Greetings all! We've had our Mag Gray pkg 2 for a week now (approx. 54 mpg on the first tank) and I recently noticed something: When I first start driving after "start up" it almost impossible to get the car into stealth mode, regardless of how lightly I touch the pedal. After driving for awhile, it seems to be much easier to do so. Is this normal? A/C is not in recirc... Greg
Yep, perfectly normal. The Prius has five distinct warmup stages. In stage 1, after the ICE (internal combustion engine) lights, it won't turn off at all. Fortunately that lasts only for about a minute. Stage 2 lasts until ICE temperature reaches 70C, generally a few minutes. In S2 the ICE will shut down only with the car at a standstill. Stages 3a and 3b are a bit more complicated, so I'll just refer you to this for a detailed discussion of all five stages. Stage 4 is the last stage, fully warmed.
And that is why I am only getting about 43 mpg on my first tank. Too many of our commutes are too short for the ICE to warm up completely. We've gotten the average up a bit by stringing more things onto one trip. Thankfully (due to PriusChat) I knew this would happen, so I'm not too disappointed. Still beats the pants off the 16 mpg our minivan got.
You might consider an engine block heater if you haven't already. Its benefit is greatest with short drives like yours. This time of year you can be at S3/S4 temps within just a minute or two.
Thanks. I've been doing some reading on it, but my wife and I share the car, and it's too soon for her to think about modification. A few more tanks like this, and I should get the A-ok. :thumb:
JimboK, Thanks! I now seem to remember reading this somewhere, but when you're driving and trying to go "battery only" and it won't, sometimes the mind doesn't bring all the facts to bear... Happy Motoring! Greg
