Does anyone drive their Prius 'normal'?

[ForTheGlory]

I've taken two 400-mile roundtrips since buying the car. I averaged 53 mpg for each trip by simply driving with the cruise control set at 70 the whole time. My tires are inflated to 42/40, but I made no FE-enhancing efforts other than that.

Note that I usually drive in a style which is meant to enhance my FE in daily driving, but the length of my commute (very short) limits the FE that I'm able to actually attain. I get ~51 mpg on my commute.

[fgoodyear]

I have a lead foot. I'm getting 44 in the winter and 47 in the summer. I don't do much different than I did driving my Maxima's. I like power and I tend to use it. If I try..... I went ot NYC on Monday from upstate NY and over 230 miles I averaged 53mpg ...... @ 70 mph.

[bat4255]

Normal here as well.
Real world
Wifes job, stop and go, 350 stops in 35 miles (rural mail carrier), winter 24 mpg spring 35 mpg.
80 mph on the expressway gets me 41 ish. mpg.
60 mph with the cruise on gets me about 48 mpg.
Driving through small towns, and in town, (45 mph) about 55 mpg.

As you stated, still dbl mileage from what we were getting, except for the expressway. Our 2001 Buick Century still gets 30 - 32 mpg at 80 mph on the expressway.

I do notice, that with 4 people in the car, mileage will drop about 7 mpg, vs. driving alone

[bogeybob513]

I drive normally and get a little over 47 MPG. Can't stand the type that crawl away from lights and don't keep up with traffic! They are just encouraging road rage.

[rep308]

I bought the Prius because I was looking for a hatchback with decent mileage. I set out to buy a Toyota Matrix, but was disappointed in 28 mpg and took the Prius out for a drive. I fit in it well at 6' 1", it drives nice, and I like the cargo space. I set out to drive it like any other car.

The fuel consumption readout does encourage you to modify your habits. I probably accelerate more gently and coast more while stopping but have not tried some of the other techniques listed here on the board.

The only modifications to date were to remove the ugly rear badges and order a cargo bumper guard from the chat store.

(46 MPG through my first 500 miles)

[fairclge]

I don't hyper mile drive.. but I do alot of HOV (1) SFPlate at 65 mph and I know that takes off about 5 mpg vice dringing at 55.
my last tank was 9.2 gal at 480 miles and the computer had around 48 mpg listed. i was happy..
normal though it's around 45-48mpg.

this summer the A/C will take of a few MPG too.

[holy_crap]

Driving normal I get about 48 to 50 MPG, my wife gets around 43 MPG when she drives it. It all depends what normal is to you, my Prius only has about 1000 miles on it and I have not inflated my tires to 42/40, so I suspect my mileage will improve over time.

[NYPrius1]

I just drive the speed limit and get 52 MPH. In the summer about 54 MPG.
Hope This helps.
PS I use CC on the Highways. Hvae set the PSI in tires to 42/40.

[abq sfr]

I usually drive so that those around me "think" I'm driving normal. I out-accelerate the other cars from the stoplights (it actually bugs me when people accelerate too slow, although that's best for gas hogs). On the freeway I try not to leave too much space to the car ahead. I don't alter routes to maximize FE. Even with that, mixed freeway/city streets, last tank was 59.8, knowing light timings, trying to glide after hitting 41 mph on city streets (with 35 mph speed limit), going with the flow on the freeway, on the long downhill ramps putting the brakes on early and long to maximize regen. So no, I don't drive "normal", but want others to think I am.

[ny biker]

On highways I drive normally. There are too many cars around here so you have to stay with the flow of traffic and focus on avoiding idiots more than anything else. I generally get about 50 mpg for long highway trips.

On local roads I'm semi-normal. Again my primary concern is avoiding accidents, but I will try to glide when the terrain, speed limit and traffic conditions permit. My worst FE was around 37 mpg during the winter for short (4 mile) trips but last summer it was more like 47 mpg for the same short trips.