New owner? Want MPG help? Read this first.

[wardo]

Took my brand-new '07 for its first road trip today - it had 8 miles on it when I got it home from the dealership yesterday, and had 127 miles on it at the end of my road jaunt today.

In a combination of highway (I-95, including bumper-to-bumper stop-and-go for 7 miles) and some in-town driving, I averaged 52.9 mpg. I'm THRILLED.

Plus, as a technogeek, I really enjoyed playing with all the buttons and touch screens while stopped in traffic. Only thing that made me worry was the &**&(* woman in the SUV behind me who was gabbing on her cell phone and kept lurching to a stop just inches behind my bumper!

[tekn0wledg]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(a priori @ Aug 17 2007, 11:59 PM) [snapback]498180[/snapback]</div>

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.
[/b]

I would start driving right away instead of waiting for ICE to warmup. Reason being, you burn about .3gal/hr while idling, so it makes more sense to just get out and drive during that time.

Even though you have a 4mile trip, you will probably burn less fuel by starting to drive immediately. The best bet would be to test it by calculating your gallons burned in a controlled test. Drive a few days with ICE warmed up already. Drive a few starting right from the press of the button. See which results in the better fuel economy and/or least amount of gallons of fuel used.

[PLMurphy]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Clarinetist @ Aug 1 2007, 03:10 PM) [snapback]488763[/snapback]</div>

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!
[/b]

Welcome to reality. My wife and I get, 42-44mpg on two Prius Touring models. I enjoy heater and airconditioner, plus the radio and normal ride at 32psi.

[acdii]

Looks like I passed the breakin period, my mileage has gone back up to just about 50 MPG from just under 48. Right now it is sitting at 51.1 with 86 miles on the meter. I accidentally reset the darn thing wiping some dust off where the miles are. It was at 50.3 at that point with at least 1000 miles accumulated. From between 5300 till about 11000 the MPG dropped 3 miles from when I first got it with 3 miles on it. Going on a long trip from IL to PA in two weeks, so I get to see if continuous driving has improved over my last trip with just under 5000 on it. That drive of about 1200 miles averaged about 46 MPG.

What I hate is when I get some bozo riding my bumper, then I notice my MPG drops because I am not watching my gauge but the idiot in back of me. Like dude, if 60 isnt fast enough pass me or back the F off. This morning I finally got to see who the puker is. He was hanging off my bumper, wouldn't pass (thankfully now that he wasn't in front of me) when we got to the stop, I see him open his door and drop a load on the road. Almost every stinking day I see a pile of puke at the intersections. That person needs some serious help. He finally did pass and got way up ahead, and sure enough, opened the door and left another load on the road. Disgusting! I was half tempted to call it in as a DUI.

[acdii]

Looks like I passed the breakin period, my mileage has gone back up to just about 50 MPG from just under 48. Right now it is sitting at 51.1 with 86 miles on the meter. I accidentally reset the darn thing wiping some dust off where the miles are. It was at 50.3 at that point with at least 1000 miles accumulated. From between 5300 till about 11000 the MPG dropped 3 miles from when I first got it with 3 miles on it. Going on a long trip from IL to PA in two weeks, so I get to see if continuous driving has improved over my last trip with just under 5000 on it. That drive of about 1200 miles averaged about 46 MPG.

What I hate is when I get some bozo riding my bumper, then I notice my MPG drops because I am not watching my gauge but the idiot in back of me. Like dude, if 60 isnt fast enough pass me or back the F off. This morning I finally got to see who the puker is. He was hanging off my bumper, wouldn't pass (thankfully now that he wasn't in front of me) when we got to the stop, I see him open his door and drop a load on the road. Almost every stinking day I see a pile of puke at the intersections. That person needs some serious help. He finally did pass and got way up ahead, and sure enough, opened the door and left another load on the road. Disgusting! I was half tempted to call it in as a DUI.

[a priori]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(tekn0wledg @ Aug 23 2007, 04:57 PM) [snapback]501229[/snapback]</div>

I would start driving right away instead of waiting for ICE to warmup. Reason being, you burn about .3gal/hr while idling, so it makes more sense to just get out and drive during that time.

Even though you have a 4mile trip, you will probably burn less fuel by starting to drive immediately. The best bet would be to test it by calculating your gallons burned in a controlled test. Drive a few days with ICE warmed up already. Drive a few starting right from the press of the button. See which results in the better fuel economy and/or least amount of gallons of fuel used.
[/b]

OK. Here's an update. I've tried both ways for several days each, and I've compared the MFD's mpg for the short trips. Actually, I've tried to determine the amount of fuel used by dividing Trip ODO miles by the MFD mpg. By doing this on arrival and subtracting the gallons that had been used prior to the short trip, I get a rough idea of the gasoline used in each trip. Obviously, I have variations in each trip, but it appears I use less gas when allowing the ICE to complete its initial warmup before I start rolling.

This may not be a reliable and reproduceable approach, but it is the closest I'm going to get. If I take the same approach each day under the same conditions, and I measure this across several days, I think I get a decent idea.

So, it still looks to me as though I'm doing better to allow the warmup before I put the car into drive.

[tkil]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(a priori @ Sep 1 2007, 10:05 PM) [snapback]505714[/snapback]</div>

... it appears I use less gas when allowing the ICE to complete its initial warmup before I start rolling. ... So, it still looks to me as though I'm doing better to allow the warmup before I put the car into drive.[/b]

One thing you might try is to start moving as soon as the "ready" indicator comes on -- but after a minute or two, take your foot off the accelerator then gently re-apply to see if you can get into stealth/glide mode.

I did this all the time on my old commute: the first mile and a half was very dense suburb, stop signs every couple hundred feet. I'd get moving immediately (well, I got some "forced" warm-up time when I got out of the car to close the garage), but after a minute I'd try to get into glide mode. Sometimes I could, sometimes I had someone behind me (and I didn't -- and don't -- like to hold up traffic), but it did work occasionally.

And that might be the difference you're seeing between your two trials. (Assuming that, once you've let the ICE shut off after warmup, you glide as far as possible before having the ICE kick in again.)

[a priori]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(tkil @ Sep 11 2007, 02:25 PM) [snapback]510733[/snapback]</div>

One thing you might try is to start moving as soon as the "ready" indicator comes on -- but after a minute or two, take your foot off the accelerator then gently re-apply to see if you can get into stealth/glide mode.

I did this all the time on my old commute: the first mile and a half was very dense suburb, stop signs every couple hundred feet. I'd get moving immediately (well, I got some "forced" warm-up time when I got out of the car to close the garage), but after a minute I'd try to get into glide mode. Sometimes I could, sometimes I had someone behind me (and I didn't -- and don't -- like to hold up traffic), but it did work occasionally.

And that might be the difference you're seeing between your two trials. (Assuming that, once you've let the ICE shut off after warmup, you glide as far as possible before having the ICE kick in again.)
[/b]

I think the advantage I have is that the summer warm up is very quick, and I can drive in stealth mode through my neighborhood and even out to the first arterial road. If I don't wait, there is no way to "force" it into the stealth mode, and I end up using the ICE at times I don't need to. Also, at the beginning of my commute (just out of the neighborhood) and at the beginning of my return commute, I have decent downhill runs. This allows a recharge of the batteries to replace the initial stealth driving.

In other scenarios, I think I might as well drive as soon as the Ready lamp is on.

[arnoutterschure]

I agree. We bought our 2007 Prius a week ago, and my wife mainly uses it to drive the kids to preschool and to get to the train station. It is a 5-10 min, 2-3 mile drive. She gets 35+ mpg. Before that, we had a 2002 Kia Sedona Minivan that she used for the same trips. It got 15 mpg. So with the Prius, we get 3x better gas milage AND still get almost 500 miles per tank (12 gallons), whereas with the KIA we got only 250 miles per tank (20 gallons). We thus save almost $100 per fully tanked Prius compared to the KIA for the same distance driven, and not to mention the amount of emitted CO2 we reduce! Every car, except full electric cars, have a cold start and warm-up period. So also the Prius suffers, but it is still worth it. Today my wife actually told me she averaged 50mpg on a trip to Davis! AMAZING! Buying a Prius is so much worth it. We also have a KIA spectra5, which does 28/34mpg city/highway. Not bad, but the Prius still beats it big time!

[arnoutterschure]

I agree. We bought our 2007 Prius a week ago, and my wife mainly uses it to drive the kids to preschool and to get to the train station. It is a 5-10 min, 2-3 mile drive. She gets 35+ mpg. Before that, we had a 2002 Kia Sedona Minivan that she used for the same trips. It got 15 mpg. So with the Prius, we get 3x better gas milage AND still get almost 500 miles per tank (12 gallons), whereas with the KIA we got only 250 miles per tank (20 gallons). We thus save almost $100 per fully tanked Prius compared to the KIA for the same distance driven, and not to mention the amount of emitted CO2 we reduce! Every car, except full electric cars, have a cold start and warm-up period. So also the Prius suffers, but it is still worth it. Today my wife actually told me she averaged 50mpg on a trip to Davis! AMAZING! Buying a Prius is so much worth it. We also have a KIA spectra5, which does 28/34mpg city/highway. Not bad, but the Prius still beats it big time!