San Diego mileage?

[spf]

Originally Posted by lagreca

I just got my 2007 package #6 prius last week and so far love it. However, I've been driving it like an OLD man, and only getting 40.6 mpg (90% city, 10% freeway). I realize that it needs to break in, etc before it will improve, but I'm wondering what other drivers are getting with the San Diego terrain? Meaning all the hills and canyons, etc.

I just bought my 2007 a month ago and am getting around 48mpg overall, based on 80% driving a 5 mile relatively flat commute to work and back each day on side roads, and 20% freeway. This is from the MFD, as calculating it manually will give wildly fluctuating readings unless done over a long period of time. What kind of mileage are you (and other San Diegans) getting these days?

[carz89]

I've averaged 48 mpg since I purchased my 2006 in September of that year. But my commute is a very short 10 minutes, just 4 miles each way to work, with about a dozen stoplights. The short commute is killing my mileage since the engine remains on for half of the trip in order to warm up. For my weekly 1-mile trip to church, I'll get 35mpg. I notice that for longer trips, my mileage significantly improves. For example, a typical 30-minute drive somewhere will net me 55-60 mpg. I find that the numerous hills in San Diego also kill my mileage.

One change I recently made to try and improve things is that I just upgraded to Mobil 1 oil a couple weeks ago during my 10k oil change. In the 200 miles since then, I am averaging 52mpg, a decent improvement from 48mpg, but too short-term to be truly representative.

Another couple things I'm seriously contemplating are:
1. Install the EV mode switch (sold by Sigma Automotive), which I would use for extremely short trips (such as driving a quarter mile from one store to another), or for intentionally drawing down the traction battery at the top of a big hill to allow more "charging room" in the battery on the way back down. Many discussion threads on the EV mode at PriusChat.

2. Install an Engine Block Heater which should reduce the amount of time my engine needs to run for warmup. The idea is that the household electricity used is cheaper than the cost of gasoline that would have been required to heat up the engine an equivalent amount of temperature. I've read that normally these EBH's are more beneficial in cold climates. However, I think there would still be a benefit in a moderate San Diego climate due to my really short commute. I need to do more research on this to convince myself before I take the EBH plunge.

Don't be discouraged, however. Rest assured you are getting 25%-35% better mileage than if you drove a standard gas engine, similar-size vehicle on the same routes using the same driving habits. That's the way I look at.

[tkil]

Here's a reasonable summary of the milage I was getting in my 2005 when I lived in San Diego:

cross-country (mpg's) vs. 17x7 and 215/45x17's

I lived in Ocean Beach, commuted daily to Rancho Bernardo. I could generally count on 50mpUSg on the commute (65mph on I-8 / CA-163 / I-15), with 50mi round trip needing a fill every two weeks (~500mi).

More milage stats at:
Gas Tank History

(Although I don't know which tanks were "pure commuting", as I was often taking road trips.)

[RonH]

In routine weeks commuting between CV and RB, 50 mpg, week in, week out. If I have to do a lot of short gopher trips on the weekend, it will drop down to 46-48 mpg. Couple of traffic jams, I'm up to 52-54 mpg, but no enjoying it.

[robnich]

Originally Posted by cjzito

For my weekly 1-mile trip to church, I'll get 35mpg.

Wouldn't that be a fine opportunity for a nice weekly walk in our mild San Diego climate? Think of the mileage!

Bob N.