Introducing George

[Arragonis]

Second update, the Prius arrives - it doesn't have a name - yet.





A Junior likes a lot, Mrs A is not so sure - partly a fear of autos and partly the parking brake being strange - European cars do not normally have a foot operated one, usually its a handbrake.

+ points - quiet, ride, hands-free (phone) system

- points - foot brake, HUD, nav system over complicated.

Updates to follow.

[Daox]

Cars here normally don't have the foot pedal parking brake either AFAIK, its more of a truck thing.

[morphector]

Why would you use the parking brake on a car with an auto transmission???

[larrybuck]

Congrats on your new ride/s!
They both look quite aero especially in the front.
I probably should assume that bodily modifications will only happen on your car?
With it being brand new, will you be rather conservative toward body changes?

I did notice that you picked WHITE; great for coro! and such!!

One thing that REALLY stood out to me in looking at both cars, were (only in my humble opinion) the huge mirrors. For obvious reasons, I will only discuss YOUR car.
Do you have any plans for mirror deletes, or possibly tiny replacements, or an inside the window NASCAR look out of the wind?? Do you like, or are familiar w WINK mirrors??

What are the legalities concerning them where you are? (outside mirrors)

Thanks in advance for your sharing!

Wish those of us in NA could do a group motor buy.

[dcb]

All my cars have a handbrake, I couldn't steer in the winter without it

[Arragonis]

Originally Posted by morphector

Why would you use the parking brake on a car with an auto transmission???

Not sure - the manual (volume 1 I think ) suggests using it for safety and the drive is a 35% gradient downwards and our neighbour would probably prefer not to have a living room full of Prius one evening I am sure - his name is George too

But I am willing to take advice from a Prius expert on whether we NEED to use it. This is our first car without a manual and our first with a footbrake. Mrs A has unexpetedly taken to it like a Politician to an expenses account and A Junior is the only person in the house who can work the sound system.

Originally Posted by larrybuck

...With it being brand new, will you be rather conservative toward body changes?

Initially yes - first couple of tanks to establish a baseline and get the SG2 calibrated - its giving me some funny numbers just now - I will put a post about it below. First mod will be tyres up to 40 PSI to get better coasts. As tapped the front grill seems to have minimal openings already although later in life a rear wheel spat will be a neat experiment. George is too new (more new than I expected) for that just now. I dusted the rear window today...

Yep, the Prius is a leased / company one so no mods will be done there.

Originally Posted by larrybuck

I did notice that you picked WHITE; great for coro! and such!!

Sods law dictates I "lucked" into a pile of black A2 sized coro sheets just before I got George.

Originally Posted by larrybuck

...the huge mirrors. For obvious reasons, I will only discuss YOUR car.

Yep, that was the first thing I noticed when I test drove, the "jug ears". The UK law states that a car must have 2 rear view mirrors to be legal, and I think one has to be the driver's door. I have checked somewhere and there is a note about if your car had a passenger side one too then it must be fitted. If it didn't then its OK not to have one.

The 2 mirror rule is one reason I have not investigated rear cameras with any enthusiasm before although I like the idea from a techie interest point of view. Neil Blanchard's rear camera setup looked quite good as you could take a quick glance whilst checking speed.

Originally Posted by larrybuck

Wish those of us in NA could do a group motor buy.

They make them LHD and they are VERY VERY cheap new or secondhand (they don't depreciate so quickly either ), and there are hundreds and hundreds of them to choose from



The Prius has maybe gained a name, Mildred - from this couple from 1970s British TV...



or maybe Zippy / Bungle after George, Zippy and Bungle.



George is the pink Hippo BTW, Bungle is the bear and Zippy is, er, the one with a zip for a mouth.

[Arragonis]

Instrumentation :

1- I have added a rev counter from a C1. The SG2 RPM reading is accurate but a proper dial is easier to read - it looks like this (this is not mine but the colours are identical - I need to get a black surround for it at some point).



Finding a usable position for the SG is becoming a challenge, more later.

2 - SG2. I'm getting some odd figures. If I coast in gear downhill I get a reading in the 100-500 MPG range almost like I got in the TDI when out of gear. I would expect 9999, no ? Also when out of gear I get 9999. It is set up as Gas and 1 litre, but still on its first tank.

Did I need to set it back to factory settings first ? I just changed the engine type and size instead.

Slightly seperate :

3 - AC kills performance. I tried it as a test on the motorway (bypass) yesterday and had to push the pedal down a lot to maintain speed. I'll reserve it for times I'm coasting or going downhill. The white body seems to keep temps down during our usual 2 day summer, and the interior is so small it only needs a short burst even with a 'hot blooded' person like me - Mrs A likes I am always warm

Prius Instrumentation :

4 - Is it possible to have the energy monitor and average MPG on the display at the same time ?

And George passed 50 miles in my ownership this morning, did I mention I do very few miles ?

[dcb]

Sorry, I need to get some more georges out of my system...

"" and weezy:


if you need a uniform:


this guy (was really more an ursula fan myself)


and if you like seeing "plans" through to completion:


personal favorite:

[Arragonis]

[320touring]

Mildred Definately suits the Pious!

As for your Aygo ago go ago go ago go..

1. Ditch the rev counter- the time to change gear is when you hear the valves bouncing off the bonnet

2. What's the tank size? my cousin gets about 400 from a tank, and drives it like she stole it..

3. Do you intend to " run in " the lump gently, or perform some Italian Tuning to it?

I seem to find cars that get a decent thrash for first 1k miles loosen up more and are more responsive to drive- working at a car hire place teached you this!