the pearl princess

About 1 month ago, I finally got a 2012 Toyota Prius in Blizzard Pearl Trim II.  This is the first car that I have had brand new and she'll be a keeper.  This is their least equiped trim level from the factor so it does not have navigation, standard sound system instead of the JBL premium, and comes with standard bluetooth phone/audio.  I'm ok with that.  It did come with tint, floor mats, and Toyoguard Elite.

To trim II level to what I want, here's my strategy for tackling the gap.

I am using the new GoogleMaps app on the iPhone5 which has turn by turn voice direction and is pretty much just as good as a Garmin Nuvi.  Additionally, the GoogleMaps app has live traffic and lifetime maps.

The basic factory sound system is actually pretty good.  The only thing it really lack is capturing lower frequencies.  Therefore, I will be looking to add an amp and subwoofer to compliment the stock tunes.  For simplicity, chose a powered sub package.

As this time, I just installed an 8 inch Bazooka basstube 2 days ago.  The installation was a piece of cake as taking apart the dash to get behind the radio took only about 10 minutes and about 3 to put everything back together.  It's amazing how cars these days are held together by clips.  Also, the Prius 12v battery was located in the trunk making the power and ground cable easy to install.  I ordered a wiring harness so that I would not have to modify any of the stock wiring.  I only had to splice together a few wires to get the sub to pump out the tunes.  I'm a little disappointed in the output of the bazooka.  I was expecting alot more from it.  The sound is actually very clean, however it seems that it's not caputring everything that it should.

Current items used for the install:
1. Bazooka BTA-8250D basstube
2. Bazooka FAST-1761 wiring harness
3. Bazooka FAST BTAH harness extension

I am not looking to install an amp, single subwoofer and build a custom box.
I'm looking at the following items:
1. Kenwood KAC-8105D mono amplifier
2. Alpine SWS-10D2
I'm choosing this specific type of amp because it will allow me to use the Bazooka wiring harness without splicing in a line out converter to run RCA wires.

Now onto the actualy Prius driving experience.  Driving the prius is like playing a video game.  There is a Hybrid System Indicator (HSI) screen this tells you which motor (electric or/and fuel) is currently being used.  The goal is to have it west or to the left of the middle line.  There are other driving technique such as pulse and glide that help with improving fuel economy.  The cool thing is that you can program the car with the current gas price and at the end of each driving trip, there is a summary which includes the cost of that drive.

I'm now looking into inpliment a grill blocking stragetry to improve fuel economy during the winter season.  The hybrid system has an optimal engine operating temperature.  However, driving allows for the ambient air temp to lower the engine temp keeping the engine form reaching its optimal operating temp.  Grill blocking allows the heat produced by the motor to stay without really dropping down with the ambient air temp while driving.

To date, I have has 2 gas fill-ups where the 1st tank I average 51.7 mpg and the second- 53.1 mpg.  Not too bad as the engine has just reached its break-in period and I am still learning efficient driving strategies.  I am hoping that the winter-blend fuel doesn't take a huge toll on my fuel economy and banking on the fact of using the grill blocking technique.

I'll report back soon to let you know how things go.

All in all I am very excited to have the car and really love it.  I think the car looks great and is a perfect fit for our needs.

Modifications to date:
1. removed plastic rim covers (removed the 1st night it was taken home)
2. high quality plastic/rubber all weather cargo liner/mat (christmas gift from the wifey)
3. Curt towing hitch for my hitch mount bike rack (christmas gift from the wifey)
4. LED license plate lightbulbs
5. Bazooka powered basstube

Upcoming mods:
1. Different subwoofer and amplifier upgrade
2. full interior LED bulb change out
3. not sure.