I live in Indiana and just bought a 2008 Prius because my 2002 Honda was slowly dying. It was a stick shift, so now I'm trying to (re)learn how to drive a manual and a Prius at that! Any tips, especially now that frigidly cold weather is on tap, would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Expect to accidentally hit the brakes way too hard at times... Also when the left foot pushes the clutch in and it's not there, it can be a bit startling, so keep your wits about you when that happens.
congrats and welcome! 'i'm (re)learning how to drive a manual' have the 12v load tested. did you get two working fobs? learn where the emergency jump point is under the hood, learn how to crawl in the back and open the hatch from inside. learn how to remove the physical keys from the fobs, and make sure they both work in the drivers door lock. research the past maintenance if you don't know it, and complete any missing work. how many miles on her? all the best!
Welcome fellow Hoosier. You'll quickly notice that starting up the Prius in cold weather and then stepping back inside for a few doesn't do much to defrost that windshield. So have a good scraper nearby. Your mileage is generally quite a bit crappier in the cold sadly. My Prius C only gets around 40-45 in the winter. Summer I generally get around 50-55. So it's quite a bit of a difference. To help, I often turn the heat off in traffic unless I'm really cold. The Prius will fire that engine up to keep you warm if you have the heat turned up. Reducing your mpg's even more. The Prius isn't really that much different than a regular vehicle, just more fuel efficient. Drive it like you normally do, keep the tire pressure up to spec and coast as much as you can when coming up to those stop lights. Like was mentioned earlier, you'll notice a "grab" from time/time when braking. That's normal and you'll get used to it. Most of the Prius braking is done by spinning the Electric motor/generator backwards in order to put those electrons into your high voltage battery. That "grab" is the pads contacting the rotors. Sometimes they'll grab, other times they won't if they aren't needed. Oh, that "B" on your gear selector. That's for going down large steep hills. I've only used it a couple times down in Brown County though. Not many big hills here in Indiana that'll fling you faster than the speed limit. It'll engage the Gasoline Engine (without burning any gasoline) to help keep the speed down and prevent you from overheating the brakes & losing any braking effectiveness should it be needed.
Thanks for the info on cold weather. I found this site when I went looking for info to explain my lower gas mileage in the cold, and you confirmed my suspicions. Lucky for me, my stepson bought a Late-2000s Prius a few years ago, so I had some knowledge already, which was helpful.
Greetings! Welcome Aboard. I envy you living in my beloved home state while I remain an outlander Someone wiser than me once said that the best thing about Priuses is that you can drive them like any ordinary car.....so do that. Well....except for the clutch. Enjoy the cool weather. Spring is right around the corner.
