Eco off-road on a budget? Or destroying a Prius, you decide. - Page 6 - Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum

hayden55 · 06-19-2020, 03:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by elhigh

The new e-AWD is going to make for some pretty cool overlander Prii in a few years, once they get old enough to get cheap. Somebody may be making supplemental battery packs to expand Prius e-range then, too, offsetting some of the economy lost to offroading mods

They are extremely disappointing from the test I saw. If the front wheels lose grip it couldn't push the car forward on flat ground with the rear wheels. It didn't make it to the cross side wheel traction test or the 3 wheels no traction portion of the test. Lol

https://youtu.be/UsxGatvvXUg

Sad bc in theory I wanted one. if anybody wants to a similar test rig to test out their not tradition AWD vehicles my company makes those conveyor sections in the video lmao I can get you some shipped out

bobo333 · 07-02-2020, 07:51 AM

It seems my previous reply didn't post properly and has disappeared, bummer.

Im still having intermittent fuel problems, "premium" fuel seems to help the engine run more smoothly and powerfully than the cheap stuff but I still get P0171 'system too lean' and P3190 'poor engine power' every few days if I reset the codes.

I've borrowed an "engine data scan" computer from my dad which allows me to check and reset codes (basically a cheap scan gauge imitation). Unfortunately the gauge part doesn't work the way I expect it should and seems to randomly turn on and off whenever it likes rather than anything to do with the key or engine being on or running. I still want to get a proper Bluetooth module so I can use the Prius apps.

Leading up to my current road trip I finished off the towbar and rear carrier:

I also found a whole bunch of old election signs, so many corflute creations are in my future, the first of which is some window covers for this camping trip.

Halfway through the 12 hour voyage to the High Country I decided to do some exploring on the back streets and wound up running out of gravel road as it turned to clay very quickly.

After many hours of digging the sticky clay out from the rear wheel arches to allow the wheels to turn again (only to have them clog back up within a few metres) the sun came up.

After many more hours of digging and skidding and dragging the clogged rear end along, a friendly farmer came by and helped me out with his tractor.

The second half of the trip was less eventful, and despite 15 hours of muddy hell and running the heater to keep out of the freezing outside temperatures I still managed 34mpg on this tank lol.

More coming soon.

MeteorGray · 07-02-2020, 08:03 AM

Get a Jeep :-)

bobo333 · 07-02-2020, 08:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hayden55

They are extremely disappointing from the test I saw. If the front wheels lose grip it couldn't push the car forward on flat ground with the rear wheels. It didn't make it to the cross side wheel traction test or the 3 wheels no traction portion of the test. Lol

https://youtu.be/UsxGatvvXUg

Sad bc in theory I wanted one. if anybody wants to a similar test rig to test out their not tradition AWD vehicles my company makes those conveyor sections in the video lmao I can get you some shipped out

Well that was completely pointless, why on earth did Toyota even make this if it can't do the most basic of AWD challenges?

After this weekends efforts I've decided I need an LSD or some kind of brake bias dial for the front wheels, going over an obstacle on a slight angle lifting weight off one front wheel renders drive completely useless unless you have decent forward momentum, despite this I got some good off-roading done in the Victorian High Country.

https://youtu.be/HRgCRhtINjs

cRiPpLe_rOoStEr · 07-02-2020, 07:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bobo333

After this weekends efforts I've decided I need an LSD or some kind of brake bias dial for the front wheels

Reminds me of what Gurgel resorted on its Volkswagen-based SUVs, with 2 levers at each side of the parking brake in order to manually brake only one of the rear wheels at a time, even though it's way easier to implement on RWD vehicles using the parking brake cables than in a Prius. Getting an LSD specific for the Prius would be quite challenging, but it doesn't seem impossible. Have you already got in touch with Quaife? As long as a stock differential is provided for them to make a prototype, they can make LSDs for basically anything.

Galane · 07-02-2020, 11:56 PM

This BlueTooth dongle works with the Prius apps to access the battery info. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B011NSX27A/

Only $11.99 USD. It's also OBD2 so it works with 1995 to 2004 vehicles instead of only 2004 and later vehicles with CAN like many other cheap Bluetooth dongles.

jakobnev · 07-03-2020, 07:34 AM

Quote:

After many hours of digging the sticky clay out from the rear wheel arches to allow the wheels to turn again (only to have them clog back up within a few metres) the sun came up.

Maybe you could add a plate or something behind the rear wheels that scrapes the mud of the tire before it goes up the wheel arch?

bobo333 · 07-03-2020, 06:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Galane

This BlueTooth dongle works with the Prius apps to access the battery info. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B011NSX27A/

Only $11.99 USD. It's also OBD2 so it works with 1995 to 2004 vehicles instead of only 2004 and later vehicles with CAN like many other cheap Bluetooth dongles.

I ordered a similar one on ebay when the whole virus debacle started and it never got delivered so I'm wary of trying again at the moment.

Quote:

Maybe you could add a plate or something behind the rear wheels that scrapes the mud of the tire before it goes up the wheel arch?

I was thinking that as I sat in the car waiting for the tractor to come and pull me out, I'm not sure how often I want to be driving in this kind of mud though, I didn't do this on purpose and I'd rather not do it again.