Daox's 2004 Toyota Prius Build Thread

[mrbigh]

Depends on the ODT but I let it run for at least 3 hrs before the first drive, but many times it did it through the entire night; the block temperature, at engine start-up, never reached more that 85 deg.
It is an slow process.

[Daox]

Yeah, thats about the same amount of time I was using on my Matrix which I believe uses the same heater.

[Daox]

Originally Posted by mrbigh

The installation of the EBH will be one of the best upgrades that you could had made to the Prius for the winter season.
A few hours of electricity for the warm-up will help the ICE to reach "Stealth" mode in a jiffy.

I now totally agree with mrbigh's comment. Today was the first time I got to drive the car since installing the block heater and wooooooow does it work great. The coolant from the thermos still dumped into the engine and by the time I had pulled out of my garage and turned around in the driveway to drive off, the coolant temp was already at 104F. The engine had only been running a few seconds at that point. I'd say I could enter stealth mode almost a mile before normal, not to mention getting heat.

Combining the block heater with the PHEV for today's commute gave me 59.9 mpg according to the SG. On the MFD the first 5 minute bar was still just above 25 mpg, but it was a pretty solid 50 mpg on the highway and as soon as I got off the mileage shot up to 100+ mpg.

[MetroMPG]

Nice to read about another happy block heater user.

Good work on the mileage in to work today as well.

[Daox]

Well, summer is on its way and its getting closer to the point where the summer wheel/tires can be put on. I noted when I first got the Prius that it had practically brand new tires on it, some uniroyal tigerpaw something or anothers. Well, today I'm placing my order for some Bridgestone Ecopia EP100 tires through a local vendor. These tires are ranked 2nd in TireRack's: When Round and Black Becomes Lean and Green testing (video here). The best tires being the Michelin Energy Saver A/S tires which cost $119 each. The Ecopia's weren't too far behind the Energy Savers mileage wise and were slightly better handling wise. They also cost $80, thus I go with them. I'm very much looking forward to getting them on the car.

I'm also anxious just to get the 205 wide Matrix (vs Prius 185s) winter tires off it. I did manage to pickup a new set of steelies for the Prius this past weekend, so I'll be picking up new winter tires sometime in the future too. I'll be looking at the Nokian tires that are noted for their low rolling resistance despite being a snow tire!

[orange4boy]

Good choice on the Ecopias. I was thinking about the B381s but the B traction and the cost were a deal breaker. I'm not that extreme a hypermiler.

Too bad the Nokian H was not tested. I guess Tire rack does not sell them. In the European test it flattened the Ecopias and the the Michelins in everything including price except the energy savers were better on RR. The Nokians are also made with no toxic oils.

If you get the Ecopias, I'll get the Nokian H or i3 and we can compare notes.

I ran all winter on the Nokian WR G2s and I love them. Ironically we had no snow this year so I can't give any feedback on that. Excellent RR, ride and traction, but the fronts are wearing down pretty quick now that the weather is warmer. I do corner fast though, for conserving momentum, you understand The rears are still 99%. Basjoos runs them too and we both noticed the only drawback of a RR hit in the wet.

I heard Nokian is coming out with a new tire to replace the i3 this spring. Maybe I'll wait to see how it looks.

Good luck on the Ecopias.

Good to hear about your results with the block heater. I'm ecstatic about the 1500 watt tank heater I just installed. ~40 minutes to 70˚C. The engine runs for ~20 seconds to warm the cat then it shuts off. Stage 4 and cabin heat in my driveway. 20-25% better FE on my short commute.

[davidglover]

Great Thread - Thanks, We just got our first Prius - a 2005.

[Daox]

Congrats on the Prius David. Its a great car.

[Daox]

I got the Ecopia's on the Prius last night for the most part. I got 3/4 of them on. The last steel wheel I couldn't get off of the car. The rust has fused the wheel to the hub. From my experience this is a common thing with rear drum brakes. I usually just loosen the lugs a little bit and go for a quick spin in the driveway and that breaks them loose. Well, that broke one loose but not the other. Anyone have any suggestions? If not, I guess I'll just go for a longer ride tonight.

[2003protege]

get the back end on jackstands and kick the tire?