Introducing George

[Arragonis]

Originally Posted by 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!

1. No it's staying - but needs to be black, but it will no doubt spend some time between 12 and 3 O'clock. I haven't been over 4K yet at all...

2. 35 litres according to the book. A good measure seems to be how many miles before the first bar on the petrol gauge goes down.

3. This seems to suggest the thrash approach is the best at various RPMs and then change the oil.

I am travelling to England and back at the weekend so I'll probably thrash a little and then get an oil change next week - see how that goes - or maybe just take it easy 'cos I am getting old

Also I shall get to test George uphill over Shap, wirr wirr...

[Arragonis]

First Mod - Tyres up to 40 PSI.

Trip to the garage to do this - 65 MPG.

Trip back home - 75 MPG.

I think I may be getting the hang of George - but as with all cars the big gain is technique...

Hmmm

[Arragonis]

Also...

Prius first update. Mrs A is "quite keen" as it is very comfortable and easy to drive. The foot brake issue has been mastered (she instructed me on it this evening so I could have a go).

It is very very nice.

[Arragonis]

First long-ish trip in George is a dissapointing 48.8 US MPG. Actually that is pretty good but below "EPA" (aka ECE) combined ratings but I'm not unhappy as I didn't hypermile much.

I noted all the way "there" that the SG2 registered MPG as around 48 which was frustratingly low - until I realised it hadn't recalibrated to UK gallons, this was US MPG. I refilled after the tank logged, recalibrated the SG2 and it reported a more realistic 55+, so we shall see after this tank.

I did different speeds as the manual on "breaking in" suggests not sitting at any one engine speed for long, and the weather was awful on the trip down and some of the trip back. For the last weather clear 1/4 of the trip from the McBorder to home I just wanted home by then and found that George was actually quite good at speed.

Good points about George on this trip
- Faster than I thought. I got stuck behind a couple of Caravans on a motorway on-ramp and we got past with no issues. I thought "this is really impressive for a 1-litre" as we climbed the hill quickly, well quicker than I thought we would

- Cruising at 70-75+ is easy, even on hills. In fact faster cruising suited him more than 55-65. The MPG figures improved at 70-75 (indicated) vs (60-65)

- Quieter than he should be, no engine noise or wind noise. Some tyre roar on some surfaces - Quieter than Helga

- Steering light and sharp to use off the motorway. The electric system can be caught out in car parks though

- Wipers effective at speed, no lifting

- Narrow tyres really really secure in heavy rain - they seemed to cut through the surface water rather than riding on top

- Seats surprisingly comfortable - no "numb bum", or any aches at all at either end

Bad points about George on this trip
- Steering is more sensitive than it needs to be at speed, hard to stay in one position in the lane - although there were heavy side winds and lots of rain

- Darkened rear windows are a bit of a pain in heavy rain, it can be hard to spot the morons in "stealth mode" with no lights on

- Rear wiper is for show more than effect

- Still not entirely sure about eco-driving a petrol vs a diesel in terms of throttle position and instant MPG. Just what is going on ?

- Ventilation system does not allow warm air to face and demisting, so drying hair after heavy rain is hard work. It does work well in both positions individually though

- Problem - paint inside the rear (plastic) bumper has come away on one side, so I will need to visit Mr Dealer and see what is what

- Problem 2 - One rattle which needs a look at from the passenger (aka Left) A-pillar. No other ones though

- Opening the hatch lid in the rain allows water to run off it into the boot

[Arragonis]

Mildred Update - Mrs A reports 3 full bars for her last few days commuting - that is 3 trips of over 100 MPG average each if the OBD is credible. I still can't get it to "go" without it beeping at me for something or other. Mrs A finds this funny as she can't work anything technical in our house - video, internet, nothing. I have to say that Mrs A is treating us to much more smooth driving in Mildred - no super starts or sudden braking - I think she gets it.

George Update - it will be end of next week for this tank I think which will be 400 miles or so. The MPG on this one won't be great as I haven't hypermiled much at all to get a baseline and it includes the second half of my motorway trip to England. The SG2 reports ~55 AVG to work (which us uphill and would take effort to get Helga to anything 50+) and ~64MPG home (which is downhill and would be ~60MPG in Helga). These are with no effort to HM at all, idling at lights and so on.

The next fillups will reveal the truth.

[Daox]

Do any of the Aygo models have start/stop?

[Arragonis]

Originally Posted by Daox

Do any of the Aygo models have start/stop?

None have from the factory, mine has via the key

I did consider the Hyundai i10 Blue as an alternative as it also has a 3cyl 998cc VVT motor with Start-Stop and intelligent Alternator charging built in. But its butt ugly and expensive compared to George - but of course after purchase I have found loads that are pre-registered and therefore cheaper...

[Arragonis]

Short shifting - how short is short ?

Peak power is 6000 RPM, peak torque is 4000. Do I change at 4K, under, over ? I haven't got a BSFC chart for this engine.

[Daox]

Unfortunately most of us don't. I usually shift right around 2000-2500. Of course, if you look at a lot of BSFC maps, there isn't a real large penalty for going a bit higher if you need/want to accelerate faster.

[Arragonis]

Thanks - that matches a C1 owner who is getting more or less my first target MPG - he suggests 2200 too.

Prius Question - where is the USB socket for music on the 2011 model ? I can find a headphone (aux) socket but not USB.