76.1MPG-New Record Tank after 5 1/2 years of driving

[1SMUGLEX]

That is tremendous! Congrats!

[MR.K]

That's the longest down hill grade I have heard of !! Just kidding....I just got 62.1 thru N.Nevada ...no wind ,62 mph, about 60 deg, air off, Shell's best gas .....so what kinda gas and grade did you use??

[efusco]

Originally Posted by MR.K

That's the longest down hill grade I have heard of !! Just kidding....I just got 62.1 thru N.Nevada ...no wind ,62 mph, about 60 deg, air off, Shell's best gas .....so what kinda gas and grade did you use??

Just regular old 87 octane from either Wal-mart or the local gas and 'crap' shop...nothing special.

FWIW, the weather has been great to me this tank too and I'm at 75.5mpg about 400 miles in.

[MR.K]

What are the conditions .....in other words , why now so good?

[efusco]

Originally Posted by MR.K

What are the conditions .....in other words , why now so good?

The Springtime weather has been a huge benefit. I'm into S4 within 1/4 mile of start up since I'm prewarmed with the EBH. Plus, my recent work schedule has allowed me several off-rush hour commutes and has gotten me out of 'kid duty'; which means fewer short commutes.

One other "X-factor". I have been able to occasionally utilize my e-bike for running solo errands within about 5-6 mile radius of my house. I otherwise would have driven the Prius. I've also been really working on hypermiling technique when traffic is low.

[ArtH]

Originally Posted by F8L

I assume you are calculating this over a large number of tanks and not just when the fancy strikes you right?

While I am anal enough to create a spreadsheet to show my tank average over time, for some reason I don't do it. I tend to fill up after 400 miles or so, and I am between 58 and 63 mpg (miles driven divided by gallons used). My last tank I got 67 mpg and I figured that I didn't fill it all the way up.

And that tank consisted of 400 miles on the interstate (two 200 mile trips) getting 60 mpg, 5 miles of erand running, and two trips of 80+ miles and I got 69 and 70 mpg on those trips (according to the computer). This was the first time the actual mpg (67) exceeded the computer.

I thought I read that the computer reads a few percent higher. Regardless, while driving, I am trying to maximize what the computer reads.

Efusco,

I drove like you used to. When looking for a car, I almost bought the Saab Aero. A buddy has a Prius and he came by and let me drive his. I was addicted right from the start.

It makes the crappy traffic around here more enjoyable. I greatly enjoy the Prius and I am waiting for battery prices to decrease so I can get some and plug them in. I am not an environmentalist nor some green person, I just want to make the number on the computer screen to be bigger. I want the Prius to read 100 mpg.

Everyone that I have shown the Prius to and made them sit in the front AND back and I open the hatch and show them the additional storage in the back were amazed at the Prius. They thought it was small and slow and were suprised.

Congrats on your record tank. You are a better man then I am (and I am really trying hard to get numbers similar to yours).

Art

[Son of Gloin]

CONGRATS ON YOUR NEW PERSONAL BEST, efusco !!!!!

The best I've done over a more-or-less entire tank thus far -- I usually fill up with 2 or 3 pips remaining ... if I don't fill up at least that frequently, I'm afraid I'll forget how to do it! -- was 58.7 mpg over 356 miles; mostly highway driving at mostly 60-63 mph with myself and 2 adult passengers -- about 520 pounds total -- and moderate A/C use.

I might just top your 76.1 next summer, though. I'm planning a trip out west and plan to fill up / top-it-off in Salida, CO, which is about 8000' above sea level. I'm REALLY curious to see what sort of mileage I can get driving 60-65 mph from there to Kansas City, MO, which is only about 1500' above sea level.

Now THAT'S a long down-hill !!!

[SageBrush]

I expect 70 - 75 mpg after the car is warmed up when I drive carefully in non-congested city routes and temperate weather, so Evan's results mirror my own. A couple of months ago I hit 80 mpg on a single round trip -- my best result ever. I find it curious that 75 mpg is reproducible, but 80 mpg is so difficult.

Anyway, I sent a picture of the result to a family friend who just bought a Prius and was content that his fuel economy of 40's was about par for the Prius. One morning I took out his car from a trip to the city and back with him as passenger, and showed him 75 mpg for the trip. The most satisfying thing from my standpoint was that he immediately accepted that the difference was in his driving habits, not a limitation of the car.

[efusco]

Just to F/U, I topped up my lastest tank today. And while quite good I couldn't beat the 76.1mpg tank. I was at 75.2 until taking the car to a car-wash this morning...they pushed it down to 74.5 in 15 minutes without going anywhere!! I got it up to 74.8 when I filled up about 18 miles and 3 stops later.