I decided to buy vwcorvette's Prius C. He has been super helpful and open about the condition of the car, so I'm eager to fly and get it. I don't even know which trim level it is, but even the #1 base trim has more bells and whistles than I'll likely use. It's blue, it's fuel efficient, and it runs. It gets better than the 15mpg that the Free Candy Van gets, and that's why I bought it.
Having never owned a hybrid before, what did I buy? I've driven some Prii before, but never really dove into how they function. I get the basics - battery, electric motors, 1NZ, and I think that the ICE engine also supplements the wheel torque and is more than just a generator, yes?
Either way, give me a primer on a 2012 Prius C.... A "post purchase guide" so to speak.
The skinny pedal makes it go.
The fat pedal slows it down.
That's about the full extent of knowledge it will require daily.
In reply to John Welsh :
And I put gas in the hole with the picture of the gas pump? I think I can handle that.
Buy this OBDII blue tooth adapter. Then download Torque Pro App and Dr. Prius App. You're gonna want those both.
If you want to dive even deeper, get a version of Toyota Tech Stream.
Congrats on the purchase by the way.
Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) said:
it's fuel efficient, and it runs.
Sometimes, I have to remind myself that these are really the only requirements I need in a car.
In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :
After all these years of Prius ownership I still forget to turn it off every now and then. I went to the shop the other night after super and there it was, happily idling away. I do that when it's using the electric motor in the driveway and I forget and just push park.
Yes the ICE motor does double duty as both a generator and a source of power to the wheels.
Good buy BTW. I was tempted even though I have zero use for it.
In reply to NermalSnert (Forum Supporter) :
Funny, just the other day I stopped at someones house and since it was cold I left the Prius running since I was just going to be in and out. With the Smart Key in my pocket this means that no one can drive the car anyway. Well, once inside, the information changed...
Four hours later, when I came out of the house I was wondering why my headlights were on...Oh yeah, I had left the car running. So, the car "ran" for 4 hours! But, not really running for 4 hours in that the engine would shut off once the heater was satisfied and then restart itself when the interior temp dropped. I had just bought gas and really didn't use much but my average for this tank of gas is running at 37 mpg rather than the usual 42.
B stands for Braking or more specifically engine braking. In a gear transmission this would be the equivalent of putting the trans in a lower gear when going down a steep grade. Aside from those times, you will have no need to put the car into "B gear"
One of the other things I'm trying to avoid is ruining it. Usually the first thing I do when I buy a vehicle is wheels and tires. I have a feeling I'm going to want to keep little tiny Wheels and skinny tires on it, which is the opposite of what I usually do
In reply to John Welsh :
Is the B regenerative, or just engine braking?
Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) said:
In reply to John Welsh :
Is the B regenerative, or just engine braking?
The car is always doing regenerative and it is possible that putting it in B will give a more pro-active regenerative. But, what I am not saying is that B gear will return better fuel economy. The best economy will be achieved in regular D gear.
Speaking of economy, I find that the best way to increase fuel economy is to not use the HVAC. The compressor seems to have a significant draw. Keeping it off via no AC or keeping it off via no Defrost returns the best MPG. Contrary to this, on the Gen2 at least, the common default is to set the HVAC to Auto(matic). However, this Auto setting runs the compressor often. So, what I'm saying is Auto is the easiest setting but it is not the setting that returns the best mpg.
I generally run mine in Auto. Set it to 69 degrees and it self adjusts to keep the interior at 69. That returns me 42 mpg all the time. However, if it is a prefect weather day like 55 degrees out where the sun coming through the glass will warm the interior and I can keep all HVAC off, it will return as high as 50 mpg.
In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :
Just engine braking. It also protects the regen system from overwork.
John Welsh said:
Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) said:
In reply to John Welsh :
Is the B regenerative, or just engine braking?
The car is always doing regenerative and it is possible that putting it in B will give a more pro-active regenerative. But, what I am not saying is that B gear will return better fuel economy. The best economy will be achieved in regular D gear.
Speaking of economy, I find that the best way to increase fuel economy is to not use the HVAC. The compressor seems to have a significant draw. Keeping it off via no AC or keeping it off via no Defrost returns the best MPG. Contrary to this, on the Gen2 at least, the common default is to set the HVAC to Auto(matic). However, this Auto setting runs the compressor often. So, what I'm saying is Auto is the easiest setting but it is not the setting that returns the best mpg.
I generally run mine in Auto. Set it to 69 degrees and it self adjusts to keep the interior at 69. That returns me 42 mpg all the time. However, if it is a prefect weather day like 55 degrees out where the sun coming through the glass will warm the interior and I can keep all HVAC off, it will return as high as 50 mpg.
In the Priuses I've driven, B mode gives you full regen as soon as you let of the gas pedal. When the battery gets close to full, it'll also spin the engine up for engine braking. I'm not sure if the Prius C does this, but on the gen2 if you're in B mode, once the engine starts, it will stay running even if it's just idling, the car won't shut it back off (even at stops).
When SWMBO had her Prius, the only time I found I used B mode was either to hold the car back on a long downhill, or occasionally in a spot that had a bunch of stop signs one after another.
On the gen2 at least, I remember being able to turn the A/C off with the system still in auto so it won't run the compressor, but the rest of the auto HVAC functions work normally.
Remember, the Prius C is not the same as the regular Prius. It's loosely based on the Yaris, so it's very different than a regular Prius. I've had a Prius C in my family for 4 years now. It was mine for 2.5 years and it's now my daughter's daily driver.
It's a fabulous appliance and I really miss it. It's slow as you'd expect from 99hp, but otherwise I love it. Easy controls, smooth ride, non offensive handling (far better than the regular Prius IMO), reliable as the sunrise. I got 45-60mpg depending on the route, etc... AC didn't have a huge impact on it, use it for your comfort. Let me know if you have any specific questions. I think you'll love it.
Well fortunately I live in a temperate climate, and spend the summers in Ontario, so my AC use is certainly not like if I lived in AZ or TX.
I don't mind slow. I take that back.... I hate slow, but even when I have a 550-hp monster, 95% of my driving is on the street, so it doesn't matter if it's 99hp or 550hp... both are "enough."
I always liked to use "B" mode in the Gen 3 Prius I had in heavy traffic where speed is always changing, otherwise I didn't use it as it wouldn't let the ICE turn off when not needed from memory.
To me the most interesting part of these cars is the CVT which isn't a CVT at all. It's a planetary gearset with clutches and two inputs, the ICE and the electric motor with the output driving the wheels. When electric only it's a 1:1 drive ratio, when the ICE kicks in the electric motor keeps spinning (regardless if it is regenerating or supplementing the ICE) and based on desired ICE rpm the electric motor varies its RPM to get the resultant drive ratio from ICE to wheels. Super simple/reliable mechanically with complicated controls to make it work seamlessly. I'm glad Ford was smart enough to work with Toyota to use this in their Hybrid's as well (my current work vehicle is an Escape Hybrid).
I don't know about a Prius C but these wheels were behind the hubcaps on our Prius V. Some quality time with a tooth brush and soft scrub and they cleaned up nice. Center caps off fleebay for about 15.00
11GTCS
SuperDork
2/28/25 1:00 p.m.
In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :
Welcome and congratulations. I had pointed that one out to my son but never got any feedback.
My wife's daily is a '22 Camry XSE hybrid and even that will get a legitimate 50 MPG for a tank (50.2 to be specific) during the summer months. That was using the AC and not really trying. I watched a bunch of the "Car Care Guru" videos when we first had it, he does a great job of describing how the hybrid system works. Be aware that's the only the start of the rabbit hole, you can really geek out once you start diving in.
In reply to NermalSnert (Forum Supporter) :
The various Priuses (save for base model Prius Cs with steelies and hubcaps) have generally had decent alloy wheels on them. The covers many of them have on the wheels (which are often a partial cover and not a full hubcap) are for aerodynamics, so at higher speeds you may see a slight loss of MPG by removing them.
SKJSS (formerly Klayfish) said:
Remember, the Prius C is not the same as the regular Prius. It's loosely based on the Yaris, so it's very different than a regular Prius. I've had a Prius C in my family for 4 years now. It was mine for 2.5 years and it's now my daughter's daily driver.
The first gen Prius, fittingly enough, was a Yaris. Well, an Echo, which is what the Yaris used to be called. It was almost indistinguishible from a 4 door Echo unless you knew exactly what you were looking at.
The Prius C is 4 lug wheels, like the Yaris. The larger Prius are 5 lug, like the recent Corolla.
The Prius C has the Gen 2 prius 1.5L motor- which is a good thing I think. Less issues than the Gen 3 1.8L motors.
sevenracer said:
The Prius C has the Gen 2 prius 1.5L motor- which is a good thing I think. Less issues than the Gen 3 1.8L motors.
It does, although the Prius C version is a little different in that it has no belt driven accessories (the gen2 does). They're generally good engines, although the one in SWMBO's Prius (gen2) was starting to burn a bit of oil (particularly on longer highway runs) towards the end. It was probably around 190k when I first noticed it. IIRC oil consumption is more of a typical issue on the 1.8 in the gen3.
sevenracer said:
The Prius C has the Gen 2 prius 1.5L motor- which is a good thing I think. Less issues than the Gen 3 1.8L motors.
That's one of the reasons I went with the C. More reliable motor, supposedly. Going to a regular Prius, I would have had to go back to 2008 to a Gen 2, and all the ones I was finding were insanely high mileage. Getting the C let me get one with a little more life but keep the 1.5L
