[drstiver]

I wonder why Toyota ignored having an altitude display with the NAV
system. There are lots of places, especially in the western US, where
one can be at 7 or 8 thousand feet in fairly flat country...no obvious mountains in sight. That 1.5 liter engine is working hard to maintain highway speeds at that level!

 

[Phoenix]

High Altitude Driving

I have driven quite a bit in the Colorado Rockies, including over Trail Ridge Road (around 11,000 feet) and up Pike's Peak (over 14,000). And, the statement that the "1.5 liter engine is working hard to maintain highway speed at that level" is entirely incorrect.

The ICE has electronic fuel injection and variable valve timing, and has no problem operating at that altitude. Modern autos don't have the problems with high altitude that the old cars with carburetors did. Also, the electric motor compensates for the slight power loss; it isn't affected by altitude at all.

Our classic Prius had no problems driving in the mountains at elevations typically between 8,000 and 10,000 feet.

 

[Guest]

Hi Drstiver:

___Not to get into the 1.5 L struggling in the mountains or not but most PDA based NAVI setups not only have newer Navtech based maps then those found in the 04 Prius, they have multitudes of displays including altitude. This is the screen I use almost exclusively in my daily commute anyway

___On a side note, there are hills everywhere. Some are just harder to spot then others is all

___Good Luck

___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Hunt Club Farms Landscaping Ltd.
___[email:28ghiezo][email protected][/email:28ghiezo]

 

[drstiver]

GPS Altitude Display

Thanks for comments about Prius high altitude performance.
The point of my post was about the lack of altitude display in this
"high tech" vehicle. I too, have another car with NAV system
giving very accurate altitude read-out.... what happened to
Toyota?
Happy to hear it will do well at high altitude.
Thanks
Don
'04 blue