New owner? Want MPG help? Read this first.

[F8L]

Originally Posted by stana

..open the EPA mileage piece you suggest (on my MAC).

It's not a MAC issue. It has something to do with the server migraiton or software update. It messed up some of our sigs as well. Likely it is a simple URL error now.

[Iamjo20]

The link posted would not work this am...............

Originally Posted by galaxee

This is buried back in the old PC archives and I just did some searching for it to link to it in another post... and since we have so many new owners coming on to PC right now looking for MPG solutions I thought I'd link this article here too.

So please, before freaking out and posting how there's something wrong with your car or whatever other frustration is on your mind, read through this article and take these tips to heart. If this doesn't work, THEN go ahead and post a "please help me" thread and we'll all jump up and offer suggestions

"Why don't I get the EPA Mileage?" by efusco

[efusco]

Originally Posted by Iamjo20

The link posted would not work this am...............

Should be fixed.
Why Don't I Get The EPA Mileage?

[PrematurelyGray]

I've owned my car for just one week.

Thank you for this info. Your guide has provided more than a MPG-optimizing blueprint. It's provided a mother-son bonding experience.

I asked my 15 year old son to read through the guide; now he and his friends (whom I routinely chauffeur) get a kick out of coaching me to the best mileage.

[a priori]

Originally Posted by PrematurelyGray

I've owned my car for just one week.

Thank you for this info. Your guide has provided more than a MPG-optimizing blueprint. It's provided a mother-son bonding experience.

I asked my 15 year old son to read through the guide; now he and his friends (whom I routinely chauffeur) get a kick out of coaching me to the best mileage.

Great first post! I love the hair, but the picture got a bit smudged on your face.

[snappycappy]

How do I calculate MPG when the gas tank uses a bladder?? It would seem that FULL relies on the ambient temperature as well as the temperature of the fuel itself. So in the summer when everything is nice and warm, I can pump in about 10 1/2 to 11 gallons when the last "PIP" starts blinking. In the winter, I am lucky to pump in 8 1/2. I live in Chicago. Winters 20 to 40 degrees, summers 70 to 90 degrees.

Here is my observaton. The MPG that the onboard computer indicates is really "miles per pip". So, obviously if you pump 8 1/2 gallons into ten pips, the mpg will go down. Conversely if you pump 11 gallons into ten pips the mpg will go up. Sound right to you??

I like to have some idea of how far I can drive on the last PIP!! Right now my MPG is at 36, so I am thinking I can safely drive 30 miles on the last pip??

But how do I actually figure the real MPG??

[snappycappy]

How do I calculate MPG when the gas tank uses a bladder?? It would seem that FULL relies on the ambient temperature as well as the temperature of the fuel itself. So in the summer when everything is nice and warm, I can pump in about 10 1/2 to 11 gallons when the last "PIP" starts blinking. In the winter, I am lucky to pump in 8 1/2. I live in Chicago. Winters 20 to 40 degrees, summers 70 to 90 degrees.

Here is my observaton. The MPG that the onboard computer indicates is really "miles per pip". So, obviously if you pump 8 1/2 gallons into ten pips, the mpg will go down. Conversely if you pump 11 gallons into ten pips the mpg will go up. Sound right to you??

I like to have some idea of how far I can drive on the last PIP!! Right now my MPG is at 36, so I am thinking I can safely drive 30 miles on the last pip??

But how do I actually figure the real MPG??

[F8L]

Originally Posted by snappycappy

How do I calculate MPG when the gas tank uses a bladder?? It would seem that FULL relies on the ambient temperature as well as the temperature of the fuel itself. So in the summer when everything is nice and warm, I can pump in about 10 1/2 to 11 gallons when the last "PIP" starts blinking. In the winter, I am lucky to pump in 8 1/2. I live in Chicago. Winters 20 to 40 degrees, summers 70 to 90 degrees.

Here is my observaton. The MPG that the onboard computer indicates is really "miles per pip". So, obviously if you pump 8 1/2 gallons into ten pips, the mpg will go down. Conversely if you pump 11 gallons into ten pips the mpg will go up. Sound right to you??

I like to have some idea of how far I can drive on the last PIP!! Right now my MPG is at 36, so I am thinking I can safely drive 30 miles on the last pip??

But how do I actually figure the real MPG??

Because the amount of fuel in the tank will always vary as will you MPG for that tank you will never have a perfect figure for how many miles you'll get on the last pip. A more sophisticated computer would be required to take into account the remaining fuel in the tank and your very current driving conditions. I.E. with 1 gallon left you can drive like a moron and get 20mpg or you could hypermile and get 100mpg, thus the amount of miles left on the last pip will vary.

[rkskeet]

Hey all: I am a very recent NEW Owner of a 2008 Prius Pkg #6. My wife and I love the car as it seems to be living up to our expectations for fuel efficiency.. We traded in a very well kept 05 Dodge Grand Caravan in favor of a more effecient car. You know, kids are married and out of the house and we don't have to taxi them around as we did in years past... The dealer sales and service reps have been very helpful answering my questions. However, I do have a question regarding the fuel tank guage (pips as I have seen them referred to).. The max capacitiy of the fuel tank is 12 gals (11.9 to be exact).. There are 10 pips indicating a full tank. If you do the math 12 divided by 10 is 1.2 gals of gas consumed for every pip.. What was confusing was during my last fill-up, I was down 5 pips (approx 1/2 tank level) and only pumped 3.56 gals of gas to fill the tank. I had traveled approx 155 miles on 3.56 gal of gas or an average of 43 mpg. My consumption read out was anywhere from 42 mpg up to 46 mpg. If I was to calculate the 5 pips to fill the tank that would be approx a 6 gal fill up but as I stated, it was only 3.6.. It appears that the fuel guage is not linear to the actual gas fill and milage consumption?? Any thoughts on this?? Would welcome some feedback.. Thanks..
Rich from PA

[Tomes]

The way I understand it, it is the bladder thing. The gas tank is never the same size, depending on its temperature at that moment.
Tomes