Sunday drive on the 4th

So I took the new prius out yesterday on a couple hundred mile drive, and I must say this is the best car I've ever bought. My drive consisted of variable speeds to help break in the engine, and subtle breaking; with an elevation gain from about 4226 ft (salt lake city) to 7000 ft (Park city). I took a more mellow canyon road with a slower speed limit and subtle elevation gain. There are a few things I still need to figure out, for instance the fuel calculator restarts after start-up so I missed the fuel economy on the way up, but when I was cruising around and back it ranged from 60's to mid 80's coming down the canyon ( I was varying my speeds, and breaking also). I'm calculating it by hand too, so once I fill up I'll know for sure what my first tank is, but that will prob take a while
A few things I never realized about this car or the Prius brand in general: when cruising with light throttle on an even road the energy display shows the gas engine actually powers the electric motor (system and charges battery). This is pretty cool and I think 1 step away from using the gas engine as more super efficient generator for the hybrid system than actually driving the car. I thought this was pretty slick. The blue tooth is so much safer!! They should make this mandatory to get cell phones out of the hands of drivers.
I also have a question about dusty roads. Is there any concern (extra maintenance, sooner maintenance) for driving on dirt roads? Just curious, I was driving around the Unitas Nation forest and this popped into my head for when I go biking and camping.

 

Have no concerns about the C! I was driving super slow as well, and its fine. I took it easy because I only had 80 miles on it at the time. It has plenty of power, and will have more once it beaks in and I can give it more throttle.

 

It's pretty amazing when you can run everything on battery power, and waste no gas, especially when the longest train ever is rolling by at a snails space.