A RAV4 to go with the Prius?

[Spule 4]

Originally Posted by Spule 4

Where's Rondo? Haha!!

http://www.autoblog.com/2006/11/25/k...-and-reviewed/

Hmm, if you want a rear seat (7) gotta get the V6? Not enough power?

Hmm, 2,2l worked in the Voyager in 1984.......

[krousdb]

Very happy so far with the Rav 4. We had a weekend trip to the beach and turned in some impressive numbers. I filled up Thursday evening and brought her home with 38.x on the SG. The wife drove from Raliegh to Fayetteville with the kids and pup and picked me up at work at 5PM. The SG showed 33.x. On the segment from Fayetteville to Myrtle Beach, I drove and scored 34.5 for the 113 mile drive. Then 50 miles around town over the weekend at 32 MPG. Finnally, on the trip back to Fayetteville to pick up the Prius, I managed 37.4! Slight tailwind and 55-60 MPH speeds. We will be taking the RAV 4 to Pitt this weekend and I am going to try to keep the speed down to 65. Hoping for 30+.

[GasSavers_Brock]

How does SG comapre to actual pump mpgs? I like the sounds of these numbers. I really don't want to buy the Mazda 5

[krousdb]

At the first fill, the SG was over by about 3% or 1 MPG high. I went through the fillup procedure and adjusted the gallons to match what was pumped. The numbers reported for the weekend trip were after calibration so I assume that they are correct. I will be filling it up tomorrow. I will let you know if the calibration requires a further tweak.

Perhaps one of the reasons for the exceptional FE is the final drive ratio. At 60 MPH, the rpm's are only 2150.

[Silveredwings]

Originally Posted by krousdb

Perhaps one of the reasons for the exceptional FE is the final drive ratio. At 60 MPH, the rpm's are only 2150.

Cool. That's one of the many things I think is great about augmenting the ICE with an electric motor: torque and less dependency on the ICE's low end range. Is there ever a mode in the Prius that uses only the ICE?

[krousdb]

Originally Posted by Silveredwings

Cool. That's one of the many things I think is great about augmenting the ICE with an electric motor: torque and less dependency on the ICE's low end range. Is there ever a mode in the Prius that uses only the ICE?

Actually, I was speaking of the RAV 4. The Prius RPM's are much lower, around 1500 rpm at 60 MPH.

I find it difficult to explain exactly how things work between the ICE and motor, but I will give it a try anyway. The motor can propel the car with the ICE off up to about 41 MPH. At that point the motor has reached it's maximum safe RPM (around 8000 prm I think). Above 41, the ICE will begin rotating but may or may not consume fuel. When the ICE begins to rotate, the speed of the motor drops dramatically (power split) and the motor can continue to power the car from the battery. There are times when the display shows no power moving from the battery to the wheels. This is sometimes referred to as deadband. This would be the mode that you are referring to. Most of the time power is shown pulsing in and out of the battery.

[krousdb]

SG showed 29.5 MPG , 12.9 gallons. Gallons pumped was 13.43. I went thru the fillup sequence and the SG is now set to -9% down from -3%. I'm not at all impressed with the SG. It seems to be all over the place. So take 6% off of the numbers quoted above. Still, not too bad. We are on the road starting tomorrow with the RAV 4. Hopefully the calibration is nailed down now and I can still get a 33 MPG tank.

[Silveredwings]

Originally Posted by krousdb

Actually, I was speaking of the RAV 4. The Prius RPM's are much lower, around 1500 rpm at 60 MPH.

I find it difficult to explain exactly how things work between the ICE and motor, but I will give it a try anyway. The motor can propel the car with the ICE off up to about 41 MPH. At that point the motor has reached it's maximum safe RPM (around 8000 prm I think). Above 41, the ICE will begin rotating but may or may not consume fuel. When the ICE begins to rotate, the speed of the motor drops dramatically (power split) and the motor can continue to power the car from the battery. There are times when the display shows no power moving from the battery to the wheels. This is sometimes referred to as deadband. This would be the mode that you are referring to. Most of the time power is shown pulsing in and out of the battery.

Great info, thx.

[krousdb]

The drive to Pitt thru the mountains took it's toll. 28.5 MPG for 530 miles with CC set to 65. Temps were lower 40'sF and I had a 10 MPH headwind.

The trip back was much better. The temps were about 5F lower than the trip up and the winds to begin with were 10-15 MPH sidewinds. For the first 300 miles I managed 30.1 MPG at 65 using DWL instead of Cruise Control. When I filled up at Wytheville, VA I noticed that the sun came out and the winds has changed to a 5-10 MPH tailwind. I rode that tailwind and a -1700ft elevation delta to a 34.9 MPG for the next 225 miles. Not a bad start to that tank. Tomorrow it's off to the beach where I would expect to hold onto the lower 30's.

[SVOboy]

for an SUV that's not alllll that bad. Now just slap an EV drivetrain in there...