New Prius V Owner
 

I'm on my second tank of gas and so far I've been averaging well above the EPA targets, getting around 47 MPG.

Are there other Prius V drivers out there? What are you doing?

47MPG is pretty good for a V. Have you done any mods yet? What techniques are you using?

I don't have a V, but my Prius likes having the tires pumped up to sidewall max. If that's too stiff for you, increasing the pressure by even a few PSI should help.

This video is a pretty good introduction to driving any Prius efficiently.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XxB6ma7qu8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XxB6ma7qu8

Welcome to the site, and congrats on the good mileage with the V. Are you planning on keeping a fuel log here? Any mods planned?

ditto on pumping up the tires!!!

vskid3 & mcrews,

Thanks for the welcome. So far I haven't been doing much of anything special while driving Shuttlepod One. Pulse and glide have been part of my routine for a while and I'm never above manipulating tire pressure. I do, however, want to get a solid baseline before I start tweaking.

Daox,

I always keep fuel logs. It's one of the best ways to follow long term performance of your vehicle and it makes early detection of problems almost automatic. For this, our second Prius, I've been looking for something that will live on my phone. Suggestions are welcome, I don't mind sharing the information either.

I haven't had a 50 mpg tank yet, but I've been close. Really close. Today, when I walked inside the trip was reporting 49.7 mpg and I'm pretty sure I can milk this tank over (if I can avoid visiting my folks for the rest of the week -- 2,500' climb -- I'll have it made).

We're about ready to embark on a 1,100 mile job seeking trip (that's the first leg). I'm going to make the tires taught before we leave, reduce weight of luggage as much as possible, and organize and balance what we are hauling. Plus, I've recalculated cruising speed to be closer (and slightly slower) than the posted maximum for the trip. My hope it to achieve an average of 48 mpg over that distance, if I can get it up to 50 mpg there may be a party.

Glad someone got that, yeah there are a few Trek fans around here. My personal favorites are Star Trek: Enterprise which is why I went with the pre-runabout naming convention. It works in my opinion. Soon the insignia will show up too.

Hows the car doing? How is the seating for a big n tall guy? For example if you adjust the front seats for a big n tall guy to sit confortability, can the same person sit right in the back seat without having the front seat slide forward?

I got some big n tall co workers, about 400 lbs, almost 7 ft tall. Insight isnt cutting it, only room for 1. Rear is rather cramped for a fully assembled wheelchair.

How deep is the rear with seats in place? Think one can put a lift and small disability scooter up right in the back?

http://wheelchairassistance.com/wheelchair-lift/45.jpg

Thx.

The car is awesome, without trying very much at all I'm able to maintain excellent economy, enviable range, and unparalleled utility.

You may or may not know this, but the whole back row of seats is mounted on rails. This means that you can move them forward and back within that space. The front row accommodates tall people very well although I'm not sure I'd try to put two 7' people, one behind the other, in the car. It has got space, but that's a lot of leg.

The cargo space behind the rear row is spacious, but hight may be the limiting factor when it comes to adding a disability scooter or a davit to lift the device in and out. That said, with some professional modification work there is a lot of empty space under the deck. Someone who knew what they were about could fix this by clearing out the spare tire and modifying the vehicle, even adding an electric ramp for the buggy.

If you slide the rear seats back all the way so 2 fat tall people can sit in the rear, is there still cargo room? Roughly how much room from rear of back seats and rear of tailgate?

I tried a Nissan Cube, however with the rear seats moved back it was tight for large people in the rear and behind the rear seats was just enough room for a few bags from walmart and some magazines. :confused:

Such rear floorpan lowering mods to provide access to wheelchairs or disability scooters are not so unusual in Europe, but I have never found any info about that into a Prius V. Anyway, sometimes it can even require the fuel tank to be relocated or replaced. IIRC the Prius V's traction battery is located in the same spot as in the Prius C, so at least it may not impose another issue to such project.

Thats why I mentioned the "crane". Those need 3 points to mount to in the rear of a vehicle and they can be had for sedans of all shapes and sizes. Then the mobility device that is lifted can be disassembled while the trunk is opened and folded up likewise for the crane assembly.

I saw a prius v the other day and the rear looked similar to a riced out highlander with clear or chrome tail lights. Other than those horrible tail lights it "looked" roomie.

Having said that Ive tried a few vehicles with sliding rear seats and its an either or. You get room for rear passengers or room for rear cargo, but not both. :eek:

Granted Im a foot taller and 100 lbs heavier than anyone in my family I could put my mother and father in my insight. Then a walker in the trunk and folded up the 40% seat behind the driver and placed a second walker or my fathers wheelchair there.

I have never seen either a Prius V or the Prius C, not even when I went to Uruguay where the C is officially available. Anyway, I don't remember where I have found some charts comparing the interior volume of the V to a RAV-4 and claiming that the V was roomier.

Rooster, actually saw my first one up close at the store yesterday. And based on what you said I would tend to believe it. That sucker was BIG!!! It it even on the same 'footprint' as the gen1 Prius?

I guess you meant the Prius liftback, not the 1st-gen which always seemed to be based on the earliest generation of the Echo/Yaris. Anyway, the V seems to be based around the same floorpan as the liftback.