I'll be heading to the mountains and I'm thinking of bringing the ES along. There will be multiple passes above 10,000 feet on the route, anything I should look out for when driving a hybrid? I've never driven that high before.

 

Nothing. The car will take care of the altitude. Just recognize you will have to take your time as you climb because the ICE has to work pretty hard on steep grades. Your mileage will be pretty low on the climb, but it makes some of that back up on the way down. Just drive and enjoy.

 

Just make sure you're not constantly jumping on brakes or braking for long periods downhill, otherwise you risk overheating your rotors and pads and eventually boiling your brake fluid. Then you may get the chance to try out one of the runaway truck ramps.

 

Thanks for the tips. I guess I'll be using the S+- mode to get more engine braking going downhill to avoid cooking the brakes. I've heard of some Prius drivers having chirping brakes above 10,000 feet because of air in the brake lines. I'll be heading above 12,000 feet in the Himalayas, fingers crossed everything will be OK.

 

Chrome, I'd suggest using Sport mode going up, and the S+\- Mode going down. I'd be curious what your mpg will be affected. Good luck and keep us posted.

 

Take lots of pic's for us!

Have fun!

 

As any naturally aspirated engines your 4-cylinder will loose power at high altitude. At 10,000 it will be very noticeable. I have experienced this when I was renting Camry (not a hybrid one) in Colorado few years ago.
I wonder if a hybrid behaves differently.

 

Looks like the ES hybrid is a tough old thing... Over the past two days, I've gone from sea level to 10,000 feet, then gone over two mountain passes at 15,000 feet and back down to 10k feet without any problems. The car even rides decently over wet dirt mountain roads. Nothing quite like waiting for a herd of yaks to pass (watch those horns!) while being up in the clouds.

Tank mileage over 700 km is now 6.2 l/100 km or 37 mpg on RON93 petrol, a frankly insane number given the altitude gains and drops I've been through. The car uses a lot of fuel going up but it regens and runs on the traction battery almost all the way down. I use Normal mode, Sport mode throttle response is too abrupt for tight uphill switchbacks and when overtaking on an uphill stretch.

There's a definite lack of power at 10k feet and acceleration on a depleted battery is terrible. However, with some charge left, the car rockets uphill. At 15k feet, the engine is pretty much hopeless.

On the way down, the battery charges to full pretty fast, and then MG1 spins up the engine to take up excess regen charge. This is the first time I've noticed this. I also use S3 and S4 modes for engine braking on steep descents.

At least the car is handling the trip much better than me. I'm a fairly fit sea level guy but all the altitude yoyo-ing gave me headaches, nausea and even short climbs left me out of breath. The mindblowing scenery of the eastern Tibetan lands and the gracious hospitality more than makes up for the aches and pains.

 

Thank you for the update and colorful commentary!

 

Wow, pretty cool. How about some pics?

 

At around 15,000 feet near Gongga Shan






Stopping for yak yogurt and pictures at small Tibetan villages

 

Amazing pictures man, thank you! Wish I could make them my desktop background! Your signature says you are in Canada. How did you end up in Tibet??

 

Thanks for some great pics. Looking good. . Zes, I think CN is China, not Canada.

 

Very nice Chromedome. You should write an article, with many photos, for Lexus Magazine or the https://lexusenthusiast.com website about your adventure.

 

wow , that scenic is breathe taking

take out the communism and pollution that makes Los Angeles look like New Zealand, and China is a wondrous location