Preparing to return home from my interstate trip to my partners house I discovered that the Prius fits an unbelievable amount of stuff in it.
Unfortunately that also means a lot of weight, and the suspension sagged quite a lot causing the rear tyres to hit a small bit of the inner guards where the plastic liners used to attach, nothing an angle grinder and hammer cant fix.
There is still a slight rub on big bumps when the suspension compresses but the lift kit should fix that (if it ever arrives) and I don't plan on packing the car this tightly on a regular basis.
I also fitted the spare tyre holder that I made for my Subaru for the trip. Once I returned home I modified it to fit the Prius better as I don't need to lean the tyre back to clear the hatch and I would like to add a jerry can and/or toolbox for a jack/shovel/recovery gear etc
I decided to go for a simple flat platform this time, that way i can strap whatever i like on instead of being restricted to just a wheel, it keeps bulky items nicely within the wake instead of on the roof or elsewhere ruining aero.
I still need to get some steel mesh for the top, and some eye bolts for around the edges to strap things to, then paint.
This road trip with the new big wheels, and excessive weight netted 6.95L/100km with about 80% highway and 20% city, a saving of $40 over the Subaru for the same trip. I was also having some trouble with the fuel system for most of the trip, with the engine struggling to get fuel at high load (steep hills, overtaking etc). A bottle of injector cleaner and a fresh tank of premium fuel seems to have fixed it but I'm not sure on the mileage penalty. I'm still waiting on my OBD2 adapter to check the new codes after getting them reset at Toyota once.
