Prius Camping with the 17' Bass Boat

[hayden55]

Prius didn't blow up. Two people. Two coolers. All the camping gear. 29 mpg there and back essentially towing up and down mountains with a 60 mph speed limit. Lots of fun!
I think people in my part of the state are starting to recognize the combo. lol
Hoping to end up on Jalopnik eventually.

[redpoint5]

Love it. Any idea the total weight?

Too bad boats can't easily be turned around the other way when towing. A Bow-tail would be more aero than a sturn-tail.

I've moved everything from an apartment to a house last month using a 4x8 trailer, and have made lots of trips to buy used furniture and appliances. Heaviest load was probably a king size bedroom set made of solid wood. Just the headboard alone was heavy for 2 guys to move. No idea what the weight was, but 1 of my 2 straps broke while on the freeway. The harmonics of the wind was just right to cause it to melt through. I tied the strap back together and continued on without further issue.

[hayden55]

Hmm...
300lb of people.
300lb of stuff.
900lb boat.
I know what you mean by turning it around but the mod v nose on this boat seems to almost get better gas mileage towing than my 15 foot square nose. Interesting huh? lol

For braking I still just used regen brakes the entire time.

[Vman455]

Are those skirts over your rear wheels? Did I miss a post on those?

I just made a Goodwill run with 4 large plastic totes full of books, two floor speakers, and two floor lamps. It always amazes me how much this car can swallow.

[hayden55]

Lesson learned with wheel covers. ONLY buy the ones that go under your lug nuts. I of course lost one and had to balance it out by just running two of them on the rear.

[redpoint5]

A cover over the open part of the boat would go a long way towards improving FE too.

My Prius is really straining to tow my empty 4x8 trailer with the walls up, but hardly notices when the trailer is nearly full to the top. That open cavity really creates drag.

[hayden55]

Originally Posted by redpoint5

A cover over the open part of the boat would go a long way towards improving FE too.

My Prius is really straining to tow my empty 4x8 trailer with the walls up, but hardly notices when the trailer is nearly full to the top. That open cavity really creates drag.

100% true.
I ordered a nice cover but it was for a much wider beam and I haven't felt like towing with it yet. I need to just call and swap it for one that fits.
I think on my 15 footer i went from 28mpg to 34 mpg with a cover at 65 mph.

[redpoint5]

5 MPG improvement from a cover is about what I was estimating. On my Prius, the difference is like operating at 3/4 throttle on the freeway compared to 1/2. Very noticeable. Maybe I'll pay closer attention next time to be a bit more objective.

[hayden55]

Originally Posted by redpoint5

5 MPG improvement from a cover is about what I was estimating. On my Prius, the difference is like operating at 3/4 throttle on the freeway compared to 1/2. Very noticeable. Maybe I'll pay closer attention next time to be a bit more objective.

Imagine converting that to drag coefficient from standard mpg considering my frontal area didn't change. and weight only increased by 29%.
On that route I would normally get 55-60 mpg.

[Ecky]

Highly enjoyed this post.

I wish I had more confidence in my Insight's hitch. I may try to reinforce it, but given the entire car is made of thin aluminum sheet metal, I'm reluctant to overdo it. When I'm pulling a trailer (especially with some weight) I'm very cautious about how I accelerate and decelerate.