PRIUS GAS MILEAGE SUCKS

[IndyDoug]

Turn off your AC and then come back and tell us how your MPG is doing.

[brick]

Didn't they raise your interstate speed limits to 80mph last year? Do you spend much time at that kind of speed?

[pewd]

for the OP -

what tire pressure are your front tires set to?
how about the back tires?
how long is your average trip?
when you come upon a stop sign or light,
do you run right up to it then hit the brakes firmly?
or take your foot off the gas several hundred meters prior to the stop and coast?
what temp is your a/c set to?
how much stuff are you hauling around in the back?
is the air inlet vent in the back seat for the battery clear or blocked?
do you accelerate from a stop firmly, or very gently like grandma does, or do you floor it?

on my daily commute, mostly highway, 22 miles one way, i'm presently running about 50 mpg

in the city, very short trips to the store, e.g., less than 2-3 miles before shutting down, i run about 40 mpg, sometimes less. going across the street to get groceries, its much less - more like 20mpg for the 1/2 mile round trip to the store.

city traffic, longer trips, 5-10 miles, its more like 44.

so it varies widely, depending on your habits.

its still triple what i got in my jeep

and no one gets the epa rating mileage - my jeep was rated 20, i never got much better than 16-7, and usually closer to 15 ; about 20% lower than the epa rating. drop that 60 rating on the prius 20% and you're looking at 48, which is much more realistic for most of us. e.g., epa ratings are as valid as a politician 'promising' they'll do something for us...

[qbee42]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(westex39 @ Aug 19 2007, 06:39 PM) [snapback]498829[/snapback]</div>

No where near the 60 mpg Toyota said I was suppose to get.
[/b]

Toyota doesn't say you will get 60, that's the EPA's figure, which all manufactures are required to use. The new figures reflect the EPA's new method of calculating mileage.

Did you calculate this mileage based on miles driven and gas put into the Prius? If so, that won't work. The fuel bladder in the U.S. model introduces variability into the tank volume. You either have to use the figure calculated by the Prius, or do manual calculations over a large number of tanks to reduce the error to an acceptable level.

As other posters have noted, mileage varies a lot based on driving technique and the type of driving. Short trips are hard on mileage. If I do nothing but drive around our little village, my mileage will drop into the 40s. Driving to Traverse City will get summer mileage into the mid 50s. If the engine is warmed up before I stop for gas, I can get 60 mpg on the trip back from Traverse City.

Another poster stated this, but I'm going to say it again in a slightly simplified manner. The mileage on all cars and trucks varies. You don't see as much variation on a big truck since they get crappy mileage all of the time. Also, the difference is larger on a Prius because of the good mileage. A 20% swing at 10 mpg is 2 mpg. A 20% swing at 50 mpg is 10 mpg.

Tom

[PriusOwner004]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(westex39 @ Aug 19 2007, 05:39 PM) [snapback]498829[/snapback]</div>

Just filled up today. Gas mileage was 38.7 mpg. No where near the 60 mpg Toyota said I was suppose to get. I live in West Texas where it is flat. I drive like you would expect a 68 year old would drive. I don't poke around and I keep up with traffic. If I had known that the gas mileage was going to be this bad I would have kept my pick up.
My Prius has 1716 miles on it. Does anybody think the mileage will get any better with time and mileage?
I notice the new gas mileage figures for 2008 are 48 city and 45 highway. This is still more than I'm getting.
If I had it to do over I wouldn't buy a Prius.
What are some of the forum members getting for city gas mileage?
[/b]

Interesting. I just met a Prius owner in his upper 60s also and he said he's getting 39 to 41 in his 2006.
Anyway, I live in a hot climate (Livermore, Cali, gets to over 100 summer time), I use the A/C at low fan 78F temp. Fairly flat with some hills here and there and I am getting 50 to 55. My lowest was 48.

It's disappointing to hear the EPA lowered its estimate for the Prius. 45 highway? This is ridiculous! I've never got less than 50 highway. 48 city it's not such a stretch, since at times I do get that low, though rarely.


What could kill your MPG is short trips. When my wife goes to the grocery store, she comes back with HORRIBLE MPG, 39 to 41. She drives normally. I can go on short trips and still get 48 to 50 using certain techniques.

[likesmpg]

I mostly use the car to get to work; 30 miles round-trip, no AC, tires 42/40, generally flat ground, about 25% of the distance on the freeway going ~60mph. I get about 55-60mpg highway and 70-80mpg city for tank averages in the 60-65mpg. The Prius gas mileage is excellent.

[efusco]

1)First and foremost you need to check your tire pressures. Often at delivery they are far too low. Most of us recommend something in the range of 42psi in front and 40psi in rear. If you find that too harsh of a ride then back down to 38/36.

2)If, after 1000 or so miles of changing your tire pressure and reading the articles referenced above you still are not in the mid-40s at least then you should see your dealer and ask them to check the alignment. Although this usually doesn't cause a huge impact on FE it can be measurable and often, from the ship ride, they arrive with significant toe-in.

3)Don't be offended when we say it has to do with your driving style. We have almost all modified our driving style, at least marginally, with the Prius to take full advantage of its features and maximize our fuel economy. Major things to think about are anticipating stops and slow downs early. If you know you have to stop get off the gas as early as possible and let the car glide to the stop sign/light. If it's a light and you can slow down early and time it such that you don't have to come to a complete stop before it changes back to green then all the better. Increase your following distance behind other cars so that if they slow to turn you don't have to slow as much or as abruptly.

4) Drive the speed limit. You'll be suprised that you will keep up with the majority of traffic even staying at the speed limit b/c instead of racing to stop lights and waiting the whole time you'll just be rolling up to the light as it changes. They'll speed ahead and you'll catch them at the next light. You'll make fewer adjustments to your speed as you won't get behind someone, slow down, then speed up again to pass them...maintaining a steady speed will significantly help your FE. While it may feel slow at first you'll get used to it and, I believe, ultimately feel like a more relaxed and happy driver...and as a side benefit you'll be safer as well.

5)Give it time. You've got what, 4 tanks of gas? I drive what you have on your car in a month. New tires take about 2000 miles to fully break in. The car will take about 6000 miles to fully break in the mechanical parts. And you will take time to get a feel for the subtleties. I have about 64k miles on my '04. I averaged just under 50mpg my first year. Over the past year I'm averaging about 62mpg...and I get better all the time as I learn more and more how to squeeze every bit out of this amazing car.

Finally, if you can't make most of the adjustments above then you have to be willing to accept the consequence of your choices...the consequences in this case being less than ideal FE. The EPA numbers are estimates and averages...some people will exceed them, some will be under them...they are not guarantees for you no matter how you choose to drive. You can choose to drive in a way to exceed them or in a way that will leave you short of them. That's the American way, you get to choose.

[cwerdna]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(PriusOwner004 @ Aug 19 2007, 04:45 PM) [snapback]498858[/snapback]</div>

Interesting. I just met a Prius owner in his upper 60s also and he said he's getting 39 to 41 in his 2006.
Anyway, I live in a hot climate (Livermore, Cali, gets to over 100 summer time), I use the A/C at low fan 78F temp. Fairly flat with some hills here and there and I am getting 50 to 55. My lowest was 48.

It's disappointing to hear the EPA lowered its estimate for the Prius. 45 highway? This is ridiculous! I've never got less than 50 highway. 48 city it's not such a stretch, since at times I do get that low, though rarely.
What could kill your MPG is short trips. When my wife goes to the grocery store, she comes back with HORRIBLE MPG, 39 to 41. She drives normally. I can go on short trips and still get 48 to 50 using certain techniques.
[/b]

Livermore gets a lot hotter than San Jose so that probably helps your mileage. FWIW, my worst "tank" was my 1st one at ~38 mpg (45.1 mpg on the MFD). My trips aren't short (28-32 mins typically to work, ~20 mins of it highway) and I can only manage tanks above 50 mpg if I try really hard to keep it below 70 mph on the highway.

On my commute which is mostly on highway 85, you'll get passed constantly if you go 70 mph, even though the limit is 65.

From what I've observed on here, it seems that 04 (and maybe 05) owners are able to achieve better mileage than those w/06+ Priuses.

[hschuck]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(westex39 @ Aug 19 2007, 03:39 PM) [snapback]498829[/snapback]</div>

Just filled up today. Gas mileage was 38.7 mpg. [/b]

Sounds to me like he op is basing his mpg on a single tank manual calculation. I wonder what the mfd reported for that tank mpg. I believe it is normally accepted that the mpg readout is on the order of 1.5 to 2 percent high whereas fillup to fillup can easily have a variance of several gallons which can be on the order of 20% or more.

[JimboK]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(westex39 @ Aug 19 2007, 06:39 PM) [snapback]498829[/snapback]</div>

What are some of the forum members getting for city gas mileage? [/b]

I get between 65 and 85 MPG in the city.