Eco off-road on a budget? Or destroying a Prius, you decide.

[California98Civic]

Originally Posted by Hersbird

Maybe a fwd Jeep Patriot. Still I bet the stock 2wd Patriot beats tiny lift Prius. The Renegade is currently the least Jeep Jeep and it would certainly be better than that Prius. ...

Actually, the jalopnik piece says the Prius had 9" ground clearance after modding. The Renegade with trailhawk options has 8.7" and the 2wd Patriot has 8.1" ... and both get lesser fuel economy than the lifted Prius.

[bobo333]

Originally Posted by Hersbird

Maybe a fwd Jeep Patriot. Still I bet the stock 2wd Patriot beats tiny lift Prius. The Renegade is currently the least Jeep Jeep and it would certainly be better than that Prius.

Now combining the Prius with a Subaru drivetrain, you might get something. Now I have seen a Dodge Neon go places that would troll a Jeep, of course that was a rental and alcohol and momentum was involved. Getting it in yes, getting it back out, not so much.

I'm obviously never going to get the same performance off road as a real Jeep (or even my old Subaru) due to the lack of rear wheel drive but I'm confident I wont have trouble getting into or out of any of the campsites I'd like to use with this car.

~~~

Now that the outside is relatively together il move my attention to the inside, the next few mods were installed at random times during everything else but il put them all together into one post for ease of reading.

First the switches for the lights, the far left is for the big spotlights, the far right is for the daytime running lights, and the middle 2 are spares for now. You can also see my phone holder peeking out from under the steering wheel, it's just a steel L bracket that sticks to a magnet glued onto the back of my phone.


The next thing to go in was another switch (in the bottom right corner of the top glove box) that turns the radio on without the key in the ignition, this will be more useful later when I've upgraded to an aftermarket radio without all of the controls on the MFD screen. I also fitted a volt gauge that comes on with the same switch (or the key) this allows me to keep an eye on the 12v battery.


Moving to the other side of the top glove box I fitted 2 more switches, these are connected to the front speaker wiring and swap it from the factory door speakers to a pair of speak-on plugs that I can plug my external speakers into while camping, at parties or job sites.


There are also some of these plugs replacing the rear door speakers but I forgot to take a photo of that. The external speakers sound great and are quite loud even just running off the factory head unit.


There will be much more extensive audio upgrades later, but that's all for now.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by bobo333

I'm obviously never going to get the same performance off road as a real Jeep (or even my old Subaru) due to the lack of rear wheel drive but I'm confident I wont have trouble getting into or out of any of the campsites I'd like to use with this car.

Had you seen some places I've been in front-wheel drive econoboxes such as an Opel Corsa/Holden Barina and a Dacia Logan, you wouldn't be so skeptical about the lack of 4WD. By the way I guess you know what a Citroën 2CV is capable regarding off-road ability even though the majority of them is also FWD. On a sidenote, if you could get a differential locker (or something like the Quaife ATB differential) it would be enough to handle most situations for which proper 4WD/AWD would be overkill.

[Fat Charlie]

When you take into account that the Compass/Patriot is really just an AWD Caliber with a lift, a Prius with a lift makes a lot of sense unless you're really planning on needing the AWD.

It'd be screaming for a Trail Rated badge on the fender.

[bobo333]

Originally Posted by Fat Charlie

When you take into account that the Compass/Patriot is really just an AWD Caliber with a lift, a Prius with a lift makes a lot of sense unless you're really planning on needing the AWD.

It'd be screaming for a Trail Rated badge on the fender.

Apparently the biggest issue with the Prius is the overzealous traction control halting forward momentum, but ive got a few ideas for that later on down the track.

~~~

Next on the list was a towing hitch, but since I live on the wrong side of the world buying one from Amazon wasn't an option, instead I decided to adapt the one from my old Subaru, it has a 40mm reciever and was rated at 1200kg, quite a bit more than im ever likely tow with the Prius.


I ended up using the same tow hook bolts that the Curt ones use, and also braced it with the factory bumper reinforcing bar mounts, this puts it a good 6" above the normal ones and means it's completely hidden by the bumper and flat under floor panels for optimal aerodynamics and ground clearance.


Compared to a Curt Hitch:


The finished product:


Those with keen eyes will notice the wheels have also changed in that last pic

[bobo333]

I took the opportunity while the rear end was apart to swap to my Subaru wheels with 215/70/16 Toyo Open Country AT2 tyres on them, they fit very snugly once I'd removed the mudflaps, plastic wheel arch liners and little air deflector thingos, the fronts were the same, with just some plastic removal needed to get them in.

First drive revealed the expected drop in acceleration and braking, but a marked increase in cornering ability and a surprisingly smooth ride considering the difference in unsprung weight, the extra ground clearance was immediately noticeable hopping into the drivers seat.

[California98Civic]

The shadows cast onto the hood by the lightsfitten onto on the front bumper suggest the shape of a fairing you could make for them, no? In the photo, you can imagine the shadow is the fairing and conceive how it might look:

[freebeard]

Good idea. Two simple hoods affixed to the ...hood.

With these old sealed-beam headlights there was a wimpy shaft of light, but I could scrunch down in the seat and sight down the beam like a laser pointer.

[redneck]

Originally Posted by freebeard

Good idea. Two simple hoods affixed to the ...hood.

With these old sealed-beam headlights there was a wimpy shaft of light, but I could scrunch down in the seat and sight down the beam like a laser pointer.

No more scrunching down...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQpDnqTD55Q

>

.

[Hersbird]

Originally Posted by California98Civic

Actually, the jalopnik piece says the Prius had 9" ground clearance after modding. The Renegade with trailhawk options has 8.7" and the 2wd Patriot has 8.1" ... and both get lesser fuel economy than the lifted Prius.

I'll take 4wd, and suspension articulation over .3" of ground clearance at the lowest point anyday.

I bet the "off road" Prius gets stuck on wet grass with a slight slope even with the best tires.