LED Light solution for main compartment under center console

Since the main compartment under the central console is completely dark during the night and not even the reading lights can help, and since Toyota has thought that adding 2 LEDs for the footwell illumination was absolutely necessary, while instead digging with your hand in the compartment underneath the console guessing where your stuff is, while driving, is perfectly OK, I took matters in my hands and found a neat lighting solution, see pics for details. What do you think?
You can find more detail about the OSRAM DOT-it LED Light solution I used here.
I used the velcro solution to attach it (included from OSRAM), so that I can also use the light elsewhere in the car if necessary.
Where I put the LED light was the only section of plastic flat enough to keep the light stay put – everywhere else the plastic is too rounded and you do need a flat surface to put the DOT-it.

Driving the Prius 2010 on a German Autobahn…

I have been driving from Munich to Offenburg yesterday, via Stuttgart. All in all 370km/230mi (90% highway) in about 4,5hrs, avg. speed 80-85km/h-(50-52mph) as reported by the computer (I don’t remember the exact value, sorry).

The traffic was really thick (Friday afternoon…) and because of the expansion of the Autobahn A8 from 2 to 3 lanes (yes, you read correctly, 3, not 6 or 7 – we are not there yet, but we are doing our best to copy the US, and filling those lanes with SUV like vehicles ). The whole of the A8 is hilly with steep declines (up to 6%) and inclines. There are simply no tunnels and it’s all up and down…not many flat sections…

About 1hr of the whole driving time, was spent in stop&go traffic jams, mainly due to roadworks and heavy traffic. The rest of the time I was driving as fast as I could: after all I live in Germany, let’s have fun sometimes and more over I wanted to see how the Prius was doing at high speeds. When no speed limit was given (typically there is a 120km/h-75mph limit over a good third of the way and 80km/h-50mph one in all roadwork sections), I was going anything slower than 150km/h-93mph and as fast as 190km/h-118mph.

The overall stability was good but not excellent – I am driving now with winter tires (195/55 R16), instead of the 215/45 R17 – so this is certainly one limiting factor. I have tried driving 190km/h already once with the 215 summer tires and the stability is excellent.

Acceleration is OK but not that exciting – but mainly I was chased from 2.0+L BMWs/Mercedes and the such with 150+HP at least. I was never chased by a Golf or other mid-sized car. Surely the Prius is not a Ferrari, but you need to push it to get juice out of it (at least at these speeds). Often you press the gas and “nothing” happens. The eCVT likely doesn’t help, but I cannot imagine shifting gears at these speeds, it doesn’t make any sense – you really need HP and torque (if any left….). The engine gets quite noisy and the HSI is no indication of what are the RPMs of the ICE and if you are melting it down The HSI bar might not be in the red PWR zone, you are doing 180km/h-111mph going uphill and the engine is roaring, but you have no clue whether you are in the red rpm zone….. Comically enough, I never really had to floor the accelerator, but honestly I was afraid of having the ICE jump out of the car…

I used PWR mode all the time, not because the car goes any faster, but simply because on German highway, people do drive fast – no only in terms of overall speed, but also in terms of reaction times. When there is a chance to go faster, they will do it. No grannies here! So you need to accelerate fast, and PWR Mode gives you better reaction to the foot. After arriving in Offenburg I had to keep the PWR mode on as my foot got so used to it, that normal mode felt like ECO!!!

What I noticed is that the battery charges continuously – the ICE is running so much and at max power that it can generate traction power, power for the generator and power for the electric motor. The batter was charging while the motor was driving the wheels at the same time. This has been the only time that I have ever seen the battery of my Prius fully charged, even if for just a short period of time. Most of the time it was 70%-80% full. Having a full battery was really helpful when stuck in a traffic jam or at lower speeds as I could coast in electric mode most of the time.

So now the main question is – what was the average fuel consumption, including 25km/15mi in town before leaving Munich???? 10L/100km-23MPG? No. 8L/100km-29MPG? No. It was just 6L/100km-39MPG. I am honestly impressed.

This also means that if I drive it more slowly (say 140km/h-87mph), I would probably get 5L/100km-47MPG. And that for a german autobahn *is* impressive. I would never get that on the Polo diesel I got before. I have also tested today going 150km/h-93mph more or less constantly, and you do get 7L/100km-34mpg average.

A good reason for driving slower though, is to reduce the stress on the suspensions and overall on the drive train. German highway are indeed flat and quite good taken care of, but any tiny bump at these speeds is truly heavy on the suspensions. The last thing I want is to change something in 4-5 years time due to fast driving. I wonder if I have not already compromised some mechanical part (I am already imagining cracks and mini-fissures crawling up metal parts in the suspensions…. my poor Prius!)

I will drive back this Sunday I will post my findings on this thread. So, overall good, not a Ferrari and certainly not an “easy/comfortable” german highway car. On more relaxed highway trips though (140km/h max), it is certainly a good comfort car with (likely) excellent fuel consumption especially if helped by some traffic jams…

2 Months with the Prius – first impressions

After about 2 months I can finally write a bit about my new Prius – a sort of review.

Let get straight to it. The only thing that I would like to mention before starting, is that the car I had before was a “small” diesel car, a VW Polo with 1.4L Turbo Diesel Engine, with 75 HP and weighing 1250 kgs. I was used in getting an overall average of 5-5,6L/100km in town and anything between 4.2-4.4 to 6.5L/100km on my daily commute. My expectations on the Prius were not to get, of course, the advertised city consumption average of 4.0L/100km, but rather at least the same consumption as the Polo. At the same time I was glad to have a bigger, more confortable and more powerful car.

All these goals, have been fully met with the Prius, and much more. So what does driving a Prius mean?

First and foremost, it means SILENCE, complete utter silence, even when the engine is running. Granted, if you are flooring it, you do hear the engine, but otherwise it is pure bliss. The Prius rejoices you with the everyday traffic: traffic jams have become (wasted, in any case) time to relax in a quiet and comfortable interior, while not consuming a single drop of gasoline. During mid-low speeds, one “glides” through the traffic, not simply rolling, but aware that a powerful but silent electric engine, is pushing the car through – almost like on a sail ship. Driving a Prius, is definetely a relaxing experience.

The Prius is certainly a relaxing car, but…it is not a “granny’s car”, quite on the contrary – on normal mode it does “move” – you give gas and it glides effortlessly through traffic – granted, the engine must make some extra noise sometimes, but it is not a slow paced car. Certainly you can drive it slowly, even with ECO mode on, but normally, it does show its 136HPs without being shy. And when you set PWR mode, you literally “fly”. Maybe because one is used to drive a Prius always taking care of fuel consumption, or maybe because the accelerator pedal is mapped in a less responsive way in the other modes, or because the motor management changes the valve timing of the VVT engine or the fuel injection or the delivery of current to the electrical engine – I don’t know really what it does, but all of a sudden you have HPs coming out of “nowhere” – you sprint at traffic lights like a “rocket” and on the highway you can accelerate with visible reaction even at high speeds (130-150km/h).

Stability is excellent – it never rocks like a boat, even with the automatic gearshift – you never roll or the feel of it. Maybe it’s the 215/45R17 wheels (and with the winter tires 195/55R16 is the same) or the overall design of the car improved stability: you always feel safe and exactly where you want to be. The previous Prius model was not at all like this and it was one of the main reasons I didn’t change car back then and waited an additional 2 years before this new version came out.

Fuel consumption: I get anything from 3.3L/100km in town up to 7.5L/100km. I have achieved without any particular effort and driving normally (i.e. not in “granny mode”, an average of 5L/100km for a 800km round trip on a hilly highway. 4.7L/100km is what I got so far in “city” commute driving: it is not a pure 50km/h max city driving, rather a mix of short highway, stop & go, traffic lights, mid-speed cruising around 60-80km/h. The Prius is currently consuming in my daily commute slightly more (0.2L/100km) than the Polo. Yes, but the Polo consumption was measured in August, while the current fuel consumption measurement of the Prius is the average of over the months of September and October: the engine sometimes needs to warm up when at stand still in a jam or at a traffic light as it gets cold not being used continuously. Spring next year will really show a bigger difference, I am sure. Not mentioning also that the Polo was 7 years old and the Prius brand new and hardly through its break-in period of 2500km…

Electric driving??? Yes, sure – and when you least expect it. A full hybrid car does have its marked advantages, compared to a mild hybrid like the Honda Civic or a normal car (even with start/stop): 1) you can drive into parking lots without using a single drop of fuel; 2) you can glide up to 100-110km/h or more (depending on terrain, wind, battery charge) with the electrical motor giving just enough impulse to push the car ahead with constant speed (and 0L/100km fuel consumption); 3) you can move the car when looking for a parking spot without ever turning the engine on; 4) you can avoid stinking the place (e.g. garage, parking lot, etc.); 5) you don’t care about traffic jams and traffic lights, it’s now “only” a waste of time, but not necessarily money. The most weird thing about being electric/hybrid, and only now I am getting used to it, is the weird sensation you get when turning the Prius on and then starting driving it out of its parking spot. You are so used to heat an engine running when moving a car, that sometimes I found myself wondering “did I turn it on?” – “How can it move? I did not turn it on – I don’t hear “brum, brum from the engine” ” is it all right here?”…. To me this has been a true revolution in driving experience.

But all things, Prius included, are not necessarily perfect.

Things that should be improved:

1. it is practically impossible to understand where the front of the car ends – I have also tried to find reference points having a friend showing me where the car physically ends standing outside and pointing me where the bonnet ends, but without success – simply said, you have *no* clue of how long is the car and whether you will bump it or not in your next parking manoeuvre….
2. Visibility in the rear….as long as it is not raining, all OK – yes, it is not a cinema screen, but you still see if you are about to run down a cyclist or see a car approaching or bumping the car behind you when parking; where the glass ends, the car ends – so there is little guessing there. But if it rains and it is dusk or night *and* it is raining,  OMG, you’re out of luck; simply said, you don’t see “anything”, especially if what’s behind you doesn’t come with a light (examples: children, pedestrians, bicycles that *should* have a light, etc.) – the rain drops disperse the light and all you see is simply “light” and no detail at all. You have no clue from where or whom the light comes from (“behind” is your best guess), and simply pray you are not running down anybody or hitting somebody else’s car…

Things that need fixing (defects): actually I have found only one so far…though in working order and not a show-stopper, the reception of the FM radio is far less than stellar; tuning on the same radio station, while driving on the same roads at the same time of day, simply sounds worse, more disturbed, with pop/click sounds and other similar “radio noise”, compared to my Polo – you simply cannot listen to more than 10secs of noise free radio. Considering how old the FM radio technology is, and how good the overall sound system is (it is actually pretty good), it is a complete shame. The antenna is shorter than my previous car, but was used on another car and is fine. I used a longer antenna, and I could not notice any difference. It seems therefore that the noise is injected after the signal gets amplified or during the amplification and before it reaches the final amplifier. There is no noise to be heard when hearing to CDs, MP3s or my iPod. I filed a complaint with Toyota and had the car checked by my dealer and everything is working order. It is clearly a design issue that only Toyota can fix. Several US Prius drivers have reported the same problem. I understand though that Toyota needs more statistics before it can really acknowledge the problem and try to fix it.

Today, my last day with my Polo and the history of cars

Tomorrow I will get my new Prius – and start a new era in driving.

After 7 years of service, my old Polo will be bought back by the Toyota dealer and God knows where it will end. Somehow, tough,  I will not miss it much…

What to expect from the new Prius

I expect to save fuel especially:

• while looking for a parking spot in the road where I live
• because the ICE will always run at the max efficiency under the control of the computer and due to the lack of a manual gearshift (actually the Prius has no gearshift at all)
• in case I need to do an unavoidable short trip (3-5 km)
• when standing in a moving traffic jam/stop’n'go on the highway

I expect to have a:

• silent ride as the ICE is mostly off or running at low rpms and because of the lack of gearshift
• stress free ride, especially in town and traffic jams, because I don’t have to shift gears anymore and because the Prius computer will always choose the best combination of ICE and electric engine in relation to the position of the accelerator and speed, to achieve max fuel efficiency – now it’s up to me to choose exactly what to do
• more secure ride, since with the heads-up display I will hardly need to take my eyes off the road

Other than that, all the changes and improvements one gets in a 7 year younger car, compared to my current Polo, will surely bring a much better ride experience

PS: delivery is expected starting from Wednesday this week…

Euro NCAP Rating available for new Prius 2010: 5 stars!

The Euro NCAP ratings for the new Prius have been published. You can find them here.

The Prius 2010 got a 5 star rating (maximum rating).

A video showing the impacts to evaluate the rating can be found here.

Landing expected by end of September

Fresh news today from the dealer. My car should arrive between Sep. 16th – Sep. 21st and be ready after registration and installation of car alarm, by no later than the end of the month (about 3-7 days after arrival at the dealer, that is). Counting the days now….

Driving silently and the problem with the pedestrians…is it really a problem?

I was walking today with my iPod and music in my ears, with plug-in headphones. Practically you cannot hear any thing surrounding you. A Prius in EV mode only or a normal car would approach, I could have never heard it.

Therefore I was walking with particular attention and *watching* a lot around me when crossing a street since I did not have *any* audible clue from cars and traffic, only visible ones.

So, I asked myself – what would be the problem with the Prius? as a normal pedestrian, you *have* to watch – if you are thinking at something and your mind is elsewhere, audio clues from an approaching car will not help. When driving a “normal” car, I still see pedestrians that have no clue that I am approaching, though my engine is making some noise. And if these pedestrians have headphones, quite common nowadays, it is even worse.

So I don’t really think that I will have to drive the Prius with any more attention compared to today when driving my normal “noisy” car. I always make sure that pedestrians are looking at me “in the eyes”, literally, that they make eye-contact and realise fully that I am there, before doing anything (steering, accelerating), and give a little friendly honk to remind them that *they* are on the street, not me driving on the sidewalk…

Adding a beep to the Prius, like for trucks while in reverse, will not do much at all in my opinion. Trucks are very noise, and still they need a beep in order not to run down people while doing *reverse*. If the Prius beeps, while driving *forwards*, and pedestrians are with their heads someplace else, there is nothing avoiding them to be run over by *any* car.

PS: my Prius is expected to arrive end of Sep./ beg. of October…

Differences in trims and options

Heads-up display is standard on all version sold in Europe. It is not sold on any version in the US – why?

TMPS (Tire pressure monitoring system) is available in the US (I think it is compulsory by law), but not available at all in Europe.

Fog-lights are standard in EU on all models. Not in the US.

LED headlights are available as standard equipment only on the most expensive Prius “Executive” trim in Germany (base price 28,250€). This trim also includes as standard equipment: 17″ Alloy wheels, water repellant side windows, 8 speaker  stereo (JBL? not know what manufacturer’s speakers are used), BT handsfree, automatic headlights (that is *not* standard on most cars sold in EU – why not?), rain sensor, 6x CD-changer, automatically moving internal mirror (to avoid being blinded by headlight of following car), Smart-Key entry on both front doors and trunk.

Do you know any other notable differences between models sold in EU, US and Asia/Australia?

October: counting the days

I was informed today by the Toyota dealer that I will get my Prius likely in October, rather than later in November or December…

Yes! They will communicate me a more firm date in the next days.