BarryInPA-Across the Divide (and back)

June 15
First day of 670 miles completed. Here is our goal– PA to San Jose and back, 7000+ miles, four weeks, camping half the nights- mostly in national parks, family of four including two teenagers. And they say this isn’t a family car! On the roof– four sleeping bags, four pads, two tents and four pair of hiking boots– 85 lb. Inside– four passengers totaling 550 lb. Plus cooler, stove, four backpacks with personal stuff, etc. Total weight close to the recommended maximum payload somewhere between 800 and 900 lb.

Our first day the weather was perfect– 60°F, a bit overcast, no wind, at least not for the first third of the day. Around noon the sun came out and temperature went up to 90° by the end of the day, so we did have the AC on for the last two-thirds of the day (For the obvious reasons, I decided not to skimp on the AC this trip). There was a slight breeze from the east later in the day. We also decided to simply set the cruise at 60 mph. Many would not have the patience for this. It was our choice.

Being fully loaded, and especially with the roof rack, I knew our mileage would suffer. I was optimistically hoping for 50 and would have been disappointed for anything under 45. First hour ended at 50.0. Then into the “mountains” of central and western PA the average dropped to 47.7, only to steadily increase from there. We ended the 475 mile tank at 54.1 (53.2 actual). Can you say, “Happy camper!”? We are now at a motel in Terre Haute, IN, 200 miles into our second tank and averaging 55.5 on this tank. The next two nights will be with friends in Hesston, KS.

Today’s driving was ideal. I do expect our mpg to be dropping, especially when we hit the Rockies, and I think our friends in CO are hoping to do Pikes Peak with us ….

June 20
Second update– currently at a campground near Divide, CO, elevation 9,600′.

2nd tank – 51.9 mpg
3rd tank – 49.0 mpg, slight headwind, light brief rain
4th tank – 46.2 mpg, headwind, KS to CO, 5,000′ elevation increase

Currently at 45.2 mpg halfway through 5th tank. We’ve done mostly mountain driving around the Divide area, including about 15 miles on rough dirt roads at 9′000′+. I was expecting the mileage to take a greater hit.

Something I’ve learned– tire psi increases 1 psi for every 2,000′ increase in elevation, which puts our Integritys at 48 psi here in Divide. This makes me think tire manufacturers must take this into consideration when setting their sidewall recomendations. I think I’ll feel more at ease running them a bit over 44 psi when in SE PA where we never go over 1,500′.

June 25
Third update— currently writing from a hotel in southwestern AZ. Hiked down and up the Grand Canyon yesterday and today. Incredible!

5th tank finished at 50.5 mpg
6th tank 48.5 mpg
7th tank currently at 49.8 mpg after 330 miles.

A few of the passes in CO pushed our loaded (weight, not options) Prius to what sounded like its limits. The CVT is generally great, but in these kind of situations the engine can start screaming pretty quickly. If you expect to cruise over such passes at 60 mph, you will be disappointed. I was satisfied with cresting some of these at 35 mph. Why choose 200 hp for the .1% of the time you could use it? I’d rather focus on the 99.9%. Patience is a virtue. I tried to keep the rpm’s below 4,000 on these climbs (ScanGuage II). On two of them the temperature went up to 205°F, which I felt was okay, until I remembered that water boils at around 190° F at that elevation. I’m not remembering how much antifreeze raises the boiling temperature. At the continental divide, Wolf Creek Pass, 10,850′ on Rte. 160, we met another Prius road tripper– a woman travelling alone for three months. Hers was packed inside, but unlike ours, her roof was empty. Despite bumping the limits, my oil level appears to be exactly the same as when I changed it almost 3,000 miles ago.

In response to an inquiry, yes, we are doing 60 mph on the interstates, even when the posted limits are 70 and 75. It does not seem to be a problem. In most states with this speed limit there is less traffic anyway. Neither have I noticed any frustrated drivers passing us. Btw, during many of my years in Germany I stuck to 100 kmh, with some passing me at twice that speed, so 15 or 20 mph difference does not seem so drastic.

Next stop Yosemite NP.

June 30
Fourth update— Following four nights camping in Yosemite National Park we are back in a motel– Stockton, CA. I just filled up our 9th tank on this trip. From here we are on to San Francisco, then San Jose for a church conference for the week. So we won’t be putting on many miles in the coming days, but the following week will be west coast to east coast. I’ll keep posting as I am able for the few of you who may be interested.

7th tank finished out at 51.4 mpg.
8th tank 46.7 mpg, entered Sierra Nevadas
9th tank 49.0 mpg, running up and down Yosemite sans roof rack. Ahhhhhh!

The above numbers I’ve been reporting are from the MFD. They are running about 1-2 mpg over the actual. I think we are about half way through our trip– 3,680 miles. We’ve used 75.211 gallons of gas, so our actual is 48.9 mpg. I am hoping the easterly winds may allow us to reach a final average of 50 mpg, maybe even the original EPA highway mileage of 51 mpg. But I’ll still be happy if it remains in the high 40’s.

I’ve heard some questions about whether it is right to drive below the speed limit. We do try to be sensitive to the other drivers on the road. There have been a few times when we have driven over 70 mph on this trip. I am also know others have needed to slow down because of us. I do not want to be a traffic hazard, but neither do I just want to swim with the stream– maybe this philosophy from other parts of my life are not beneficial with my driving, but it probably helps to allow me to not be too concerned about slowing others down at times. Also, the posted minimum speed limit is generally 45 mph.

July 8
Back on the road again….

Following a wonderful week in San Jose we got in a full day of driving yesterday– 675 miles, including through northern Utah where we saw numerous wildfires along I-80. At one point they were closing I-80 down in the other direction because the fire was right up to the road. We were glad to get through before the shut down.

We finished out two tanks yesterday as we came across the mountains–

10th tank – 47.6 mpg
11th tank – 48.4 mpg

Today another 475 miles to Yellowstone where we will be spending the next three nights.

July 10
We decided to leave Yellowstone a day early, not because we weren’t having a good time, but we decided to catch the rodeo in Coby, WY this evening. Just got back to the hotel from that and we all enjoyed it.

Tank 12 finished out at 50.2 mpg
Tank 13 was the best so far this trip at 54.8 mpg.

Tomorrow we head east towards I-90 and will cross Powder River Pass, elev. 9,666′.

We were admiring the rig of neighbors at our campground yesterday– Honda Goldwing with a cute little trailer with pop-up tent. I asked them about their mileage– 45 mpg without trailer, 30 mpg with trailer. They are on the road for three months. Sounds like fun! I didn’t ask them about their speed, but I doubt if they are sticking to 60 mph! And I image they cruise over the passes a bit faster than us. But we fly past the gas stations more often …..

I need to do a running total of our actual mileage. I think we are getting pretty close to 50 mpg.

July 12
Writing from just east of Chicago. Has anyone else done this? The four of us just spent 28 hours in our Prius– Cody, WY to Hammond, IN. So, a few more tanks to report–

Tank 14 – 52.0 mpg
Tank 15 – 47.6 mpg (10% ethanol, which generally lowers mpg 3-4%)
Tank 16 – 52.1 mpg

The above are from MFD, which I’ve experienced to be about 1.x mpg above actual. Current overall actual is 49.5 mpg with 6,736 miles driven and 136.076 gallons consumed. With only 700 miles left on our trip we will need an actual mpg of 55.4 mpg on these remaining miles to reach our goal of 50 mpg. We are hoping for winds from the west tomorrow!

Btw, Powder River Pass was not a challenge, the grades were gradual. The drive into Cody from the west was absolutely beautiful.

July 13
We are back in PA– Pittsburgh for our final night, only the length of the state to go tomorrow. We ran through a full tank today– 499 miles.

17th tank – 52.4 mpg.

So, we won’t make our hoped for 50 mpg overall actual, unless we have gale force winds from the west tomorrow. Unlikely!

—-

July 14
I’m trying to remember…. did we do this trip or not. We’ve only been home two hours and it is all starting to seem like a dream. But the big pile of wash tells me it was for real.

In response to a question, yes, we did stop at Wall Drug. The girls wanted buffalo burgers at some point, so that is where we checked that one off of our list. All those signs for free refreshing ice water and 5￠ coffee, but we didn’t find them there…, but neither did we look too hard.

I’ll get our final statistics in later this evening. Unfortunately no surprises. First another load of wash to hang out to dry….

—-

Final tank was actually only a half tank, #18 at 52.6 mpg.

Here are the totals–
7,494 miles
150.675 gallons of gas
actual mpg – 49.74
MFD average – 50.2 mpg

Prius worked flawlessly. Oil consumption is not measurable. Total miles on our ‘04 – 72,800. The trip was wonderful in so many ways, and the car’s performance was one of the delightful ones. If you are considering such a trip. Do it!