Hey y'all! I am planning a move to San Francisco from Asheville, NC sometime in the spring, and I need some advice. First of all, does anyone have any experience driving their Prius in SF? I have a 2010, and live in the fairly mountainous surrounding area of Asheville, which sometimes can be pretty steep once I head into the hills just outside of the downtown area, to where I'm lucky to get 15 MPH uphill without going into the red zone for too long and putting excess strain on my transmission (I can sometimes smell the burn when I hit a hill for too long of a period). So as I plan on moving to San Fran, I was wondering how the daily grind is there on a Prius engine. Many people have told me I wouldn't want to drive in SF, but I drive Uber, and right now that would be a job that I could do most anywhere without having to look for work. With that said, I need to plan this trip ahead of time, and am wondering about the towing ability of the third gen Prius. I'm slowly whittling down and selling off my possessions so I can travel without having to put anything in storage, but I would like to bring as much as I can of my collections. I have a lot of books and comics, CD's, records and DVD's, a lot of heavier items, which I know I won't be able to take everything, but there are just some things I do not want to part with. I'm thinking of the possibility of strapping on a roof rack with cargo box, as well as getting a small enclosed trailer to tow extra things. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!
It is not recommended to tow with the Prius. How many miles on yours? Why not rent a van or a small Uhaul and tow the Prius behind it on a trailer? Driving in SF can be slow and tedious, but there are plenty of taxis that are prii and there are plenty around. I would be worried about yours though if under a load you can smell something warm.
Driving in SF is different from North Carolina because SF is stop and go city driving, and in some spots you come to very steep hills. They aren't mountains, but they're much steeper. Prius has a feature for starting on steep hills where you gently press the brake pedal all the way to the floor, and the anti-skid icon will light. Now you can take your foot off the brake, and it will stay engaged until you give the car enough gas to move forward. Two more things: Outside of SF, it's really flat. Second, take your car to Luscious Garage for service. Third, it's not "y'all". It's "dude." As in... duuuude. You'll get used to it. There's a lot to get used to in SF.
I towed a 1195 lb. Capacity 48 in. x 96 in. Heavy Duty Folding Trailer from NY to Fl with my gen 2 with no problem.
