New owner? Want MPG help? Read this first.

[diamondlarry]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(kaspiahn @ Jul 30 2007, 07:17 PM) [snapback]487670[/snapback]</div>

Hi all. I've had my 07 Prius for 6 weeks now, and I've already put 6,512 miles on it. I drive about 200+ miles a day in my line of work. I keep reading about this so called "break in period".
Well I have noticed a loss of MPG after the first 5,000 miles. Before I was averaging 46-48MPG, now I'm seeing 44-46MPG. Can anyone explain that. I have not changed my driving habits(I following the advice in the article at the begining of this thread). I took my Prius in at 5,000 miles for the oil change and tire rotation. So I think I'm doing all the right steps. Why am I getting LESS MPG after 5,000 miles.
[/b]

Have you checked to make sure they didn't overfill the oil?

[kaspiahn]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(diamondlarry @ Jul 30 2007, 06:56 PM) [snapback]487689[/snapback]</div>

Have you checked to make sure they didn't overfill the oil?
[/b]

No I have not. I guess I assumed that taking it to Toyota for maintenance would be a no-brainer.
Thanks for the idea. I'll check that out.

[lytthans]

Thanks for posting the mileage link. It was very informative. My 2006 Prius has about 14K on it now, and I generally get 38-42 mpg. My highest mileage was 47 mpg, on a 65 mile freeway trip. I do run the A/C generally all the time, because of my asthma and the poor air quality in Southern California. The A/C compressor does run off it's own electric motor, but I guess that drains the 12 volt battery faster, causing the ICE to run more.

I read posting of owners getting 55-60+mpg, and often wonder if they live at the top of a hill and have the car towed home every day!

[mhollis]

I'm getting steady 40 MPG with my 2005 Prius and I know I can do better. I have read this forum and I try to take all of the steps to better my mileage. I do run the AC on hot days (we had a bad spell of them recently) but I cannot consistently get much above 40 MPG.

I have my tires inflated to 42 PSI in the front and 40 in the back. The car never works as a completely electric car when I'm starting out of my driveway; the engine always kicks in. Is there anything I can do for around town that would improve things a bit?

[Fibb222]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(mhollis @ Aug 7 2007, 08:23 AM) [snapback]491830[/snapback]</div>

I'm getting steady 40 MPG with my 2005 Prius and I know I can do better. I have read this forum and I try to take all of the steps to better my mileage. I do run the AC on hot days (we had a bad spell of them recently) but I cannot consistently get much above 40 MPG.

I have my tires inflated to 42 PSI in the front and 40 in the back. The car never works as a completely electric car when I'm starting out of my driveway; the engine always kicks in. Is there anything I can do for around town that would improve things a bit?
[/b]

There are two major things and a lot of minor things to be aware of:

Major thing #1: DRIVE LIKE GRANDMA: Tread lightly on the accelerator. If nobody is behind you or if there are two lanes, barely accelerate. And anticipate future slow downs and stops.

Major thing #2: DRIVE WITH A WARM ENGINE. Short trips (< 15 minutes) are a huge mileage killer. When the engine is cold it is very inefficient. It takes at least 5 minutes of driving to warm up it up. The first five minute bar is almost always the worst and you spend the rest of your trip trying to recover. If you can, combine your trips and errands and drive to the farthest stop first whenever possible. However, don't drive more just to get your numbers down. That's wasteful and counter productive.

I think the 2 major things, if dealt with properly, should get you to 50 mpg or better.

Minor things can be explored on this site: EV mod (used correctly), Engine Block Heater, tire pressure of 42/40 or higher, pulse and glide, not using cruise control when climbing hills, avoiding hills and stops if possible, etc.

Good luck,

[efusco]

I really dislike the "Grandma" metaphor for a couple of reasons...and one of them is not b/c I am a grandma.
The main reason being that I feel that really good fuel efficient driving requires a degree of awareness that is much more acute than what a "grandma" is capable of. Grandmas drive slow b/c their reaction times, ability to focus upon multiple stimuli simultaneous, vision, hearing and other senses are diminished.
To be a good 'hypermiler' or even just a good driver for high fuel economy one must be very aware of their surroundings and able to assimilate multiple incoming data, correlate with the car's current condition (Ice running vs stealth), anticipate lights, anticipate traffic movements, anticipate the car's behavior and modify it according to those conditions.

Now, I know you meant that you should be gentle on the accelerator and keep speeds to a minimum, and that is kind of true too, but grandmas tend to be too slow (impeding traffic) and fail to accelerate at an ideal rate (there is a nice 1700-2300rpm sweet spot with the Prius).

So, I don't mean to bash you, you just walked into one of my pet peeves and I'm feeling a little spunky today. And Grandmas probably would tend to get pretty good FE in a Prius. But I think an anti-grandma with their mind set on ideal driving could do far better.

[Fibb222]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(efusco @ Aug 7 2007, 10:08 AM) [snapback]491891[/snapback]</div>

So, I don't mean to bash you, you just walked into one of my pet peeves and I'm feeling a little spunky today. And Grandmas probably would tend to get pretty good FE in a Prius. But I think an anti-grandma with their mind set on ideal driving could do far better.
[/b]

No problem - you make a good point. Awareness of what's ahead (and behind) is definitely great for mileage maximizing and is definitely not Grandma's strong suite.

[acdii]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(kaspiahn @ Jul 30 2007, 06:17 PM) [snapback]487670[/snapback]</div>

Hi all. I've had my 07 Prius for 6 weeks now, and I've already put 6,512 miles on it. I drive about 200+ miles a day in my line of work. I keep reading about this so called "break in period".
Well I have noticed a loss of MPG after the first 5,000 miles. Before I was averaging 46-48MPG, now I'm seeing 44-46MPG. Can anyone explain that. I have not changed my driving habits(I following the advice in the article at the begining of this thread). I took my Prius in at 5,000 miles for the oil change and tire rotation. So I think I'm doing all the right steps. Why am I getting LESS MPG after 5,000 miles.
[/b]

Dont worry about it, after 10,500, it will come back. At least mine did, for the longest time after 5700 miles the mileage was down to 44-48 MPG, and only recently has it gone back up to 50.

[ilusnforc]

I'm at around 13,000 miles and taking new routes home from work at slower speeds (35~45mph) I'm now averaging around 57 MPG!

[a priori]

I waited. I waited five years for this car.

This Monday I picked up my new Prius, and I've been busy learning all about the whole experience.

Every time I drive this car I am more pleased than ever with this purchase. I had wondered about MPG, because my drive to work is only about 4 miles each way. I also had wondered whether there would be a break-in period where my MPG would be quite low. Happily, I report this is not the case.

The first four days I managed to drive around town to the tune of about 75 miles. I then refilled the tank and measured MPG at 46+. Today, I drove 165 miles in a mix of stop-and-go traffic and open country roads. Having reset the car's fuel consumption info screed, I read that this trip resulted in a 55.4 MPG report. At the end of the day, I returned to the place I purchased gas this morning and refilled the tank once again. The resulting measurement was a more sober 49.7 MPG.

I have attempted to use pulse-and-glide, though I haven't had much success. Also, I had the A/C on the entire time. Further, I've waited to drive until the ICE has started and stopped on its own. In this 90+ weather, this has taken no more than 60 to 90 seconds.

Does this sound about right? To me, it sounds great, and I only hope I can keep this up. If I can regularly be in the upper 40s for my type of driving, I think I will have done very well, both economically and morally.