15:30
TB - Excellent roads up here; nice and twisty up and down hills with some hairpins thrown in for good measure. I back off a bit when low fuel level light comes on and sat-nav tells us it's 18 miles to next station.
15:40
TB - Pull into two-pump Thrumster Garages, not far from our destination. Attendant non-plussed when Matt rocks Prius to get a few more litres in. (Imagine winding a baby - same concept gets rid of excess air in car's filler neck.) We squeeze 45 litres into tank (its capacity) plus 10 in jerry cans at 86p a litre - ouch.
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| Well, we're here now, only 874 miles to go! |
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16:15
TB - Arrive. 660-mile trek, circa 11 hours. Time to take some photos at official J 'o G sign and top up tank. More rigorous rocking and boot-swaying ekes out two more litres. Stop filling when what we put in comes out again through drain holes at top of filler neck, depositing puddle next to nearside rear wheel.
MP - Funny, normally you'd stop somewhere like this for an hour or so. Look around, take some pictures, read some history, have a bite to eat.
16:45
TB - Off again. Matt boasts, "I got 88mpg out of a Clio diesel once." Going is slow. Hills kill economy; after a mile we've averaged just 37.6mpg. Averaging 37mph, everyone - even coach-loads of tourists - overtakes us.
Every non-essential drain on battery now switched off - air-con, radio, lights, we're even trying to use wipers as little as possible.
MP - This car's like the Starship Enterprise: 'divert all available power to engines!' 'Aye, Cap'n, but I cannae change the laws of physics,' etc.
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| It's just like burping a baby... |
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16:55
TB - Ten minutes in and averaging 80mpg - that's more like it. Long downhill stretches have helped, but now it's uphill again. B*gger. Matt experimenting with electric motor-only 'EV' mode. Motor's big torque slug hauls us up hills without knocking economy.
17:15
MP - Hills are the enemy. And there are bloody hundreds of them.
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| Cabin steams up easily |
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17:45
TB - Absolutely chucking it down. Steamy Prius cabin hard to see out of. Break golden rule by turning on windscreen blower, but only on slowest setting and without air-con. To make up for loss of economy, we fold mirrors in. Excessive? We think not.
18:00
MP - CVT gearbox not helpful for this exercise. With manual, you could just tickle up in top gear. No such luck in a Prius: CVT kicks down to peak torque revolutions, and instant-mpg figure drops to 50, sometimes 25mpg. That's going to be our problem.
Also, there's no feel through electric throttle. No idea when engine's going to kick down into torque band. Move throttle by an inch or so with no discernable difference in power delivery. Using cruise control sometimes just as easy, flicking down through mph as consumption drops on inclines.
