prius and steep grades

[dps]

Hi, i'm new to the forum. my wife and i are about to purchase a new car for her. we pretty much have it narrowed down between Camry and Prius.

one question, although we live in Florida, we do often vacation and drive the steep roads in North Carolina (not talking about 4 wheel driving, just regular highways which sometimes get really steep for a bit).

how do the hybrids do on a steep grade?

Note: i'm not talking about pulling a trailer or anything, just loaded with 2 occupants and some luggage.

thanks for any info,
David S - Tampa, FL

[tai]

First off, I have a 95 Prius and we love it, 85,000 miles. The car does fine on grades, but the engine is a small 4 cylinder supplimented by the electric motor, so on the steeper grades there is a fair amount of engine noise. Suggest you try to rent one for a day and drive it around. That's what we did and it sold us on the car. Enterprise here rents them (Austin, Tx) for about $25 per day. Good luck!

[baumbr]

I just finished an overnight test drive of an '06 Prius. I commute from Heber City to Salt Lake City, UT, everyday, 40 miles each way and cross 2 mountain passes as high as 7,700 feet. Heber is at 5,600 feet and Salt Lake is at 4,200 feet. The grade from Salt Lake to Parley's Summit is 6% to 8% and gains 3,500 feet in about 15 miles.

The Prius climbed the grade easily at 60 mph. I didn't go faster because it was snowing and the road was getting a bit tricky and it wasn't my car. Even with stock tires the car has amazing traction and stability.

I have lived in N.C. and the car should handle any grade you find in the Smokey "Hills" as well as it does the grades we find here in the Rocky Mountains.

I put 120 miles on the car during my test session and it gave great power and response everywhere I went. When I returned it to the dealer the computer said we averaged 45.8 mpg. Probably would have done better had I been able to use the cruise control.

Brent

[remonical]

David, I live in Kansas, but I've taken my 2004 Prius to the high mountains of Colorado once (touring around Buena Vista) and to California three times using US 54 Wichita to Tumcumcari then I40 etc. on to LA and Bakersfield. No really big mountains, but the Prius performed like a charm. Plenty of snap and a pleasure to drive. No problms at all! The only negative aspect was on the long drawn-out, steeper grades, it seemed that the engine ran a little fast, but then I'm comparing it to a Buick Roadmaster 5.7 L. that made the same trek several times. To me, it is a great performer that keeps up with the biggies on the freeway - not to mention the 48 mpg average for over 3400 miles!!! One of those trips, we had three adults and two fairly large kids. Needless to say, that luggage space in back was over filled, but it all worked out!

Dick Monical

[sotol]

Just made a trip from San Antonio to Los Angeles and back again and the '08 Prius never faltered on some pretty steep grades. I wouldn't worry about mountain hiways. Good luck

[EugeneC]

I find that partial throttle works a lot better than full throttle. Full throttle seems like the battery boost is bypassed. At partial throttle it goes up any hill without problems often times passing non hybrid cars. I have been over the continental divide about 6 times and have never had a problem exceeding the speed limit that I can remember.

gene

[SFTundraMan]

hills and grades are no problem at all. I am in SAN Francisco and we have some monster hills and every test drive goes perfectly up the hill

[tacomatrdsport2591]

[quote=tai;580811] I have a 95 Prius

hehe...95

too bad they werent around back then that woulda kickd butt. just thought id poke my head in and say...power to prius!!!!

its a smart car and it handles grades and inclines well. go for it man!