Posted by Chas Gill on August 16, 2008, 8:41 am
> Chas Gill wrote:
>>
>> The North American Prius (I understand) has, effectively, a block warmer,
>> in that it stores hot engine coolant in a thermally insulated vessel and
>> pumps it back on restart.
> Newer NHW20's have the thermos bottle. None have a "block heater" as
> Original Equipment (OE) from Toyota.
Not sure that I said it did. What I said was that it had an "effective"
block heater, ie hot water pumped through a cold block = "warmer" block.
>> I am also given to understand that this might be to comply with certain
>> anti-pollution legislation in some States,
> No, has nothing to do with pollution control.
I stand corrected. Wouldn't make a lot of difference even if it did, given
the US attitude to gas consumption in general.
>> but it still seems like a very good idea in terms of fuel efficiency.
> "It doesn't hurt anything, much." It is added complexity. It is added
> weight. It didn't improve things enough to show on the EPA fuel economy
> ratings.
But does it reduce pollutants?
>> Why the hell it isn't included in the European version beats me (along
>> with the lack of heaters on the door mirrors). The Japanese seem to have
>> some strange ideas about the European climate.........
> Europeans have some strange ideas about the North American climate.
Not really, we get hot - you get very hot (In some places), we get cold, you
get very cold (in some places). We both get hot enough for AC and cold
enough for a bit of help on a cold morning. The Prius AC is OK but not as
good as some European cars I've driven.
> German engineers at VW had a fit when Americans were allowed to select the
> A/C gear for the then-new 1985 VW Golf. The car was to be produced in
> North America so it stood to reason to use domestic A/C hardware. What
> shocked the Germans was the North American unit had about twice the
> capacity as fitted in Europe. Americans loved it. I loved the A/C in my
> 1986 VW Golf. Otherwise the car assembled in Westmoreland, PA, fit
> together worse than any junkyard repair I have ever seen.
Posted by Michelle Vadeboncoeur on August 16, 2008, 5:36 pm
> Chas Gill wrote:
> > The North American Prius (I understand) has, effectively, a block
> > warmer, in that it stores hot engine coolant in a thermally insulated
> > vessel and pumps it back on restart.
> Newer NHW20's have the thermos bottle. None have a "block heater" as
> Original Equipment (OE) from Toyota.
AFAIK, all North American NHW20 Prius (the hatchback version, model
years 2004-current) have the CHSS (coolant heat storage system) as
standard. This is not fitted on the European NHW20 Prius. Can you
tell me which older NHW20s did NOT have the CHSS? Only a small amount
of hot engine coolant is pumped from the coolant resivoir at shutdown,
and stored in the Coolant Heat Storage System (similar to a Thermos(r)
vacuum flask). The CHSS stores the already-warm coolant, to be pumped
back into the rest of the coolant at startup later, to begin warming
up the
existing coolant faster. The CHSS reduces HC emissions, since HC
emissions are higher at a cold startup. (The older NHW11 Prius had a
HC absorbing catalytic converter that would capture these extra HC
emissions at cold startup, but the NHW20 has a more traditional
catalytic converter with the CHSS...)
http://sciencelinks.jp/j-east/article/200413/000020041304A0427985.php
http://www.toyota.com/html/hybridsynergyview/archive/pdfs/priusview4fall200=
3.pdf
The engine block heater is a separate, external, added accessory.
Most US dealers do not stock this item, but some dealers in US/Canada
border states do carry this item, and it is a standardly offered
accessory in Canada. It is a little electrical heater which has a
probe that will warm up engine oil and the engine block, which you can
plug into a household electrical wall outlet. Different fluid.
Posted by Frank@Zappa.com on December 18, 2008, 8:31 pm
but if you drive one, you still have a small penis!
On Tue, 12 Aug 2008 13:27:22 -0700 (PDT), "aol@aol.com"
>link here.... http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080810/ap_on_bi_ge/tailpipe_power_2
>>
>> The North American Prius (I understand) has, effectively, a block warmer,
>> in that it stores hot engine coolant in a thermally insulated vessel and
>> pumps it back on restart.
> Newer NHW20's have the thermos bottle. None have a "block heater" as
> Original Equipment (OE) from Toyota.