Good MPG From My New '05 Prius

Is 0W30 appropriate for the Prius engine? Could I run that with my 2007 Prius?

 

Yes you could.

0W30, 5W30 and 10W30 are all basically 30 weight once the engine is warmed up and in some sense are all suitable.

5W30 is usually preferable over 10W30 because it's more efficient during cold starts and while the engine is warming up. 0W30 should be even more efficient while warming up but still offer roughly the same level of protection as the above when hot.

 

I have a 2008 and have 44K miles on it. Max fuel efficiency I got on an average is about 47 with no AC or Heat. With AC/Heat it goes down to 44 - 45. I wonder what I am doing wrong to not get 55 MPG, would be cool to get that boost in MPG with these prices.

I do,
- Have the Tire pressure on a higher side
- 50% City and 50% highway
- Mostly alone, sometimes 1 to 4 passangers

Any tips would be appreciated.

 

Hi SWprius08.What size/model tires do you have?

Many people report the touring edition with larger tires getting slightly lower MPG than the standard model prius.

The length of you trips and you route will also make a significant difference.

 

Keep at it. I personally will run no a/c as much as possible( i live in the south its hard) with just the drivers front and rear window down about an inch. I have found that keeping the SOC as high as possible really makes a difference on the high speed portion of my trip( 43 miles one way. 55,35,55,70,45mph zones) I use pulse & glide as much as I can and focus alot of gaining as much regen on my coasts as possible.

GOOD LUCK!@ here is mine from this week - still struggling to break over the 60(even though i know i really need 62mpg)

 

super highway mode is awesome.

 

Hello like some of you guys i am no expert at this but for the last 5 months i have been avg between 60 and 61 mpg with my 2005 prius i now have 110,000 miles on it. I drive roughly 600 miles a week from 60 mph down to 35mph. I used to avg between 54&55 mpg with all the factory settings. I changed from 5w30 to Amsoil 0w30 and switched from goodyears to new Bridgestone Ecopia ep422 running 42 psi front 40 psi rears after first 4000 miles of tire breakin period where my mpg avg dropped to 51/52 mpg since then have not had a tank of fuel that i have
not gone at least 630 miles in between filler ups. As far as ac is concerned I have experienced significant fuel economy drop from running ac which sucks considering I live in Florida

 

I changed my tire pressure from 42f 40 r to the mfg recommendation of 35f 33r. I noticed No decrees in fuel economy. In fact I went from an average of 45mpg to 46.4 mpg. So over inflation of tires is in question.

 

Please leave your tires at 35/33 psi and come tell us how long they last under-inflated.

 

I have the base model and was using stock tires (Integrities 185 65 15) till 41K, then I had to change the tires because of the wear. I chose 195 65 15 (GY Assurance fuelmax), with bigger tires I still get the same MPG, considering low revs on bigger tires I do see a tiny bit increase in the MPG, but that is because of better tire. I am trying to find out what are best practices of driving to get optimum MPG. I am thinking it is something to do about the way I drive.

 

No I dont, I use the same old style of driving a non-hybrid car. I dont monitor as much as you do. I got introduced to the pulse and glide concept few days ago, so I am still trying that out to see if that works. On my 195 65 15 GY Assurance fuelmax I keep 45 42 PSI. My daily work commute is only about 10 miles, most of the miles I put on my car is on unknown roads or roads that I dont drive everyday. That could be part of the issue. Thanks for helpful information. I can now compare my way of driving with yours.

 

Ok,

I changed to pressure back to 42/40 with no change is fuel economy..nada! zip! Any insight?

 

Yep, I'm starting to think that there might be a problem in your Prius. I think the problem is somewhere between the drivers seat and the steering wheel.


Seriously though, what I mean is it might come down to driving style. Perhaps there is less to be gained from lower rolling resistance if you don't do much "gliding". Or what about if the majority of your driving is at really high speed where air resistance can totally dominate over rolling resistance. Maybe a hypermiler might notice much more of a difference and some people notice much less.

 

Gliding? I do drive the posted speed limit, in Maryland it's 65 and 70 in West Virginia. What is this "gliding'?

Do you mean..Instead of driving along at a steady 60, you instead accelerate to 70 (that's the pulse), and then coast in neutral with the engine off down to 50 (that's the glide). That's it. Rinse and repeat. And repeat. And repeat...


That is very dangerous I don't believe I could drive that way on my roads.

 

No that's "pulse and glide" it's not exactly the same thing.