My grill-block is in place....

[Kingsway]

I thought it would look really 'crappy' but actually not so bad!    (I must admit a strip of black correx would be even neater - if I can find some)  But the pipe insulators do the job...

As I drove home tonight I used Hybrid Assistant to keep an eye on the temperatures - both in town and on the dual-carriageway.  Even with the greatly reduced air through the grill, ( the lower grill is almost totally blocked off) the engine temp can drop  very quickly if you slow down, or start using the heater.

Anyone else doing this in the colder months?   It does puzzle me that a hybrid would not come as standard with a radiator blind, or shutters. Also, why on earth are they not fitted with LED lights as a matter of course???  

 

 

[Anthony Poli]

The gen 4 Prius has finally got both. What I never understood is why the heating isn’t feed from the electric side to save using the ice running just for the heating in the cold.




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[Gerg]

I'm using a grill-block on the lower grill of our Auris. It's cut from some black closed-cell foam sheet I had knocking about in the garage, and then cable-tied with two re-releasable ties through the grille slats.

I've made a couple of grille-blocks for different cars, and, as well as the above, I am sure it usefully slows the engine cool-down when parked with the obvious benefits, and stops some road crud going into the rads.  It's only the inverter cooling that I wonder about, and on the Auris that is fed from the upper grille.

On this Toyota Canada link it is surprising how the Prius grill-block stays closed at such high ambients and speeds, although it says it will open for high cooling circuit temps anyway.

The grille apertures have to be made big enough for a hypothetical 1.8 litre Yaris being driven by some loon in the summer, desert heat of god-knows-where. Not fitting them at the factory is a missed opportunity.  The bean-counters won!

 

 

[Kingsway]

I believe the latest Prius uses some sort of heat-pump for heating.  

[YarisHybrid2016]

I didn't think it really got cold enough to warrant doing this!

How do the temps look after an hour of driving?

[Auristi]

In Finland we have to use grill-block during winter. Here you can see, what kind of block you should have on your Toyota, if you are going to make it DIY block....

Grill-block catalog