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Top Gear (a car show on BBC) reviewed Prius recently and slammed it for 36 mpg. Not sure if that's US gallon or empirical gallon, and if a mile there equals a mile here. But they like their diesel VW's (65mpg+).
1 US gallon = 0.8327 Imperial Gallon
1 mile =1760 yd = 1.6093 km
I am new to the discussion so I apologize if something like this has come up before. I had a strange thing happen to me and I was wondering if anyone had any comments. Here's the story:
I was driving my new '07 prius (it has a total of ~2800 miles) on a small highway at ~55mph. The gas gauge indicated that I needed gas but I had been putting it off because my odometer reading for that tank showed 401 miles, and the average MPG was reading 48.4. I assumed this meant that I had used about 8.3 gallons so I had enough left to get me to my destination (not very far away). Then suddenly, the check engine light flashed on and the triangle with exclamation point warning light came on too. The car started losing velocity and I couldn't make it keep going, so I pulled over and stopped, turned the car off and waited a minute. I turned it back on and the lights were still on but I was able to drive it the remaining mile to a gas station. When I filled up, the pump didn't click off until 10.6 gallons. That means I was getting only ~37.8 MPG. This is the biggest discrepancy I've experienced but from what I've read in previous discussions it could be because of the fuel bladder? Anyway, when I turned the car on the lights back to normal so I assume this is what the car does when it's out of gas. Was this just a freak occurrence or is the computer always that inaccurate? Any comments will be appreciated. :confuse:
The most probable reason your calculations are off is you didn't get the tank full the last time you got gas - and this was probably due to the bladder.
Don't feel bad about running out - lots of people have done it. I don't think it's good for the car if you keep doing it. It puts unneeded stress on the battery.
Always fill up before you get to one pip, or at least before it starts flashing!
To get a more realistic mileage reading, combine the last two or three tanks, as this will average out the bladder early cutoff effect.
Welcome to Prius World. I had the same thing happen to me on my third tank when I too was trying to stretch things with the gas light on. Essentially you ran out of gas. You didn't actually run out of gas but the computer thought that there was a risk you might so it shut you down first. Why? Driving on the traction battery alone not using the gas engine is possible but it is very very very dangerous to the overall health of the battery. Thus before you get into a true out-of-gas situation, you get shut down.
I'm certain that you found that when you filled up, all the lights went out and you just continued on, right?
I learned this over on Prius Chat. When the warning light comes on.. just fill up....Soon.
Always refill as soon as possible, as soon as paractical, with any vehicle, after it drops past half.
First, I drive 110 miles daily to and from the Wash, DC area. I live in the eastern edge of West Virginia and drive with the 70 mph cruisers and in the grid lock. Is the Prius the correct type of vehicle for my needs?
Since getting to and from work is the major concern of most commuters, I run with the 70 mph folks when traffic allows and crawl in stop and go when I have to. I currently get 31-35 mpg with my Scion and am curious if I will acheive significantly greater mpg with the Prius based on my commuting practices. Will the Prius mpg be vastly lowered by cruising at 70 mph and sitting in stop and go? Do any of you Prius owners drive the same way?
If the Prius offers a significant mpg improvement I may switch to it from the XB. However, if the mpg will be on a par with the XB then I'll probably keep the Scion. Thanks.
Roominess, price, and mpg are the reasons that I bought the XB. That combination can't be beat. My search is for precisly what the Prius offers in terms of mpg, comfort and utility. But there are several other vehicles that also fit my criteria so this will be a difficult choice when I do decide to buy. My daughter will have her DL next year and I may give her the XB, so I'm starting my research now.
If there are other considerations like a nicer riding vehicle for such a long commute or environmental concerns or the fact that it typically will be a safer vehicle in a collision then the Prius may move to the fore.
Fuel Economy guidelines ..
At a constant 70 mph on the interstates you will likely get 'only' 45 mpg in the Prius. In a rolling stop-and-go on the Beltway you may get upwards of 65-80 mpg depending on how often you must stop dead ( the fewer times you have to stop dead the better ). You will be able to do a weighted average of your personal composite FE Avg by estimating how many miles you do 70 and how many miles you are stuck in Beltway traffic.
I sell them in SE VA and commute up from the Outer Banks every day 75 mi each way. There is no Beltway gridlock for me but neither can I even think of driving 70 unless I want to lock myself up for 100 yrs. On GreenHybrid my annual FE is 48.4 mpg. I came out of a 2000 Camry and love the feel and capability and techi-ness of this vehicle.
If you cruise a lot on the highway it's nearly dead silent; when deceerating it is dead silent; sitting at a stop it's OFF so it is dead silent; only in accelerating does it sound like a small 4c.
I've been using the same fill up technique since June and until November the readings were generally within 1MPG of each other.
Has anyone else noticed this? Could the colder temperatures affect the trip computer accuracy?
Seriously, the road noise will be more pronounced with the Prius since the engine is so quiet. Do you mean wind noise or road noise? There's a LOT of wind noise in my new Prius. (I drive my Prius. I don't hug the right lane and drive 45 mph.) However, I'm wondering if it's the Prius, or do I need to smack my dealer and make them fix it... :confuse:
My Prius is EXTREMELY quiet at all speeds.
This is jimking who started this thread. I bought the PRIUS. Very quiet (barely makes a sound during startup and while resting at traffic lights and stop signs), hums along while cruising. Absolutely love it. 45 mpg to date. Very comfortable seating.
Last night, we were driving around some neighborhoods and side streets, looking at Christmas lights (my girlfriend wanted to do this, not me). I had a string of awesome MPG averages in the 5-minute display. My favorite one read "100 MPG", which meant, of course, that I was on battery power, with the ICE totally off, for the entire 5 minutes.
:P
Case in point: My last fill up was at 342 miles, at the pump the tank took 6.2 gallons, calculating to 55.1 mpg, with the trip gauge showing 51.5 mpg.
On the prior trip it was 412 miles at 8.1 gal. translating to 50MPG but with a trip reading of 53.1 MPG, both were in cold weather.
These discrepancies have impeded my ability to be aware of the precise fuel mileage. When the '06 HCH first was introduced its MPG tripmeter was seriously defective but a recall was had and the new gauge tends to read between l-l.5 mpg lower than the measured reading. It is also easy to tell when the HCH tank is full without worry of gas surging out.
I think it is time for Toyota to either replace the tripmeter or issue a definitive explanation for the discrepancies. I'd still buy another Prius but we Obssessive Compulsives are entitled to our peace of mind when it comes to computing mpg.
I'm very much interested in hearing from other Prius owners with the same concerns.
The best way to calculate your MPG is to just use the tried-and-true "miles driven divided by gallons used" calculation and not rely on the car's FCD data.
I'm on my second hybrid and there is usally a 1-3 MPG difference between the car and the actual fuel used on every tank.
My 2007 TCH (12 tanks so far) averages a difference of 1.018905 between the manual calculation and the FCD, which is pretty darn close.
My 2004 HCH averaged a diff of 1.33, so the TCH is slightly more accurate.
Also one thing I didn't like is that there seems to be a second or so of a blind spot with a car passing me. I will have to do some more adjusting on the outside mirror.
Use it if it makes you happy. Be aware, many places will charge money for it. Oh, and if you notice a tire is a bit low, how are you going to pump it back up with N2 unless you're at the place that has the nitrogen?
I think I'll start out without it this time and only seek it out again if I have a lot of variation in tire pressure. It must not be an issue with the Prius. Thanks again for your thoughts on this.
Joe
PS. I have 9 friends with Prii, and they all love them.
Be careful in that sub compact. I read where some fellow got killed on the Parks when he hit a moose. Took the top right off his small car."
Moose or any other large animal can take the top of any car or truck. A motorist was killed in the Chicago area when he struck a deer on his full sized puck-up. it "took the top" off of his vehicle.
I've got 56K on my '04 Prius and get an overall decent 46 mpg's but somewhat less during cold winters due to the "ICE" engine running considerably more to maintain heat. What is an issue is the "bladder tank"....It can be baffeling especially in the winter. Sometimes the gauge doesn't even show the "full" mark after a fill-up. I have to wonder if this complex fuel tank with its' rubber bladder is the better way to go. Time will tell. I suppose there are advantages to it as Toyota would say. :confuse:
We've all heard about the car, truck, semi that hit a deer, horse, cow, pig, badger, etc and the animal either takes the roof off the car (along with the driver's head) or the animal goes under the car and vaults it out of control. These are true. It does happen. It can happen to any sized car.
I've driven small cars most of my life (I'm 57 now) and I have hit an elk while driving a roadster. The street was wet with an early spring snow, it was night, I was driving a bit too fast... there's an elk in the middle of the two lane road... because the small car was agile, because I was a good driver, because I figured the elk would try and leave and she would go in the direction she was currently walking, I pulled the car into the opposite lane and attempted to squeeze between the shoulder and the elk's hind end. She bolted. Her hoof hit my headlight. She was spun around and went off the road into the ditch. She fell down. From the tracks that I could clearly see later, she got up and ran up the hill to safety.
My roadster also spun around and I skidded the car sideways for about 50 yards. I drove back to see the elk's tracks. I examined my car. The headlight was not broken but pushed about 3 inches into the fender. No other damage was noted.
Moral of the story:
If I was a bad driver I might have hit the elk so my bumper took her legs out from under her and she would have fallen into the windshield.
If the car was not agile, I might have tried to move behind her and lost control and ended up skidding sideways into the elk. No telling what that would have done.
If the car was larger, I might not have had the option of moving on the two lane street so I could have slipped behind the elk.
But, because the car was small and agile and my driving skills back then were very good, I avoided a serious accident.
Add a bit of defensive driving and my speed would have been a bit slower that night, I would not have been overdriving my headlights (by just a little) and would have seen the elk in time to safely stop. Thus defensive driving would have avoided the whole thing!
I feel I was extremely lucky to have been in a small car when I hit the elk. So take your notion that small cars are dangerous, your Ralph Nadar wrist watch and go away. The bottom line, be a good driver and live longer. Be a defensive driver and good driver and live even longer yet.
Now, let's talk about hybrids and did you see the Future Car series on Discovery Channel last week. I want one of those!
Odd, looking at the top of the screen it says this discussion is about Toyota Prius MPG.
Toyota Feb Sales
Snippet:
Toyota Reports February Sales
03/01/2007 Torrance, CA
March 1, 2007 – Torrance, CA - Spurred by record hybrid sales, Toyota Motor Sales (TMS), U.S.A., Inc., today reported best-ever February sales of 187,330 vehicles, an increase of 12.2 percent over February 2006.
"Sales were brisk at both ends of our product lineup," said Jim Lentz, TMS executive vice president. "Setting an all-time record, the Prius hybrid led the way, nearly doubling last February's sales pace; while the new full-size Tundra got off to an impressive start since hitting showrooms February 5th."
and
TMS calendar-year-to-date hybrid sales totaled 31,933 units, an increase of 67 percent over the year-ago. In February, TMS posted sales of 18,860 hybrid vehicles, up 92 percent over last February. Toyota Division posted sales of 17,451 hybrids, up 90 percent over the same period last year, while the Lexus Division posted sales of 1,409 hybrids.
I noticed that during warmer weather I get around 48 MPG. During winter time I am getting 36 MPG. One of the reason for low MPG during winter, I believe is the engine keeps running to keep the car warm even though the car is stopped.
I am happy to have this car.