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Present Fuel Economy of 2000 Mile Gen III Model 3 Prius

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Fuel Economy' started by dorunron, May 2, 2014.

  1. dorunron

    dorunron Senior Member

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    Location:
    Houston, TX
    Vehicle:
    2013 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    Coming from a Gen II 2009 Package #2 unit I have had the time to pretty much learn how to hypermile the Prius. I thought 53.9 MPG was great. Well, I am driving this new Gen III now. I am still breaking it in. The clock has right at 2000 miles on it now.

    Below are actual photo's of the HSI indicator which shows the MPG. Based on fuelly and meticulous record keeping I have determined that the onboard computer is reading 2.0 MPG higher than figures at the pump "consistently".

    All I can say is WOW, I am still wondering what it will look like after it is broke in.

    Ron (dorunron)

    IMG_20140501_125247_899.jpg

    The above is the entire tank. Down to 3 pips on the gage. A little over 120 miles calculated for DTE

    IMG_20140501_125327_546.jpg

    The above is after a short trip this morning to the bank and back. About ten miles each way. Prius was never turned off during the trip. MPG represented above also included a full warm up cycle from S1 mode to S4 mode. Best I ever got out of my Gen II was 59. Never could break 60... No climate control usage on this trip. Climate control was set to lowest fan speed and temperature on LO with A/C compressor Off.

    Picture #1 above did have some A/C usage and also some heat usage as we had a cold snap here in Houston a couple of days ago. But before that we were already hitting 90's in the afternoon.

    To quote a fellow PC 'er from the Gen II section named "bisco" these cars are amazing.

    Ron (dorunron)
     
  2. jdcollins5

    jdcollins5 Senior Member

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    Good numbers. It took about 5000 miles for mine to break in and the mpg kept increasing up to that point before it leveled out.
     
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  3. KennyGS

    KennyGS Senior Member

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    Can you please explain what this means? I've not seen this reference anywhere yet.

    What amount of time/miles does it typically take to reach "break-in?"

    Thanks.
     
  4. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    i thought i heard my name.:p congrats, those are some sweet numbers!(y)
     
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  5. dorunron

    dorunron Senior Member

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    Three
    Hello Kenny,

    If you are asking "what I am talking about" when I mentioned the S4 mode and warmup cycle, I suggest you read the following linked item for more information of just how the Prius works.

    http://techno-fandom.org/~hobbit/cars/five-stages.txt

    As far as time/miles to break in the Prius. I have heard it actually takes a good 5K to 10K on the clock before you actually see the optimum MPG.

    Since I am fairly experienced with hyper miling a Prius, it is not difficult for me to pull off these numbers.

    Click on my fuelly below in my signature and study the information there. You will see a definite pattern that is demonstrating the ICE breaking in as the MPG is increasing with each tank of fuel. One tank did not do that, that was due to driving excessive speeds for long distances on the highway, 75 to 80 MPH. I usually go with the flow in the right hand lane and travel around 62 to 65 max.

    FWIW, the Prius gives it best ultimate MPG when the Prius is in S4 Mode AND you are using cruise control with the climate control off while travelling at the speed of 45 MPH. I have seen as much as 75 MPG in certain circumstances on the instantaneous read out when I am travelling 45 MPH. Bob Wilson has done excessive studies on the MPG versus MPH. Take a look at his post's. Very interesting data that Bob has posted over the years. I am having NO problems meeting or beating the EPA estimate. Like bisco says, these are some amazing cars!

    Ron
     
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  6. alfon

    alfon Senior Member

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    Vehicle:
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    We purchased our 2010 Volt in May 2009. Almost 113,000 miles now. Computer is off about 3.5 mpg in winter and about 2.5 mpg in summer months by over estimating mpg's as compared to hand calculated.

    In summer 50-55 mpg, (58-60 at times) is the norm and in winter 45-48 mpg is the norm calculated of course. Warm weather is a big factor in mpg for the Prius compared to nearly ever other vehicle I have owned.
     
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