New Prius owner has questions!

[HFFL]

I am proud to say that I just purchased a #4 Prius this past weekend. I guess I got lucky! There was only one Toyota dealership that had a Prius. I went in & looked at it last Tuesday. They told me it was not for sale. Then they called me back on Friday & said if I came in today they would sell it to me. Not bad, only a 3 day wait. Anyway, I have 2 questions about my new Prius:

1. In the morning when it is cold, do I need to let my Prius warm up like a regular car? Or can I just turn it on & go?

2. What is the optimum highway speed I should travel to get the most MPG out of my Prius?

Thanks!

[Eug]

I am proud to say that I just purchased a #4 Prius this past weekend. I guess I got lucky! There was only one Toyota dealership that had a Prius. I went in & looked at it last Tuesday. They told me it was not for sale. Then they called me back on Friday & said if I came in today they would sell it to me. Not bad, only a 3 day wait. Anyway, I have 2 questions about my new Prius:

1. In the morning when it is cold, do I need to let my Prius warm up like a regular car? Or can I just turn it on & go?

2. What is the optimum highway speed I should travel to get the most MPG out of my Prius?

Thanks!

1. Turn it on and go.
2. Not too fast and don't jackrabbit accelerate (if you don't need to). ie. If you drive conservatively, don't start and stop too often, and respect the speed limit, then your mileage will be fine.

[Dave]

I believe that the manual says to not go over 62 mph for the first 600 miles. In my (brief) experience, the slower I go on the highway, the better the mileage. I've been going around 59 mph plus or minus, and getting around 50 mpg.

[efusco]

I am proud to say that I just purchased a #4 Prius this past weekend. I guess I got lucky! There was only one Toyota dealership that had a Prius. I went in & looked at it last Tuesday. They told me it was not for sale. Then they called me back on Friday & said if I came in today they would sell it to me. Not bad, only a 3 day wait. Anyway, I have 2 questions about my new Prius:

Congrats....Eug's answers while brief are accurate....I'll elaborate a little bit. Do some surfing around on this site, the questions you've asked have been discussed at lenght, and the cold start one just recently.

1. In the morning when it is cold, do I need to let my Prius warm up like a regular car? Or can I just turn it on & go?

Most cars do not need warm-up, at least not more than 30 sec. to 1 min. That's a myth from older vehicles. The Prius is even more unique and there is no advantage to trying to allow it to warm up at all.

2. What is the optimum highway speed I should travel to get the most MPG out of my Prius?

The faster you go the more of a factor wind resisance will become in an exponential fashion. The number 62.41 mph (100kph) has been bantered about on some sites as the "optimal" hwy speed. Although it is a pretty efficient speed relative to 65mph, you'll get better milage at 60 or 55. I think your local driving conditions should dictate what you do. If you're commuting on a 75mph freeway, then you should probably stick to 75mph--I made one trip where I held 79mph and got rock solid 37mpg 5 minute bars for the entire trip. At 62mph on my daily commute to work on hilly Ozarks roads, when I don't hit many lights, I can easily get upper 40s and even low to mid 50mpg (when it's warm).

There are many other factors in mpg--don't be disappointed if you don't see 55mpg 'right out of the box'.

It's winter and that's a major hit on milage.

Most people exceed Toyota's tire pressure ratings and pump up to either 42psi front/40psi rear or even 44/42 if you can keep an eye on it (44 is the max pressure rating for the tire).

Check your engine oil level TODAY....I and many many other people have found that the oil level is over the maximum mark. That WILL give an MPG hit and can lead to fouling and damage to your engine. If it's over go in to your service dept. and insist that they drain enough oil that it is within the accepted range.

Many people have reported a 1-2mpg improvement with changing to synthetic at the first oil change.

Accellerate briskly but not aggressively. In other words, don't baby the car unless you can REALLY baby it such that the ICE doesn't start at all. Once the ICE starts it is most efficient when it is at about the 4000 rpm range (best power/acceleration : fuel consumption ratio). You don't want it whining from over reving, but brisk is the best way to describe it.

Anticipate stops--really anticipate them. Get your foot off the gas and allow the battery to recoup as much energy as possible, braking lightly seems to improve regeneration a bit over coasting even.

Finally, your car will take several thousand miles to really break in, and you'll take many miles to learn to drive smoothly and most efficiently. It's kinda like a video game. Watch your energy and consumption screens and see what's going on under various conditions. If there's a hill somewhere that you always 'almost' make it up in Stealth but then the ICE kicks in and it seems to give a hit to MPG then maybe you should back off the gas before that point and coast over the hilltop. There are lots of little things.

Have fun. Keep us up to date.

[satchm0]

It's funny. Most of what Evan states above in regards to MPG is true for any car, not just the Prius. However, the benefits with the Prius getting FAR better mileage than most cars are greater; which is why most of us bought the car to begin with.