Well, I've done it now

[AMCJeepMJ]

After the MJ sold in May, the 7-speed trans on our Benz nuked not once but TWICE in 6 months at 52k and 61k; even though the second time was a warranty repair, down time on the Benz between the two repairs was over 7 weeks... which i was not very jazzed about.

 

Having enough of that baloney and feeling the sting of 10 year old Mercedes Benz repair costs, we traded the Benz this week after it got out of the repair shop for a CPO 2015 Toyota Prius Three with solar roof and Entune audio. No LED headlights or late departure or radar cruise control or auto-braking collision avoidance system on this trim level.

 

Record MPG so far is 73.4 mpg over an 18 mile trip [a/c off, cruise at 60, windows up].

 

Anyway, anyone had a chance to play with a  Gen 3 Prius? Way more fun than I thought it would be.

[Wiggilez]

does the solar roof run the ac during the summer when the car's off? my boss told me that the later priuss do this?

[Pete M]

'tis a brave new world...    at least it's a hatchback.     

[HOrnbrod]

4 hours ago, Oceanic815 said:

Anyway, anyone had a chance to play with a  Gen 3 Prius?

 

If I did I wouldn't admit it.  

[ComancheKid45]

10 hours ago, HOrnbrod said:

 

If I did I wouldn't admit it.  

 

This..... Hahaha

[cruiser54]

My buddy said when he drove his, his testosterone level dropped significantly....JK.

[Keyav8r]

I suppose you haven’t had it long enough to start driving like a Type A maniac on steroids, which has been observed in many Prius drivers - 😤.  Hopefully, you’ll be the exception (LOL).

Never had the urge to go hybrid, but times are a’changing!

[Pete M]

are there any ugrades you can do to it?  I mean, I'm all for econoboxes, but I'd need ways to tinker with it.  

[gogmorgo]

Had to drive one a few years ago for work. Gen 2 though I think. 2008ish? But I don't know. Don't think I'd want to live with it all the time, winter didn't do it any favours, it actually got parked every winter and we extended its season given our office needed a vehicle, but it was sorta cool from a nerdy point of view. Biggest gripe was that it just wouldn't warm up until you were driving it. After cruising around with all the windows frosted over for a couple minutes it was fine, but those minutes where you barely dared to breath in the direction of a window were sketchy. Dealer insisted it was normal because it wasn't programmed to sit idling. Actually driving it was okay, if you were used to driving an appliance, at least.

[AMCJeepMJ]

The solar panel runs a fan to keep the interior from being a blast furnace in the summer due to the large greenhouse; it is a stand-alone system that does not run off the 12v or HV battery. The A/C does not run, it is just a ventilation fan that triggers when the interior temp exceeds the exterior temp. It does have remote A/C on the key fob that runs the air for 3 mins while the engine is off and doors are locked... that may be to what he was referring?

 

Haven't explored possibilities on upgrades or mods for it; there are some craptastic body kits which would hinder instead of help the aero, and no smoothie/moon/racing wheel covers that will fit the aluminum wheels under the existing wheel skins, although some aluminum pizza pans would likely do the same job on top of the existing skins. There is both TRD and Cusco sway bars and Tien lowering springs for the car available, however.

 

Regarding heat, the car does cycle the engine about 30 seconds after powering it on, and the cycle lasts 30-60 seconds, and if there is enough draw such as running the heat or defrosts full blast it will remain engaged in order to generate the heat to defrost glass. The rear defrost also engages the optionally equipped heated mirrors.

 

The car is an easy one to bag on and is indeed appliance-like but from a geeky standpoint its really pretty cool with the technology in the car that makes it work as well as the tech features at your fingertips behind the wheel. Lots of creative storage in the car to put things too.

 

Tangentially related, we loaded up the car this morning with 4 adults to drive 20 miles for Sunday brunch at a cutesy place and still achieved 48 mpg. As it is a reasonably light car (by today's standards) at 3000#, the addition of passengers did noticeably affect its acceleration in Eco and EV modes.

 

 

[Kickin’Chicken]

On 1/14/2018 at 3:50 PM, Pete M said:

are there any ugrades you can do to it?  I mean, I'm all for econoboxes, but I'd need ways to tinker with it.  

Agreed. Needs a mild lift and some 29" Swampers. 

[DirtyComanche]

I'm surprised there's no smoothies available.  I'm guessing it's some weird metric bolt pattern?  Those with some skinny lower profile tires would be a good start.

 

I'd do that, and skirt the rear wheelwells.  Also get one of those electric door popper setups for hot rods/Mexican cars, then take the doorhandles off and bondo the depressed area smooth.  Rear window wiper, ditch that, along with the antenna.  Ditch the badges.  Passenger side rearview, garbage that too, along with the driver's side if that's legal in your area.  I'd say definitely yes to the lowering springs, but there's a good chance you could just cut a coil off the ones you have and they'd be perfect..  After that you've really only got weight savings left as a viable option, so I'd say start with pulling the carpet and headliner.  Maybe there's some stuff under the hood that you can trash, the A/C sounds pretty optional/detrimental and I'd probably start with that.  I'd say you could definitely gut the power windows out of all the doors but the driver's, but check if that it legal first.  Maybe replace the back seat with just some stretched canvas or something?  I bet you could pull 400lbs out of the car if you try, maybe more.

 

At least then you can tell anyone that questions you driving it that it is literally entirely about saving money on fuel.  Because otherwise there is nothing redeeming about those cars.