The Premier's Limo: 2004 Toyota Prius "winter beater" ecomodding thread

[Zach]

Thanks Darin I am trying to find somewhere I can get coroplast on the cheap in my area now.

[MetroMPG]

Good luck. Coro is a favourite go-to modding material as you've no doubt seen around here. A favourite cheap (free) source is from signs after elections. My local sign maker has a junk pile of old signs behind his place too. Or head to Home Depot for retail access.

[MetroMPG]

Got a few things done this weekend:



Above: OUT WITH THE RATTY SWEATSHIRT UPPER GRILLE BLOCK!



And in with the surprisingly clean-looking foam pipe insulation trick.



I got my trailer hitch rough-fitted. It's not so much for trailers; this is the mounting point for the boat tail. Have to do a bit more welding this week.

Next weekend I'll rudely interrupt the Flea's hibernation and evict it from the garage. And the Limo goes in for butt surgery.

[Daox]

Grill block looks good (and very familiar haha). Nice job on the hitch too!

[MetroMPG]

I'm going to say that even without a proper ABA test, the last bunch of mods seem to have made a noticeable (if small) difference.

I skipped off work today to go snowboarding -- SNOW DAY WOO!! -- and the Limo returned better numbers in much worse road & weather conditions than my last highway round trip. And I drove slightly faster too.

Makes me eager to get the tail on it and see how much better it can get!

[Vman455]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

...the Limo returned better numbers in much worse road & weather conditions than my last highway round trip.

Like, how much better?

[veemanmot16]

Kudos on all the modding you've done. Just read through the 7 pages of thread. Nice work, good luck with your next set of mods.

[MetroMPG]

Thanks.

--

It's not a big difference -- I'm talking about maybe 0.2 L/100 km, or in the neighbourhood of 2 MPG US. But the key was it happened in worse road & weather conditions & at a slightly faster cruising speed.

[MetroMPG]

The patient is prepped and in the surgical suite!

I mean... I got the tail-receiver welded up & bolted on the Limo this weekend. And I evicted the Firefly from the garage and moved the Prius inside.



Here the tail is on the receiver, but it needs nip & tuck and some other adjustments before I can completely secure it to the car. (Thus the support at its end.

I can confirm: the tail's width is bang on. The height looks very close too.

[Daox]

Wooo, nice teaser pic.