 

I am getting 30-40 as advertised. I do coast when I can using P&G, but most of my driving is 60 mph highway. To early to tell real mileage, but while the pack lasted this morning (about 30 minutes) I was averaging over 80.

 

I just put my grille block on today. The temps I think you should watch for is anything near 195 and anything over 200. Around 187 is the happy zone in the summer without the grille block.

 

I've never seen 180f on my SGII since I've had it. I do see 170f regularly. Thanks for the info.
Chris

 

Just curious when you have been removing your grill blocks, if at all? I removed my lower block when we had a 90F day. And I had the planned trip to NY for the Green Grand Prix, so I left it unblocked. When I returned temps were more seasonal and my Water Temp was lower than I wanted. I have gone back to a full block and will probably stay that way until I see water temps in the 190F range. I'm also seeing average mileage in the 120-140MPG range. Or .7 gal./100 mi. - .8 gal./100 mi.
Chris

 

Careful with the grille blocks - the top can be blocked no problem. The bottom is important to maintain a decent airflow to the cooling section of the hybrid powertrain cooling electronics - these need to run as close to ambient as possible to assure decent lifetime.

My best experimenting shows that I can dump 35-50 percent of the lower grille area and keep things cool enough to run summer traffic - AC will start to run the fans more aggressively around this point - depends on how much time you are stuck in loooow speed traffic.

The sum is for reliability - block no more than about 35 percent of the lower grille.
You're on your own beyond that.