Hello All

[Sheepdog]

Hello everyone, I'm Sheepdog. I drive a 2012 Prius C. I've been a member of PriusChat for awhile and have stumbled upon this site too. I decided to create a profile and import all of my fuel ups from Fuelly to get started. I'm looking forward to learning some of the tricks in order to maximize my MPG. Right now my overall average is at 61.1 over the course of almost 11k miles. Not sure how extravagent I'll be willing to go as far as mods are concerned because this is my first new car and I enjoy it as it is for the most part. I do have a ScanGauge and I enjoy it very much. Anyway I just wanted to say hello and introduce myself.

<--Woah that's a cool smilie! LOL

Do you guys think blocking my grille would be a good or bad idea? I'm in Florida, so I know it's warm here. I'm thinking about a block heater too.. I use the ScanGauge to monitor my water temps, it seems to hover around 186*F-192*F once it's warmed up.. Hoping to reduce that warm up time especially now that the weather is starting to cool down.

[MetroMPG]

The C is a neat ride - congrats.

I would absolutely investigate a coolant heater, particularly since the Prius hybrid functions are so temperature-dependent. You can get the thing to stop the engine much sooner in your drive with a bit of pre-warming. (More efficient to warm with grid power than gasoline, too.)

I'm not sure how developed the Prius C mods are yet, but there's also a coolant sensor hack for the liftback that enables you to enter engine-off mode sooner. Member Daox did one to his car - have a search for it.

Grille blocking is absolutely worth looking into (for the Florida "winter" ), but you'll want to closely monitor coolant temps with a ScanGauge or equivalent to ensure you don't over-do it.

Welcome to the forum!

[UltArc]

Since you have an SC, and are already on the ball with engine temps, I'd do it. In my personal opinion, a little radiator work is worth the faster warm up times and (allegedly) better aero.

You can make it look good, but it is work!
http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...aru-27277.html
http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...tml#post238309
http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...tml#post360694

And don't forget about the search function, there is a wealth of knowledge and learning (failures leading to success ) here!

Edit: I've noticed (as have others) that a grille block helps protect the radiator, too. On used vehicles, I may be weary, but if I keep my grille blocked, it will help protect it and keep it operating at optimum performance in the future.

[Sheepdog]

Thanks both of you! I will look over everything you've linked for me. Thanks very much!