I-5 California>Grapevine

I've only had one experience with that hill, it was along time ago ...

Pulled out of San Pedro late one night
The moon and the stars was shinin' bright
We was drivin' up Grapevine Hill
Passing cars like they was standing still

All of a sudden in a wink of an eye
A Cadillac sedan passed us by
I said, "Boys, that's a mark for me"
By then the tail light was all you could see

Now the fellas was ribbin' me for bein' behind
So I thought I'd make the Prius unwind
Took my foot off the gas and man alive I

... Hang on, sorry my mistake, that wasn't in the prius. That was in some old 1950's hot rod or something I had at the time.

 

perhaps it was your hot rod lincoln?


Anyways... driven it several times in my 1st gen prius. I just get a decent run on it then keep my foot into it the whole way, give yourself lots of space and plan accordingly and that way you dont have to slow down and try to speed up. Coming down the other side is a brake burner so again plan accordingly.

 

Ha you got me.

I've really never even been near it. It sure looks like a mean mother of a hill though.

File:EnteringGrapevine.JPG - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

if this is a serious quote, the prius does just fine. you can keep up with any "flow" of traffic, even in upwards of 80 if you wish.

 

did it once in the Pri but was going north. it dropped my tank mileage from 58 to around 51-52 as i recall...

 

hmm. guess i posted to wrong thread since i already answered this one. only one time but going north. tank mileage went from 58 to around 51-52 mpg as i recall

 

Seen it. Done it. Been up steeper hills. :madgrin:

If you want to give your car a workout, drive up to Monitor Pass on [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_State_Route_89"]SR 89[/ame] between Markleeville and the Calif/Nev border. We did that a couple of weekends ago to see fall colors. I got down to one purple bar on the way up; had to use B mode on the way down, turning 4100 rpm @ ~ 45 mph. :madgrin:

 

if that is the one that has the massive hill then....it ran my battery dead and i was blinking on gas. pretty scary but made it thru alright. thinking about taking that trip soon again!

 

that is the hill just north of LA. u cant miss it. it has signs advising "radiator check points" water stations, etc.

 

I don't remember it being that bad. I filled the tank at the bottom because we had driven from Sac and I wasn't sure if I had enough fuel because we had gone 475 miles since the last fill. I was able to drive along with normal traffic speed, passing some cars, being passed by others.

 

i think its worse going north as far as the uphill part. we have hills just as steep on our part of I-5 and 512 to puyallup. just not quite as long

 

Wow, dropped to 50's mpg?

That's a good mpg! i think mine was reading in the 20's - 30's.

 

Never had a problem with that hill.

In fact I have never had a problem with any hill that wasn't covered in mud or a thick layer of loose gravel.

 

My time on the Grapevine was in the 70's, so no Prius. But be careful coming down, this hill is what B mode is for.

 

Oh, that is too good. My side hurts.

 

If you are in Paso, why not just do the 101 south?

Maybe he had a rocket pod to assist

 

I've done it southbound and northbound - twice. Not a problem at all. I usually run around 70-ish.

 

And don't forget the sand traps, for runaway trucks that lost their brakes

3 weeks ago I did it with over a THOUSAND POUNDS loaded in the prius ... not for the faint of heart:



Doing the grape vine with 2 or 3 people & a bit of luggage? That's a snap.

.

 

For those of us unfamiliar, what distance and slope or elevation change does this hill have?