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He was also saying that when in heavy traffic (living in LA) the AC was sketchy as well.
Anyone experience this?
Thanks in advance.
I had a recent 377mi segment with 95mpg (flatter, slower) (60% ICE-kill). These are consumption gauge numbers. Real world gas-fill numbers to follow soon.
More here: www.smilingdogsranch.com/priusblog
Scott
gas $2.5/gal
diesel $3.0/gal
1000 miles driven@45mpg (diesel) = 22gal x $3 = $67
1000 miles driven@37mpg (gas) = 27gal x $2.5 = $67
So if I'm driving a car getting 37mpg, then a diesel would need to get 42mpg just to break even. And that's only if diesel is 50cents/gal more. I've seen it where diesel is almost $1 more than regular gas, which means this:
1000 miles driven@45mpg (diesel) = 22gal x $3.5 = $77
1000 miles driven@33.5mpg (gas) = 31gal x $2.5 = $77
So if diesel was $1 more per gallon then getting 45mpg would equal 33.5mpg in a regular gas car.
Based on this, if the Prius will give you 50mpg on the highway and the TDI 45mpg, it's really a comparison of 50mpg vs 33-37mpg of the TDI if you factor in the price of diesel.
My 07 touring with aftermarket B/S tire average 41mpg in summer time, and 43mpg if my top speed is limited to 66mph. In the winter, it is about 38mpg in Michigan.
EPA does rate the 2010 a bit higher,not sure if it's accurate.Probably not since my car is so far off the EPA ratings,especially in town.
I am not complaining.I have never had a car that got close to 30 MPG in city until I bought this Prius.(or even 20)
Yup, all 3 actually...
Gen 1 = 59,827 miles (3 years) averaged 45.4 mpg
Gen 2 = 118,185 miles (5.5 years) averaged 47.7 mpg
Gen 3 = 20,219 miles (1 year) averaged 50.1 mpg
.
(Note: I have the new low viscosity engine oil, and I declined the voluntary braking recall which would have reprogrammed the Prius' computer controls regarding regenerative braking. I have the inexpensive "Prius 1" model, which comes w/o any fancy gadgets like cruise control. I do not believe that any of these things substantially change my Prius's ability to get excellent gas mileage.)
I live in Hawaii, on Oahu, where weather is not an issue. My usual driving does not involve climbing more than small hills, and the remainder is on essentially flat terrain. Just recently, however, I averaged over 65 mpg on a 100 mile loop that involved one sustained climb to an elevation of 1000', plus several minor hills.
First, what I am NOT doing. Google "pulse-and-glide". That technique can reportedly obtain extremely high mileage from a Prius. The problem is that it is not useful in real life. On the roads I travel, a typical speed limit is 35 mph, and traffic typically goes along at 40-45 mph. If one were to drive using the P&G technique, accelerating quickly up to 45, then slowing to 30, then back up... it would drive the other drivers half crazy, and might even be hazardous to following traffic.
So I have modified the P&G technique, relaxing its frantic acceleration and glide pattern to be almost unnoticeable by the other drivers. And I still get almost 70 mpg doing it. Here's how...
Start by turning on Eco Mode. The panel should then constantly display the green ECO Mode light. Keep it that way.
Change the display to "Hybrid System Indicator" mode. This shows the horizontal white bar that extends out to the right as you accelerate. The Prius manual calls this the Hybrid System Indicator. I call it the horizontal white bar.
Now some background info. Above that horizontal bar is an oval that displays "ECO" when the white bar is not all the way to the right side. The ECO oval sits right above the half-way point on the white bar. Generally speaking, the Prius uses that half-way point to decide whether to turn on the engine. If you have plenty of battery charge, and you keep the white bar to the left of the half-way point, the engine stays off and the Prius uses its battery to propel the vehicle. You can tell by looking at the slightly-curved vertical instantaneous MPG display. If only the battery is in use, that instantaneous MPG value shoots all the way to the top, over 100 mpg. When the engine comes on, that vertical MPG bar comes down to half way, more or less, depending on the situation.
My technique involves trying to keep the white bar in one of two general locations: to the left of the half-way point, or just below the right end of the ECO oval. These two conditions correspond to the "glide" (only using the battery, with the engine off), and the "pulse" (accelerating... albeit much more slowly than in the classical P&G technique, and NOT accelerating 10 or 15 mph).
So, if there is plenty of battery charge, you can get 100+ mpg by keeping the bar to the left of half-way. But that will rapidly drain the battery. When the battery stack gets down to 2 bars, the engine will go on and the vertical instantaneous MPG bar will drop. When that happens, push down on the accelerator pedal just enough to position the white bar at the right end of the ECO oval. This will give you weak acceleration, not enough on level ground to quickly charge ahead by 10 or 15 mph as the P&G technique describes. Mostly it will allow you to maintain speed, slowly increasing speed, while also charging the battery pack. Then, a short while later (15-45 seconds, or hopefully longer if you are fortunate), as traffic dictates, you will probably need to take your foot off the gas, at which point the battery will have been charged a little bit, and the car will turn off the engine, switch back to battery only mode, and you're "gliding" at 100+ MPG.
Because you only use a slight acceleration (putting the white bar to the right edge of the ECO oval), the speed of your vehicle won't change very much. It mostly maintains its speed (on level ground) while adding charge to the battery. This allows you to return to the "gliding" part of the cycle, where the white bar is to the left of the half-way point... the whole idea being to glide as much as possible.
I have found that putting the white bar just to the right of the half-way point doesn't charge the battery quickly enough, and putting it farther right than the right edge of the ECO oval accelerates too quickly to maintain position in flowing traffic. Of course, some geography and traffic situations require actions that exceed these guidelines. But you will be able to judge for yourself. Hopefully, if enough people try this, we can get some more real world data to help fine-tune this technique.
Caveat: in any case, you as driver are alone responsible for safe driving decisions, and you should never endanger yourself, your passengers, other drivers or pedestrians by attempting any maneuver, whether or not someone says it might be useful. Be especially wary of any task that distracts you from proper attention to your vehicle, the road, its conditions and surroundings. As others have noted, any P&G technique involves starting and stopping the engine on a regular and sustained basis. Although the Prius was purportedly designed to take this sort of activity, it might affect the general wear on the components of your vehicle, for which this author takes no responsibility. Please use your own judgment, and you assume all risks for adhering to or departing from the spirit or letter of these suggestions.
I’m a new Prius owner and am confused over how everyone’s MPG is derived. With my previous Mazda6, I would calculate the mileage (miles/gallons) for each fill-up, record it, then repeat the process. When anyone asked what mileage I got, I would report the Average MPG, 23.06. That is, the average of all fill-ups.
The Prius muddies the water. First off, it has an on board computer that calculates MPG, which my Mazda6 lacked. Further, it slices the data in numerous ways – MPG over 5 minute intervals, MPG over 1 minute intervals, MPG on Trip A, MPG on Trip B, etc.
When folks on this forum report MPG, what method are they using? The old fashioned way (ex., my Mazda6 Average MPG), which I doubt, or the Prius computer generated number, which makes sense. But if so, which computer generated number? The one from your last fill-up, the one from the last 5 minutes, etc.
I think it would be easy to cherry-pick MPG numbers, since the Prius provides so many to choose from. But the number that should be use (unless otherwise stated, say, your MPG on a recent road trip), is the Average MPG of all fill-ups. Do you agree, and can I assume that’s what folks are reporting?
Finally, can you tell me where I can find this number, in the many displays that the Prius provides? I’ve read the owners manual and it’s still not completely clear.
Thanks for bringing me up to speed.
:confuse:
You can also do it the old fashioned way.Miles divided by gallons.This is probably more accurate,although the computer is always within 2-3 miles per gallon.Sometimes right on.
When you fill up the tank,do it very slowly or it might shut off long before the tank is full,which will give you some very inaccurate MPG calculations.
BTW if your Prius is a 2010,all of my advice might be for naught as mine is a gen II.Still, manual calculation works the best.
I live in a small town(pop 13,000) and there is a lot of stop and go driving due to stop signs etc. I get just barely over 30MPG on the trip computer.
On the highway at legal speeds,I get 45-50 easily.Should I be satisfied? Is this typical? I forgot to mention that this is a 2007 model Prius.
I have a base model with 17 in wheels. My best mileage calculated by elapsed miles divided by gallons required to refill the tank to the first click in the older Prius was 61.4 mpg which was obtained by meticulous care in keeping the engine off. My usual mileage was around 52-55 around town and on trips driving pretty fast around 48.
My new Prius now has nearly 8k miles and I have never broken 50 mpg around town driving more or less the same way as always. In fact my calculated mileage is more in the 45 mpg range or less.
Could it be the larger diameter tires? I have checked the tire pressure and use 36 all around. The tires are Pirelli's and their literature says 35 psi.
Any ideas would be appreciated.
You can read all the time about some folks gettting poor MPG for a given set of driving conditions while another person gets great MPG over the same conditions.
The bottom line is that every car is a little bit different. It sounds like your '05 was giving you better than average MPG and your 2010 maybe slightly less than average. Don't be discouraged. Just accept the fact that you were lucky for the past 5 years with your Gen II.
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The vast majority of miles driven has been in town, usually trips of perhaps 5 miles or less including multiple traffic lights, stop signs, and turns. Only about 1000 miles has been highway driving, usually at speeds of close to 75 mph.
"In town" the mpg varies of course and generally is about 43 (per computer) and actually 40 (gallons/miles).
The most recent highway trip (455 miles) registered 55.2 mpg per the computer, and by actual fuel consumed over the distance yields 52.0 mpg.
Each data measurement of course includes some error, but over time and many miles I think the aggregate effect of those is relatively insignificant.
I love my Prius. It is a fun car to drive around, it has sufficient interior space and I love the transmission. I had a Honda Civic in the early eighties that had an earlier version of the CVT and appeared promising. I’ve noted that other manufacturers are converting into this technology as well.
The big killer to mpg is short trips of 1 or 2 miles where the engine does not have sufficient time to warm up and the car is pumping excess gas to the catalytic converter to heat it up to reduce the pollution.
My normal commute is 6 miles each way with speeds of 30 and 45 mph. In the fall and spring here in Florida I average near 60 mpg (no AC). But in my local driving mall, home depot, Sams Club, I average 52 mpg. Overall year round mpg is about 54 mpg this includes Summer AC and winter .
I do drive to get high mpg and get into stealth as often as possible.
Think about snow tires for example. Definitely better traction, but they DO cost you at the pump!
It would be hard to make the car cheaper as it is a very complex piece of machinery,however they could save a bit by eliminating some electronics such as power windows,locks and a CD player.I don't think that would save more than a grand on the price though.
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