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Just wanted to drop in and say hello

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Main Forum' started by pichner, Dec 12, 2012.

  1. pichner

    pichner Metallic Maniac #001

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    Hello all, I just got a 2012 Prius three with the solar option a couple of weeks ago. I have been doing a log of reading both online and off (the stack of manuals) and I know I have a lot to learn. Rest assured I know how to use the search option in these forums, and that the seasoned folks will scold you big time if a topic has been discussed at length many time and answers have already been given. That said I do understand how hard it came to understand what will apply to my 2012 (3rd gen) that may or may not apply to previous generations. Dealers that sell these cars seem to be full of crap and this is a great place to track down the way things actually work and what to expect over the long haul. Thanks in advance for the vast amount of information that has been logged to this site for new Prius owners like myself.
     
    #1 pichner, Dec 12, 2012
    OceanEyes likes this.
  2. spiderman

    spiderman wretched

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    Welcome aboard! Don't be afraid to ask any question, you will develop a thicker skin. :)
     
    #2 spiderman, Dec 12, 2012
    WE0H and pichner like this.
  3. pichner

    pichner Metallic Maniac #001

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    I am sure I will ask a few questions and just cry myself to sleep at night :cry:. I have been on a lot of Radio Control Car/Heli/Plane forums and the users always appreciate it when you do a search 1st. The Prius is a nice piece of kit and I am excited to dig in. My wife on the other hand said "I just want to drive it like a normal car"... what fun would that be?
     
    #3 pichner, Dec 12, 2012
  4. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    exactly! welcome and congrats. my wife does the same.:rolleyes:
     
    #4 bisco, Dec 12, 2012
  5. jdcollins5

    jdcollins5 Senior Member

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    Welcome and congratulations. Ask away with your questions.
     
    #5 jdcollins5, Dec 12, 2012
  6. Much More Better

    Much More Better Active Member

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    Welcome to PC! Out of all the internet forums that I have participated in, PC seems to be the most civil. So ask away...
     
    #6 Much More Better, Dec 12, 2012
  7. stream

    stream Senior Member

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    Congrats--enjoy.
     
    #7 stream, Dec 13, 2012
  8. WE0H

    WE0H Senior Member

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    I don't let my wife even touch my FOB's. She has her own car's to drive ;) Welcome to the Prius addiction [​IMG] When you gonna start modding it [​IMG] What dealer did you buy from? I used Rudy Luther Toyota Golden Valley. I told them to save their breath as I learned what I needed to know from this forum and renting Prii for a while. They just sent me out the door on delivery day and said come back if you have sumthin you can't figure out. I told 'em thank you for the smokin deal on the car [​IMG]

    What part of town you in? I'm 35 miles north of Minneapolis in the boonies.

    Mike
     
    #8 WE0H, Dec 14, 2012
  9. pichner

    pichner Metallic Maniac #001

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    I doubt I will mod it anytime soon, tho I have put an intake on just about every car I have had :) . I might do a couple things for looks but I doubt I will mess with much performance wise. I had a guy put on door molding to prevent door dings as much as possible. I got the car at Brookdale Luther, they were great, I got the car for 750 less than invoice so I cant complain. I live in the NW corner of Mpls so not too far from you it sounds like.
     
    #9 pichner, Dec 14, 2012
  10. WE0H

    WE0H Senior Member

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    Luther seems to be a good dealer. You got a better deal than me. I ordered mine last March and they set the price at $500 over invoice. That was a good price back then but you got the real smokin deal [​IMG] You'd be about 25 miles south of here. I have yet to find someone to do software changes to my car. I already have the Plus suspension so I am going to leave that alone. Might go with a upper strut tower brace.

    Mike
     
    #10 WE0H, Dec 14, 2012
  11. pichner

    pichner Metallic Maniac #001

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    I was wondering if any chassis work would be beneficial, it doesn't exactly handle great. That said I don't want to lower it any to avoid scraping anything. Does toyota do the Nav updates or how are they installed? Every other Nav I have had uses a Navtech dvd update of some flavor. What software changes do you want or are even options?
     
    #11 pichner, Dec 14, 2012
  12. WE0H

    WE0H Senior Member

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    Nav updates on your car I believe are a USB stick flash. The Plus suspension is a night verses day difference in handling compared to the regular suspension. I'm an old school autocrosser and so far am impressed with this factory suspension setup. It does sit a bit over an inch lower which is interesting around the Twin Cities. Have to be careful where it is driven. I am looking for eliminating or reducing the electric motor torque limiting. Unfortunately I am not a software person or I'd take a stab at it. I am trying to find a performance shop that has an interest in Hybrid performance and has staff capable of cracking factory code and try developing some custom flashes. Years ago it was done with the Saturn LSJ motor so my other summer car has a very nice program [​IMG]

    Mike
     
    #12 WE0H, Dec 14, 2012
  13. pichner

    pichner Metallic Maniac #001

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    I had a 2001 Ford SVT Lightning, so anything less than 390HP seems sluggish to me :). When it was time for a new car I talked to my wife and we could go one of two ways. 1) was to sell our house and our two kids and buy a Nissan GTR and live in that or 2) but the most fuel efficient car we could afford. Lucky for my kids we opted for number 2! Maybe some day I will get back to the days of high power fast cars, my lightning got 12mpg no matter how you drove it. It needed 92 octane or it would knock and shut down and the tires were 400 a piece. The Prius has two extra seats for kids and gets great mileage. Plus the dash looks like a spaceship. I would love to hack the dash display and add some custom graphics and animations to that!
     
    #13 pichner, Dec 14, 2012
  14. WE0H

    WE0H Senior Member

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    Cool :) I wanted to trade in my other car but my wife insisted on keeping it :rolleyes: It is a thirsty sucker too. It runs a M62 at 16 psi on 92 or blends just shy of straight E85. I opted for the slightly smaller injectors to save some lunch money or else the program would run straight E85 down to 92 E10. I should'a just popped for the larger injectors :( The Prius is way slow but a cool looking and fun to drive, for what it is, type of car. I got hooked on them by renting one in mid 2009. Got a early 3rd Gen the first rental. A dozen or so more rentals later and here is late winter 2012 and me emailing in my order to Rudy's :) Do you have the 6.1 Nav/Audio system? See if it plays DVD movies while parked. There is a mod to make it play while moving. My son & I watched a movie in my car last spring. It was kind'a cool :)

    Mike
     
    #14 WE0H, Dec 14, 2012
  15. pichner

    pichner Metallic Maniac #001

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    Three
    I am not sure about the nav screen size, I know the 3 only had one radio option and that was the Display Audio with Nav, it wasnt the HD version so maybe it wont play movies. I have not tired it yet to be honest, I will have to buzz out to the garage and pop one in. Too bad it wont play Blu Rays which is what most of my movies are these days :)
     
    #15 pichner, Dec 14, 2012
  16. WE0H

    WE0H Senior Member

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    That'd be the 6.1 system. They sound good too. This is the first vehicle for me to have a DVD drive in it. It might be a bit distracting to have a movie playing up front while in motion. The other gadgetry on the car is enough of a distraction. I did install a ScanGauge for watching other stuff. Helps me get higher mpg's when I am in the mood. The Plus Perf package doesn't get the wahoo mpg numbers your car will get, but I can haul nice person around corners and she sticks like glue :)

    Mike
     
    #16 WE0H, Dec 14, 2012
  17. Chris S

    Chris S Active Member

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    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    Congrats!
    I was thinking of doing an Injen intake but read that it may be more detrimental to this car than good for it with the engineering and software. Intakes seem to create check engine codes. It would look so cool under the hood though!
     
    #17 Chris S, Dec 15, 2012
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