Getting the Most Out of the Toyota Prius: Driving Tips
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Bottom line, the sticker is wrong. Your tax dollars at work.
Wind for instance is discussed in this message and shows that an 8 MPH wind alone can cause the mileage of the Pirus to vary anywhere from 55.24 MPG to 71.32 MPG (a whopping 16+ MPG difference) when travelling at 50 MPH. Several different speeds and all the variables are discussed in this message.
For the sake of not posting redundant material on Edmunds, I’ll stop here & let those interested read this Prius thread.
Also, would you recommend using the cruise control more to get better gas mileage or not?
Thanks,
Jana6
You speed up to some "high speed" and then gradually release the accelerator until you get no arrows on the MFD. You are then coasting. You allow the car to coast down to a lower speed, then repeat. This is easy below about 42 MPH (called "stealth mode" - the engine shuts off for you), but takes a lot of feel above (called "warp stealth mode"). Above 42 MPH (66 km/hr) the engine will not shut down - that is, it will spin, but if you are in warp stealth, there will be no fuel injected into it. It is spun by MG2, as I recall and you will again see no arrows on the MFD. The gap in the accelerator travel where this happens is VERY narrow. For simple stealth it's wide and easy to attain.
If you want to learn this, a low traffic secondary road is the best place. I recommend thin soled shoes that you can feel through and flex with your foot. Helps a lot.
I wouldn't recommend doing this if there is -any- traffic. It works best on lonely secondary roads. It is mostly for those mileage fanatics who like to brag about how high their mileage is, but you can use it from time to time when conditions are right without any time or danger penalties. What I'm saying is, it's nice to know how it works, and to know you can do it if you want.
As far as the cruise control, if you're good, you can do better mileage wise than it can. You can anticipate hills, traffic, etc. It can't. But it doesn't get tired, and you will. I use cruise. I just set it a little slower than I used to drive. Still at the limit, as I don't want to cause traffic problems, but not way above as many drivers do.
I have begun wondering what's the optimal GPH for this car (Gallons Per Hour), and how much its efficiency changes as a function of GPH. I am assuming (but I could be wrong) that RPM is a function of GPH. For instance, if I drive at 60 mph and the fuel consumption is 30 MPG (which means I am burning fuel at a rate of 2 gallons per hour), I expect that the engine RPM is the same as if I were driving at 40 mph and 20 MPG (still 2 gallons per hour). I see no reason why the computer should pick different RPMs for the same power demand, since the transmission allows for infinitely adjustable ratio.
Does anybody have an opinion, or, even better, solid information on this?
Thanks!
Luigi
I'd been amazed at the gas mileage of those who "bragged" about getting over 100 etc. And using the glide method at highway speeds the way I know it just didn't seem to be the logical way to do it unless they were speeding up way over the speed limit and then coasting and dropping way below the speed limit. I just thought that would tick off the traffic around me! (And even doing that at highway speeds, I had a hard time believing the super high mileage they were claiming!)
Either that or they were able to get that kind of gas mileage because they only drove in the 40-50 mph range. I can see how that could happen then.
Well, again, thank you. I don't feel so "dumb" now. It was what I thought!
Jana6
I've found the optimum speed for the Prius mileage wise in "normal" driving is between 70 and 80 km/hr. That's about 43-50 MPH. I can maintain about 3.7 l/100 km at that speed.
Do i need to use gear "B" when uphill? What does the "B" gear do?
I don't understand what you mean by "Prius goes around 50 MPH on the sloped freeway". The Prius is quite capable of going much faster than that, even on steep freeway hills. I maintained 110 km/hr (68 MPH) with no problem, while other vehicles were slowing climbing the steepest part of hwy 5. I think that was an 8% grade. If you're at very high altitude, the car will slow.
Think about this:
Let's assume, for simplicity, 50 mpg and an average speed of 25 mph. That yields a volumetric flow rate of 0.5 gallons/hour. If your engine is running only half the time, then it's 1 gallon/hour while running. Converting, that's approximately 2 ounces/minute, or 0.036 ounces/second. Using 30 ml/oz and 20 drops/ml, that comes out to 20 drops/second. The computer is constantly computing an instantaneous mpg, then integrating over time. So, small errors in the flow measurement (fractions of a drop) will result in a noticeable error in the calculated MPG readout.
My Prius computer yields a typical 50 MPG over a full tank, yet my "by hand" method consistently yields about 2.5 MPG lower. I can live with that, especially knowing that my old 1996 RAV4 (2wd, manual shift) got about 22 MPG (downhill, with the wind from behind)
It is interesting to note that your computer reading is higher than your "by hand" method, while mine is the opposite In any case Prius is a great car!
The mileage is supposed to improve when the car is "broken in" as well. That can take 10,000 mi or so. Mine is still new as well (not a Touring). Finally, the Touring tires are supposed to drop the mileage a bit, perhaps 5-10%, but are better in wet etc.
I know I've seen posts in the past on this question, but I don't recall the specifics. I do have a friend watching the house that can take the car for a drive if needed, but I don't want him to bother if not necessary.
Any opinions or experiences??
1. Make sure your tires are inflated properly. I use 40 PSI front and 38 PSI rear. Many use even more. This will noticeably improve mileage. It also improves braking and handling. Including in snow.
2. Use regular gas. Your mileage may decrease in winter 2-3 MPG due to the ethanol or other oxidizers they put in.
3. Cold weather is a mileage killer. We just have to live with that. Don't let the car sit idling to warm up. If you drive it warm-up will occur in just a few blocks.
4. Short trips are a mileage killer. This is especially noticeable with the Prius, as when cold it can't use its' designed in tricks to improve its' mileage. Try to combine trips. As long as the car doesn't cool off between trips mileage won't suffer.
I have a 2004 with about 34,000 miles on it; I live in MD, just outside of the beltway around D.C.,I am not a particularly gentle driver, and here are my experiences:
(first, remember that some or all areas of US must change gasolene reformulation for winter and summer conditions - this in turn changes the mpg measurably). I routinely keep the tires at 35 and 33, whatever is stated on the door jamb plate.
Where and how I drive happens to fall into 2 distinct categories:
o about 1/3 was at high speed on highways with speed limits of 55 & 65, where I drove about 9 mph over the speed limit, with the air conditioner on most of the time, and the windows closed; the car had 300 pounds of passengers and about the same in luggage; the time of year were generally NOT in the winter, but were in the other 3 seasons.
- I routinely got between 49 & 51 mpg based on hand calculations. I was and continue to be very pleased.
o about 2/3 of my driving was what many people wrote to be the worst conditions - short drives of 5 - 15 minutes(maybe up to 30 or 45 minutes, but rarely more), in traffic, stop lights, etc.
- here I get around 43 [winter] and 46 [non-winter] mpg.
All in all, I am very pleased. The only two complaints I have are:
o it is frustrating filling up the gas tank fully - I find that once the auto pump stops the first time, it helps to rock the car back and forth a few times, then fill it up another 1/2 to 1 gal more; and
o the car (I think it is the tires) is quite noisy at highway speeds, to the point of needing to turn up the radio/CD player quite high in order to hear them. When I get new tires I will look for quieter ones.
Enjoy the car and don't sweat the gpm so much.
Yesterday I called up my Toyota dealer and was surprised to learn that they the Prius comes with either a 185/65 R15 OR a 195/65 R15 tire. Perhaps the 195/65 is what some have written as the "Touring" tire. Here are my questions:
1) can I put either sized tire on my same (original) rims?
2) does either size cause a noticeable change in mpg, or noise?
3) my research (Consumer Reports + various tire sites on the web)seems to indicate that the Yokohama AVID H4 and the Michilin Pilot EXALTO A/5 tires were the best overall (particularly in wet and dry traction, rolling resistance and noise
I do a lot of coasting to stops. I never have had a heavy brake foot and now I'm even lighter! I slow down way before the stop but not enough to get the drivers in back of me ticked off, if you know what I mean.
Also, now when I'm driving and I notice my speed is too far over the speed limit, I lift my foot totally off the gas peddle rather than just slightly--I love seeing the 99 mpg!
I do notice that, if I don't pay attention to my driving, I fall back into old habits (not coasting, etc.) and my gas mileage drops.
I was surprised to see but it is true, gas mileage does drop in the winter.
I hope this helps some....
I've been using Nokian tires for a long time now and just bought a brand new pair for my Civic. Great tires the WR-G2's are the newest of the WR's and they are great! The Prius will be our next car once it's gotten an update and I'd put the Nokians on fro winter over any other tire.
I'm having a right rear brake problem. It sometimes grabs when gently braking at very low speeds. At about 5 mph the right rear wheel can lock. I get some help for a few days by stopping the car with the emergency brake a couple of times, and the regular braking system then works. But I'm sure I gotta bring the car in--I can't keep doing the emergency brake bit. It may not be what's helping anyway, just a coincidence. ABS-- I tried to start the car this afternoon, and it wouldn't, and the ABS check light was on. I finally pushed the power OFF, then back on and all was well for this afternoon's trip. The great car has got to go in for a braking system check.
Nokian has a website and a toll free # and they will give you the name of all the dealers near you. I get free rotations with my Nokians every 5,000 miles.
We have had heavy snow, wintry mix, slush and 2" of sleet! My driveway was not plowed so I drove in the sleet with no problems. The Nokian WR is a tire you won't regret buying. If our winter was any worse i would buy Nokian RSi's. I bought those before and they were awesome in snow and ice but terrible on dry pavement.
The WR's are good in snow and ice and excellent on dry roads.
http://www.nokiantires.com/en/DEFAULT.ASPX
This website should help you find your answers.
I just bought my first Prius 3 weeks ago. I love it. I was recently stuck on a typical Southern California freeway for an hour and I became concerned as I watched the battery going down, down, down. When I say stuck, I mean that it took 50 minutes to go about 2 miles. Should I be concerned? Was my mistake that I was watching the "energy" screen? It went down to about 2 bars. Thanks for any help you can give me.
Does anyone think this typical daily driving falls within the "optimal" range to get 48 mpg? I have read that the optimal range is 30-60 minutes at 35mpg with few stops in warm weather.
I want to go hybrid, but don't want to waste my time/money!
I think the Prius does quite well with a lot of short ups and downs, and less well with long steady climbs. But we also have an Odyssey, and when I use it for short trips up and down the hill I get 16mpg. I would think just about any car will get worse mpg in the mountains.
Another data point: when we drive the Prius to Lake Tahoe we get about 40mpg on the way up, and 50mpg on the way down. This includes a long flat stretch between Oakland and Auburn, where the climb begins.
Thank you.
Barb
Good luck to all those lucky enough to have one - heard they are now selling over sticker - and you can't get one! Tom near Boston
Congratulations for switching from an A8 to a Prius. It's hard to believe that you won't miss the A8---but people around you will like you better for your effort.
A couple of weeks ago I entered the freeway and tried to engage my cruise control, but it wouldn't go on. After fiddling around a bit, I thought of the B drive-maybe I accidently had it in B, something I almost never do. I pulled the shifter to the left and down, and, sure enough, I had been in B and now I wuz in drive and I set the cruise. So I think you don't have to wait until you start up again b4 you can use your cruise.
Barb
I live in Boise, Idaho and travel ~50 miles (round trip) commuting between town (2750 ft) and our home at 3500 ft. There are multiple hills and downhills in my commute and I would say my average speed is around 43 mph (top speed 60, low speed 5). We have had the Prius for 2 years and approaching 36000 miles. Oneway commute is 35 minutes. Winter driving is ~48 mpg and Summer is ~ 52 mpg.
Bottom line:
We love our Prius! It is not a waste of money. It's fun to drive, comfortable, well designed, and roomy.
Be advised in Winter snow driving, use a good tire as in the Michelin Ice-X or Bridgestone Blizzak. Learn to "feather" the gas pedal as the Prius, once it breaks traction and spins, will momentarily shut the engine off (self protects the electric motor). If you start to spin, let up immediately on the gas and ease it on (counter intuitive, I know). This only occurs on our very steep drive (20%+ grade on ice).
Overall, the car is an excellent snow vehicle on plowed roads.
Best of luck.
Sorry for intruding in your forum, but I just drove 1000 miles and spent most of it stuck behind slow-moving Toyotas in the left lane...