Hi - I've been following this forum since getting our '07 FEH in October of 2006 (while I liked the car from day one, I fell in love with it during the 7 1/2 hour drive home during the pre-christmas Denver blizzard, December '06), getting lots of great useful information...anyway, now that I have time to delurk and ask a question...

We live in the Boulder-Denver Colorado area, and drive up to the mountains, on average, once or so a month...usually with something attached to the roof (our skis so far this winter, and during the summer, I'm sure we'll take our road bikes).

While not the fastest car on the road (we knew this when we got it, I'm fine with this, and I try to drive the car like it was meant, to maximize fuel economy), when we hit the longest steepest portions of I-70, leading up to the Eisenhower Tunnel or Loveland Pass (and on the back side, coming back home from Breckenridge, from Silverthorne up to the tunnel), the tach shows that the engine is getting up to redline. There were at least one or two ocassions where I thought it had briefly gone over the redline. When I notice this, I obviously back off the gas, etc. But, while I do not mind going slowly, anyone who drives I-70 to the mountains knows that momentum is your friend, and losing it is a killer. This is not during some crazy trip going 90 miles per hour, but just trying to keep near the speed limit.

My questions:

(A) How do you handle this kind of steep mountain driving.

(B) What will the CVT/engine combo do at redline? With a conventional transmission, the car just finds an easier gear to shift into near redline, for example with our old car ('04 Subaru Forrester XT), it would run hard, but never close to redline, even at great speeds. Will the CVT detect that you are about to redline and make adjustments (after all, it is continuously variable ? Or is it best to get over to the right lane, back off the gas, and hope that there isn't a semi going 10 miles per hour in the right lane?

Thanks, and thanks for the great info otherwise posted here.

Hey there... I live north of Denver and have a 2WD 2005.
I take mine up over those same roads, even with a ski rack on top sometimes.

I find that with ski gear on top and 2 people inside, I can keep it at 4000 RPM and about 55-60 miles per hour on I70. It is difficult to keep it in the left lane, but a breeze in the center lane. I keep out of the right lane when it is 3 wide. NEVER use cruise control in hills / mountains. It goes wacko with the RPMs.

Just today, I had to really punch it at highway speeds, and floored it for about 30 seconds. It never went past 5961 RPM. I could swear the tach went past 6k, but I also have the digital ScanGauge, it said max. RPM was 5961.
I didn't like it, and I rarely exceed 4000, but had to today.

With some practice, you will soon learn that your best MPG will come from mountain driving. I get about 25 MPG going up to "the tunnel", but get anywhere from 80MPG to 120 MPG on the way back down, so round-trip averages are always 40+ which is hard to do on flat highways.

Yes, the eCVT is made for long-term high RPM when needed.
Also, the water temperature only goes up ( for me ) 5 or 10 degrees, even on those long 6% and 7% grades.

-John

But I would NEVER trust Ford to make a production engine that can sustain and survive high revs for very long or on a regular basis.

Have they licensed the counter-balance shaft for the FEH/MMH...?

A counter balance shaft is designed to reduce vibration as felt by the passengers and lack of one does not affect engine durability. Ford engines have greatly improved in recent years and are very competitive.

I do this same drive regularly, typically with 2-4 people inside and 2-4 bikes on the roof. Let your FEH do its thing and don't let the engine drone bother you. The CVT and software won't allow you to get the drivetrain near its true operational limits.

Eastbound, the climb up Vail Pass and the climb from Silverthorne are both steeper than Westbound. On those, I am "all in" at about 50-55 miles per hour for the last mile. But so is nearly everyone else. Put the pedal on the floor for that last mile and leave it there unless you prefer a slower speed.

Your Subaru never got to redline because you had a turbo XT model, which was developed after Subaru engineers drove a 2.5 on mountain roads and got passed by a lot of other vehicles. Denver is one of their biggest markets and they realized they needed something which could handle hills at altitude. They went to work and, Voila, in '02 they introduced a 2.5 engine with the WRX treatment in a Forester body and called it the XT. The perfect Colorado car!

Too bad about the 17-19 MPG and premium fuel, or I would own one.

West of Avon on the south side of I-70, look for a big building with a giant Ford logo on it. It's the high-altitude R&D facility. You are actually driving the same roads where Ford tested your car. Except they probably towed a trailer and/or crammed the passenger compartment with water-filled containers at all positions to replicate the weight of 5 big people on board.

Drive I-70 around the Eisenhower tunnel often enough and you'll see Ford test mules running around. If you see one, look closely. It's a future Ford, bearing funky disguises and Michigan "manufacturer" plates. And it's probably got water-filled "people" belted into the seats!! Wave to the engineers as you go by...

How do you do that? I'm down into single-digits on the climbs, and they're not as steep as yours.

Make sure you have 44psi in all 4 tires, and no roof rack unless you are using it.

Other than that, I try to keep it at 2400 RPM as much as possible and let speed drift a little, but never go less than 10 miles per hour under the speed limit.
Changing from 65 miles per hour uphill to 55 MPH uphill may be a 5-10 MPG advantage.

2400 RPM will usually do the job on 4-5% hills.
On those 6-7% hills, I do run it at 4000 RPM.
I'm never in the teens except at 4000 RPM.
I suspect your MPG will stay in the 20's uphill if you keep it at 2400 RPM.

I really do try to avoid higher than 4000 RPM unless it is an emergency.
Cruise control will take it up to 6000 RPM, so I never use it unless I'm on really flat ground.

-John

I agee exactly and this is what I try to do. Other than raising the PSI on the tires though. We go up to the White Mountains in Arizona every couple of weeks. The RPMs go way up but who cares.

Support the Troops - Drive a Hybrid!

I don't have a roof rack, and I usually try to keep the tires around 42-44.

65? 55? Not on these roads. 25 on the back way, 45 on the highway.

One is a 10% grade @ about 25 miles per hour (3 miles).
The other is an average 7% grade @35-45 (5 miles).

Not sure of the RPMs, don't have much control over them anyway.
Did you get a Prius with a stick shift somehow?

Andy, if you have those STEEP of hills, I learned a new trick that could help you out a lot.

On the downgrade, shift to L to get the engine to run-up to 3500-4000 RPM.
Wait at least 5 seconds. This will cut all fuel to the engine, even though it still spins, it will spin by electricity only. You can even keep the A/C on during those hot days, and use no fuel. If you want the slowing that L creates, leave it in L. If you DON'T want that much slowing, shift back to D after a few seconds of high RPM. The RPM will drop. The regen will decrese, and your speed will increase. Still, no fuel will be burned until the next time you press the gas pedal, or, the engine gets cold. ( probably not a problem if your car is at full temperature before you do the downgrade )

Good luck, and report back if, and how much this helps your MPG. You can use this trick at any speed. I've used zero fuel at 70 miles per hour on Colorado highways with steep downgrades. This is just like EV at 70 MPH!
-John