What Is Your WORST Prius Fuel Economy?

[richardp]

Question here... When mileage per gallon figures are quoted what do you use for a source? Do you do it the old fashioned way or do you use the figures on the console readout? Also, how often do you reset the consumption screen?

[uart]

Hi Richard. Mine resets itself every time I fill up.

Most people use the console readout but some people also like to do it from "at the pump" measurements as well. If you do "at the pump" measurements then you have to be very careful about the amount of fuel you pump because apparently the fill volumes can be quite inconsistent (from fill to fill) due to the rubber bladder in the gas tank. (we don't have the rubber bladders here in Australia, but this is what I've been told is the case in North America).

If you average the fuel usage over several tanks then you'll get more accurate results. I'd recommend doing this just to be sure that your displayed MPG is reasonably accurate, but then if it is confirmed accurate then I'd not bother with the old fashion calculations after that.

[Shawn Clark]

Originally Posted by richardp

Question here... When mileage per gallon figures are quoted what do you use for a source? Do you do it the old fashioned way or do you use the figures on the console readout? Also, how often do you reset the consumption screen?

I use the MFD, but I also do hand calcs (fill quantity and odometer readings). Hand calcs for the GenII Prius are misleading for individual tanks due to excessive variation in fill volumes. However, over the long haul the MFD and the hand calcs for mine are in close agreement.

I reset the MFD each tank (or it resets itself if I don't beat it to it.)

GenIII's have a large discrepancy between MFD and actual MPG.

[DaveinOlyWA]

my worst was this past December. we had over 2 feet of snow, and the snow plow came down our street, exactly...well, ok, it did come within a mile of our street.

so, every morning, i had to go out, start up Pri, get shovel out and dig, because all night long, cars driving by would push slush over a foot deep into drifts that piled up in front of the Pri.

then, i get in and start rocking. this took anywhere from a minute to as much as 15 minutes one day (neighbor finally came out and pushed me)....gas mileage for the tank, 32 mpg (in 5 years had 3 tanks in 30's including two last winter)

on the highway, dont know, but lowest probably around 45-46 during winter sometime although that was pretty rare to be below 50 mpg

[BurkPhoto@aol.com]

Worst trip was in April, 2009, in my 09 Touring Edition, with a full load of luggage, two adults, two ten-year-old twins, and a Thule roof rack carrying a Sears X-Cargo full of even more luggage. We went from Charlotte to Myrtle Beach, and got 37.5 MPG, at or above the speed limit, calculated by hand. I'll take it!

However, my best mileage is about 44, calculated by hand. I've never seen better in 15,000 miles. That said, I drive assertively in Charlotte, so as not to get run over. And I do shamelessly enjoy the automatic AC. I bought the car for its amenities *and* its high mileage, not because I'm a tree hugger. My '98 Corolla (now my daughter's car) gets 25.5 MPG under similar circumstances (averaged over about 76,000 miles), and my wife's old Sienna averaged just over 19 MPG under similar circumstances. So the average we get in the Prius, about 40, seems perfectly acceptable.

[DGH]

Wisconsin to Florida last winter.
Way down: 30.6
Way back: 28.6

[PriusRos]

I recorded every fill-up for the three years I owned my 2006 Prius. Average mpg over 3 years was 43mpg. My absolute worst tank mileage was 25mpg last January! MFD showed 28, so it wasn't a calculation error. It was just short-trip, stop-and-go, hilly driving and extremely cold.
Do I win the prize?

[DaveinOlyWA]

Originally Posted by DGH

Wisconsin to Florida last winter.
Way down: 30.6
Way back: 28.6

lol... i guess that Cd rating kinda got shot to Hell...how fast were you driving?

i have done a lot of "heavy trips" i posted an IKEA trip from last summer, and unlike the VW in the commercial, i could still get under the bridge, and what i got was at least 3-400 lbs and we still averaged 52 MPG on way home...but with that stuff tied to roof, we were only doing about 50-55 on freeway on way home

[DGH]

lol... i guess that Cd rating kinda got shot to Hell...how fast were you driving?

Speed was held to about 75mph.
Car handled it really well.