For those who are interested, this is a report on my first long trip (total 400 miles)in my Aqua Prius, which included going over a 4,800 foot pass through the Cascade Range to the high desert in Eastern Oregon this past weekend.<br><br>Throughout the trip there were 2 riders (my son and I) plus some gear, so total payload weight was probably 300 lbs. We started with an odometer reading of 600 miles, so having finished the break-in period, I decided to drive it completely normally, including highway speeds averaging about 70 mph. Average over the mountains was probably 50 mph.<br><br>I am very pleased to say that the Prius performed very well the entire trip. I tried accelerating on uphill grades near the summit and was easily able to hit 70+ mph while the "Current" graph on the right of the Consumption screen showed peak use at about 20 MPG, and overall MPG on the last half hour or so approacing the summit averaged about 35 MPG.<br><br>The fun really began on the downhill slopes, especially on the return trip when the net elevation loss was about 4,000 feet from the summit. I got so many yellow "E" stars I almost passed out! Interestingly, prior to this trip I did mostly home-school-work commuting in Portland and averaged about 43.8 MPG. By the time we got back from the trip the average had increased to about 48 MPG over a total odometer of 1,000 miles.<br><br>We took the trip to meet up with a group of university professors and students (mostly electrical engineers) for a project. It was really fun to watch their reaction to the Prius because they quickly grasped what an engineering marvel it is, especially the Hybrid System "brain". Several thanked me for buying the Prius to enable Toyota to pursue the technology further, thinking that it must have cost a mint. When I told them the price their jaws hit the high desert sagebrush faster than you could say "regenerative". I think Toyota just found 6 more customers. (We Prius fans should get commissions, eh?)<br><br>One last observation. I've been watching my own reaction to the consumption screen and the psychology is very clever. We all know about the addictive nature of TV and computer screens. With the Prius screen, the bar graph, the running average, the little yellow stars are all a form of cyber-reward for people who(like you and me) are motivated to burn less fossil fuels, and the result is that I really do drive more conservatively and coast a lot more than I used to in order to get more rewards. I admit I'm Pavlov's dog. I turn off the screen sometimes, but in time my curiosity overcomes and I just have to find out how I'm doing. It's a great psychological tool to change the modern driver's behavior.

I also like the consumption screen. Some of my highest MPG comes w/o any yellow stars; I guess it means I'm cruising steady. Haven't decided yet whether to reset the MPG calculation trip-by-trip, tankful-by-tankful, or keep a lifetime average.

Thanks for the great mountain road trip report, "pulehu_ribs"! We'll be doing a similar trip in our Prius this coming weekend, when we travel to Lake Tahoe in the Sierra Nevada mountains on the CA/NV border.<br><br>Since the elevations reach more than 7,000 feet in the Tahoe region, the round-trip from the San Francisco East Bay area should be a great "test" of the Prius hybrid design. I'll report back after we get return home on the 21st.<br><br>This week, the first snow flurries hit the Tahoe region. Just a few inches here and there, but enough to prompt me to buy some "cable" style tire chains today. I hope we don't have to use them, but it's better to be prepared than not.<br><br>- Peter<br>(I'm considering resetting the Prius consumption screen just before heading downhill when we leave Tahoe and head West. It's kinda a cheating way to get a high all-time average, but I may not be able to resist! &lt;g&gt;)

(I'm considering resetting the Prius consumption screen just before<br> heading downhill when we leave Tahoe and head West. It's kinda a<br> cheating way to get a high all-time average, but I may not be able to<br> resist! &lt;g&gt;) <br><br>Peter - I accidentally did the same thing during the trip I wrote about. The screen was a tad dusty so I wiped it but forgot to turn it off first - duh . . . so it was reset just before a long downhill glide. For a few minutes my MPG were off the chart, literally. That was fun. Have fun on your trip to Tahoe and looking forward to the report!

I just got my white Prius last week and took it on it's first trip my 3rd day. The trip was almost 300 miles of SoCal freeways. Huntington Beach to Pasadena to Palm Springs and back to HB. The load was 2 people, golf clubs laptop, books and suit cases.<br><br>Travel speeds were 65 to 80 with about 40 minutes of rush hour stop and go thrown in. The whole tank average so far is 43.8 which includes a couple of trips to work. I should make it to Friday of this week before needing the second tank.<br><br>The car ran great at sustained 80mph. At these speeds I was able to string up about 15 minutes at over 55mpg but I was not earning any power pills on the screen.<br><br>I found the car to ride much larger and smoother than you would expect. Also much quieter inside than my 97 F150 Lariat(now for sale). I kind of miss the gauges, as you can't tell if things are starting to heat up until they trip the light which did'nt happen.<br><br>I drive about 30,000 miles per year and will undoubtedly be giving high mile updates soon.

&gt;&gt;&gt;I just got my white Prius last week... The car ran great at sustained 80mph.&lt;&lt;&lt;<br><br>You didn't know about the break-in period, or had already put on 600 miles?

I had about 600 miles on it already. Filled up the first tank since purchase today. Computer said 43.2 mpg. Actual calculated out to 47.8. That's 4 times higher than the truck used to be.

Another mountain vacation road trip:<br><br>Our Prius and the two of us left El Cerrito, CA (at sea level on the San Francisco Bay) at around 2:30 PM and arrived around 6:30 PM in Incline Village, Nevada (elevation 6,530 ft.) on the north shore of Lake Tahoe. <br><br>About 45 minutes West of I.V., we travelled up and over the Donner Summit Pass, which is approx. 7,200 ft. elevation.<br><br>Our "payload" was 2 adults (approx. 275 lbs. total) and a _full_ trunk and rear seat: 2 folding deck chairs, a week's worth of groceries, small ice chest, two small suitcases, an expresso maker (!), winter coats & boots, laptop computer, camcorder & camera equipment, rain gear, umbrellas, books, magazines & mail order catalogs, soup pot & garlic press, and God knows what else!<br><br>The first 75 miles of the trip were the last portion of the Prius' 600 mile break-in period, during which I carefully keep the speed at 62 MPH or less. This produced, on a mostly level freeway, approx. 55 MPG mileage. The air conditioner was on "Auto"/75 degrees, and the outside temp was around 81 degrees F. At the 600 mile point we let out a big cheer, but only raised the speed to approx. 65-70 MPH, and watched the mileage slip to approx. 52 MPG. (No surprise there.)<br><br>Northwest of Sacramento, CA when we reached the first foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountain range, and the MPG gradually started going down, but the Prius had no trouble keeping up with traffic. I'd say that the same number of cars were passing us as the number of cars and trucks we were passing. The MPG settled down to 42 MPG and stayed there (plus or minus 1 or 2 MPG) for the rest of the trip as we climbed towards Donner Summit. The air conditioner was off during this latter part of the trip, because the outside temps were down in the 60's once we hit the foothills.<br><br>There was approx. 6 inches of fresh snow from last week on many of the hills & mountain sides as we reached the +5K foot level, but US Route 80 was dry.<br><br>The ride down the mountain from the Summit down to the lake level was fun! Lots of "B" mode driving, several "off the chart" 5-min. segments, and several groups of 2 & 3 yellow "50WH" stars.<br><br>The final stats for the trip from San Francisco Bay to Incline Village are: 194 miles @ 44.6 MPG (according to the Prius' LCD screen.)<br><br>The ride was very smooth and comfortable! I really appreciated the continuosly variable automatic transmission driving up those long grades. Much more pleasant than other automatics I've driven. Enjoyed listening to tunes on the CD player -- I like the way it sounds (although new speakers are always a possibility.)<br><br>We have a great view of Lake Tahoe from our rental condo. There's a fire in the fireplace, and the stars are out. Temps will go down into the low 30's tonite. This will be our Prius' first night outdoors (poor thing!) and the coolest temps it's experienced. We don't plan on doing much driving while we're here -- I'm planning on doing a lot of sleeping, reading, eating and relaxing!<br><br>However, I'm already looking forward to our drive home. I can't wait to do all those long hills in "B" mode! If I rack up lots of green bars and yellow stars I'll try to take a photo.<br><br>Oh, and if we get snow (!) while we're here I plan on driving in it just to try it out, and I'll let you know how the Prius handles. Drive safe, everybody!<br><br>- Peter

Peter -<br><br>Thanks for the trip diary to Lake Tahoe (you lucky devil!) Sounded very similar to my trip last weekend over the Cascades, although I think you drove a little slower and got (of course) slightly better MPG. I am curious about snow handling so please do report back if you encounter some.