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Trip to Big Bear City (climb up 7,000 feet)

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Main Forum' started by wanaset, Sep 10, 2012.

  1. wanaset

    wanaset Junior Member

    Joined:
    Aug 17, 2012
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    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    Elevation - 7,000 Feet
    Total time to ascend - 1 hour 10 minutes (60 miles) 47.5 MPG
    Total time to descend - 60 minutes (60 miles) 75.9 MPG
    Average MPG for ascend and descend - 61.7

    I had the day off from work and decided to take a trip to Big Bear City. The main reason behind this was because I wanted to see how the Prius handled going up 7% grade. I had no issue climbing up 7,000 feet at 60 MPH. My expectations were very low before I left home and intially thought the Prius would have a hard time climbing up the mountains. I came to this assumption based on an experience with my father-in-law's Ford Fusion Hybrid, which had an extremely hard time climbing up the same road last December.

    I was also able to use the "B" gear for the first time while I was descending. It functioned exactly as I thought it would. The only issue I had was with the handling, it does not have a good grip compared to my other car. Every turn it felt if the tires were slipping even though I have them set at 40 PSI all around. Maybe I was expecting too much from a car that is engineered to give high MPG. Nevertheless, the trip was fun and I will be looking forward to it in December when I go up with the family.

    To all those debating the fact if the Prius can climb steep hills or not. I am here to tell you that it can not only climb steep hills but does it with little effort.

    Few pictures -

    Rim of the world
    [​IMG]

    Raining in the middle of summer
    [​IMG]

    Scenic fog
    [​IMG]

    HSI display at the top of the mountain
    [​IMG]

    Random trees
    [​IMG]
     
    #1 wanaset, Sep 10, 2012
  2. Chunker

    Chunker My name is Chunker...I wear a hat

    Joined:
    Jul 16, 2012
    71
    9
    0
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    Ohhh..nice! I plan to go snowboarding this winter at summit.
     
    #2 Chunker, Sep 10, 2012
  3. HTMLSpinnr

    HTMLSpinnr Super Moderator
    Staff Member

    Joined:
    Dec 8, 2003
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    Location:
    Surprise, AZ (Phoenix)
    Vehicle:
    2018 Tesla Model 3
    Model:
    N/A
    I went to high school there and family still has property there, so am quite familiar w/ all 3 major ways (and some of the dirt ways) to that area. ;) My folks used to have a 2006, and now a 2010, and regularly make that drive to their weekend home.

    There's no problem w/ any generation of Prius handling the climb to Big Bear. Don't expect to run w/ the higher-performance cars and pass at every passing lane and still maintain battery charge, especially if you're use CA-38 (aka "The back way"). Your battery SoC will drop, forcing you to slow down if you do. However, maintaining a safe and sane speed (aka 55 or below), however, isn't a challenge for this car - even when full of passengers and luggage.
     
    #3 HTMLSpinnr, Sep 11, 2012
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