Bad MPG Theory

[JRitt]

Originally Posted by jay_man2

That's a large part of pulse and glide, from what I can tell, and how I try to approach it. Haven't gotten less than 50.1 out of a tank yet.

I live in an area with lots of steep hills with traffic signals at the bottom (worse case to try for great economy) I get the same mileage (48) whether I go easy (just left of the PWR) or I fill the entire screen. The car should actually get its best acceleration mileage when the rpms are at peak torque (4000rpm). Peak torque is where the engine has the lowest LB/HP consumption. I don't have a scanguage to check the rpms when accelerating so I just fill the gauge and keep up with traffic.

[LulzChicken]

Originally Posted by JRitt

I live in an area with lots of steep hills with traffic signals at the bottom (worse case to try for great economy) I get the same mileage (48) whether I go easy (just left of the PWR) or I fill the entire screen. The car should actually get its best acceleration mileage when the rpms are at peak torque (4000rpm). Peak torque is where the engine has the lowest LB/HP consumption. I don't have a scanguage to check the rpms when accelerating so I just fill the gauge and keep up with traffic.

That is kinda similar to my type of terrain. Are you in ECO mode when you fill the power bar or in normal mode? The reason I ask is because if you fill the bar in PWR mode it will be more demanding than in ECO mode. I guess I'll just keep it in ECO mode, and push it into half of the PWR bar when necessary...

[Bruno_S]

The Gen III should have a tachometer and a better display of how much of regen braking is used vs. friction braking. Would help to improve MPG by trying to optimize acceleration and braking.

[JRitt]

Originally Posted by LulzChicken

That is kinda similar to my type of terrain. Are you in ECO mode when you fill the power bar or in normal mode? The reason I ask is because if you fill the bar in PWR mode it will be more demanding than in ECO mode. I guess I'll just keep it in ECO mode, and push it into half of the PWR bar when necessary...

I drive in normal mode. I found power mode to be to touchy and eco mode makes me dig to deep when climbing

[32kcolors]

Accelerate normally (don't baby the pedal up to speed), then glide.

[wvgasguy]

I didn't vote because none of these match what I do. I drive in ECO all the time, but I don't clog up traffic. ECO doesn't make the car slower it simply allows you to modulate the throttle with more sensitivity.

[bwilson4web]

I don't know because I drive the dang car and that means eyes out and scanning all the nut cases I have to share the road with. Between 0 and ~30 mph, my eyes are on the traffic around me. Bumping other cars really hurts mileage.

Above around 30 mph, the traffic spacing is usually enough I can safely glance at the HSI display and depending upon speed limit, I'll back off a little to avoid the 'red' bar section and improve following distance. But let me emphasize, a 'red bar' is a lot better than 'red blood' and that means just drive the car.

Bob Wilson

[morpheusx]

Originally Posted by nparker13

Probably true, but I always drive in the right lane if I'm driving slow.

Plus you are driving the speed limit the jerks that are driving 80 MPH are the ones causing the traffic jams, you are just obeying the law

[danl]

I usually accelerate normally, but even so there are many ppl who just seem to be in a craze rush to floor the accelerator as soon as the light turns green. But those folks can go around me since I'm usually on the right lane. Anyway, I've been told that the prius engine (well the 09 at least) operates more efficiently in normal RPMs rather than in lower RPMs. So from a stop just go, but don't feel like you're in a drag race.

[32kcolors]

Originally Posted by morpheusx

Plus you are driving the speed limit the jerks that are driving 80 MPH are the ones causing the traffic jams, you are just obeying the law

In California, this may be in violation of "impeding traffic/slow-moving vehicle," for driving less than the normal flow of traffic and you could get ticketed.

As an aside, the Prius is designed to get 50 mpg with NORMAL driving. Do you think the EPA testers were applying hypermiling techniques? Those techniques are designed to get the Prius in the 60-70 range, not its stated EPA mpg.