Looking for a Prius club for St. Louis

[melkisadek]

Okay, I just found a space where St. Louis Prius owners could compare notes . . . right here. I've been driving my 2006 for about 2 years and so far the nearest club I've heard of is in Chicago. That seems a long way to drive to compare notes :0}
A friend who lives in Chicago has been driving his Prius for at least 3 years. What always puzzles me when I go to visit him is that he gets better mileage than I do with almost identical cars. What puzzles him is that I get better mileage on the highway than in the city. That's the reverse of how it's "supposed to be".
So I get to wondering if other St. Louisans have the same experience and if it's realized to our geography.

There, a thread is started for the home town. Let's get this thing a rollin'.

Mel

[bdahlfors1]

I live here in St. Louis and have been driving my Prius for three years now. I find the same highway vs city MPG issue as you. In city I am lucky to get 35 to 40 MPG but on the highway I get 45 to 47 MPG. I drive nice and easy just like I hear you are suppose to in the city. I don't dart around or try to drag race any one. Just like you, I'm a bit confused.

BD
<--- all those still driving gas guzzlers!!!!!
<---- all those driving fuel sippers.

[STLPriusOwner]

I live in St. Charles and work in Downtown STL. I have had my prius since mid April and have averaged 48.3 MPG since that time. Most of my trip to/from work I can avg. ~50MPG on 70. What kills me is the weekend trips just around the city. Most of the time these are short trips when the car doesn't have enough time to warm up.

[xviperscom]

hello,
i'm in owensvill missouri, we rebuild, part, and sale over 200 prius's a year.
if you guys need anything or help feel free to call.
put a kn airfilter and run mobile one 5-30 synthetic and you might squeeze 1-2mpg easily, we have all prius parts and performance items in stock.

[gonut]

melkisadek: St. Louis "geography" only affects Prius mpg in that during the 3 cold winter months the mpg drops by about 10. Over my 3 Prius years, I've averaged 56 mpg (total odometer divided by total gas pump gallons). Consult an expert or a hypermiler web page for a ton of ideas. Although the best way is to go for ride with an expert.

bdahlfors1: 35 to 40 mpg in the city is almost surely an indication that you're doing something wrong. And on the highway, by driving 55 mph (in the slow lane of course), everyone should be able to do close to 55 mpg.

STLPriusOwner: Even for short trips, you can do a lot. E.g., be extremely soft with the accelerator pedal during the first 2 or 3 minutes, while leaving the subdivision.

xviperscom: I have noticed that 5W30 synthetic does indeed seem to add 2 mpg.