Fuel consumption while driving at 80mph?

[bartolo5]

Hi guys,

I'm thinking of getting a Prius 2006, mainly because it will allow me to use the carpool lane here in the San Francisco Bay Area. I'm also interested, obviously, in fuel consumption but I was wondering how realistic those 50mpg that I see around are under normal driving conditions.

I usually drive highway miles between 60-80 mph, any idea of what kind of mileage I should expect at let's say 60, 70 and 80 mph?

Thanks in advance

[Wildkow]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(bartolo5 @ May 23 2006, 09:22 PM) [snapback]260145[/snapback]</div>

Hi guys,

I'm thinking of getting a Prius 2006, mainly because it will allow me to use the carpool lane here in the San Francisco Bay Area. I'm also interested, obviously, in fuel consumption but I was wondering how realistic those 50mpg that I see around are under normal driving conditions.

I usually drive highway miles between 60-80 mph, any idea of what kind of mileage I should expect at let's say 60, 70 and 80 mph?

Thanks in advance
[/b]

I live in the San Joaquin Valley so it's pretty much flat here and using the CC I get . . .

60 mph - 48-50 mpg
70 mph - 43-45 mpg
80 mph 38-42 mpg only one time est.

Spring weather above 60 degree F. steady speed with CC down I5 or CA 99. YMMV. The car is a GAS! Get one!

Wildkow

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(bartolo5 @ May 23 2006, 09:22 PM) [snapback]260145[/snapback]</div>

Hi guys,

I'm thinking of getting a Prius 2006, mainly because it will allow me to use the carpool lane here in the San Francisco Bay Area. I'm also interested, obviously, in fuel consumption but I was wondering how realistic those 50mpg that I see around are under normal driving conditions.

I usually drive highway miles between 60-80 mph, any idea of what kind of mileage I should expect at let's say 60, 70 and 80 mph?

Thanks in advance
[/b]

I live in the San Joaquin Valley so it's pretty much flat here and usnig the CC I get . . .

60 mph - 48-50 mpg
70 mph - 43-45 mpg
80 mph 38-42 mpg only one time est.

Spring weather above 60 degree F. steady speed with CC down I5 or CA 99. YMMV. The car is a GAS! Get one!

Wildkow

p.s. http://priuschat.com/index.php?showtopic=19900

[Vincent]

47-48MPG for my mostly flat mostly 68MPH highway commute on cc.

I can get stuck in stop/go/slow traffic for around 5 miles; then my MPG can jump to 51-52MPG. I just raised my tire pressure to 38/36 over the weekend and I hit 54.7 MPG yesterday with traffic.

[Kirkman]

My Prius does better gas mileage in warmer temperature. I have 3000 miles on it and I'm currently getting 51mpg locally and 53mpg highway.

[MikeSF]

I commute from San Francisco to Contra Costa 4 days a week, Now I don't hit 80, but 60-65 speeds are not out of the ordinary, and most of my drive is reverse commute direction so I dont hit much in the way of traffic, I'm pushing 50-53MPG on that drive.

[berylrb]

Hey Bartolo, welcome to the boards!

I live in the heart of SF, behind Twin Peaks on Mount Davidson so it is an understatement that living in the bay area "Your Miles May Vary" YMMV, LOL ... sounds like you're a freeway commuter you should do fine, what kills us are the 2-5 mile trips on hills.

We have been steadily weaning ourselves off of commuting back to Sacramento for business, personal and family, and the car is used more now for Safeway trips than work due to MUNI.

I've only had two long 80mph roundtrips this year (going 3 miles on the CA-280 to Daly city doesn't count right?)
SF - Elk Grove (suburb of Sacramento) I-80 May 8th at 75-80 mph 50.97 mpg, temp in EG 85F, SF 57
SF - Lathrop (Stockton) CA-580 to the I-5 Feb., this route has two passes, full cruise control is full throttle, 1 75-80 mph, 41.0 mpg Lathrop 60 F, SF 50

I'm quite sure I spend most of my time at 77 mph fast enough to stay in lane two and not impede traffic, and slow enough to be passed constantly in lane 1, you know what I mean? August 2004 we did a 65-70 mph trip to San Diego, I was curious what would happened if I slowed down, LOL, still 50 mpg but it was the I-5 almost all cruise control, no new techniques and the standard tire pressure and vacatino luggage, YMMV. :P

I have been using some of the techniques mentioned here for higher mileage, mainly trying to use up the battery with uphill bursts and increasing tire pressure, but I'm still on that tank, I'll report later, so far it looks like I've gained about 2-3 mpg. I've had to relax a little, one can spend more time shooting for 50 mph than watching the road

b

[Kirkman]

The fun in driving a prius locally, is using the pulse and glide method. Looking ahead and seeing a red light, release the gas and let the generator charge the battery as the car glides to a stop. I find myself glancing at the energy screen all the time.

[MikeSF]

yeah Portola distrcit for me, I'm lucky with my freeway driving because its a coast down hill to get to the freeway (Unfortunately the ICE turning on to warm up doesn't help), back I got to go back up the hill, so leaving SF is not the issue if I want to drive to anywhere within the city though that means multiple hills (Exception being the embarcadaro, I drove there and was amazed at the flatness).

[busyrosy]

Once you get a prius, you'll probably change the way you drive. The consumption screen is addictive.. it's like a freakin game that you're trying to master.

I took a road trip from the bay area to las vegas and I only had 2.5 days so I drove fast (80-100 mph) and I had the AC on full. I even kept the AC on while I took stops for meals to keep my puppy cool. My avg was about 40 ish mpg.

[Maytrix]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(busyrosy @ May 24 2006, 09:06 PM) [snapback]260651[/snapback]</div>

Once you get a prius, you'll probably change the way you drive. The consumption screen is addictive.. it's like a freakin game that you're trying to master.

I took a road trip from the bay area to las vegas and I only had 2.5 days so I drove fast (80-100 mph) and I had the AC on full. I even kept the AC on while I took stops for meals to keep my puppy cool. My avg was about 40 ish mpg.
[/b]

I agree, although I think it also depends on someone's mindset as well. I was getting the Prius solely to increase my fuel economy. So, having all that info and wanting to get the best fuel efficiency I could, I changed my driving and drive between 60-70mph. That's a huge change from the 80-90 I used to drive.

My lifetime mileage is 46mpg. I've had the car since last Sept 1st and have 20k miles. So the majority have been in colder weather so far, I have a feeling my lifetime stats will rise over the next few months.

Driving 70-80 (which I have done, just not frequent) really does drop the mileage, but I was still able to maintain above 40 on average.