One Month Review

The 5000-mile oil change requirement didn't change in Canada, interestingly enough.

 

I think it's weird enough they ask us to change at 10k, over here almost all cars are 20k. 5k is just stupid.

The A and C pillars just keep getting thicker in cars. Maybe they'll thin out again when there's a bit more carbon fibre/carbon composite used. The A pillar has never bothered me when parking, but i always reverse into spaces.

Warmup will see something like 25mpg, and warm running is around 50mpg. in a "normal" car, warmup is 25mpg and warm running is 30mpg. so really the difference is that the warmup in the prius is no better than a regular car, wheras warm running is much better, so warmup "seems" really bad. it isn't.

 

I've had mine 2 1/2 months and my mpg experience has been completely different. I've gotten 66-68mpg on the display (65 mpg actual) on the last three tanks. This shows how hugely mpg is affected by where and how the car is driven. My terrain is certainly not flat, more like rolling hills, probably less steep than some parts of Monterey (been there). A mixture of local driving 4-5 miles each way (where I get around 60-62mpg on the display) and longer trips (140miles, 70-73mpg).

If you are happy with the mpg your are getting then don't bother reading this. But you listed mpg as a "con", so here a few things you could try to improve your mpg:
(1) Foremost: Try to actively drive the car for better mpg rather than passively accepting what it gives. Think of things you could do to improve the mpg. A bit of work at first but after a while this becomes instinctual.
(2) Use the vertical bar gauge just to the right of the speedo, trying to keep it at 100mpg as much as you can. Sometimes you can do this by simply easing off the accelerator slightly. At times lower mpg is unavoidable but try to average that out with time at 100mpg. Use the Tripmeter mpg to see how you're doing.
(3) Look closely at the grade of the roadway. Except in parts of the Midwest, most seemingly flat roads are either slightly up or downhill. Ease off on the downhills to gain mpg.
(4) Drive the speed limit in town. If it says 25mph drive 25mph. In the right lane if there is a choice.
(5) There's no need to "keep up with the flow". On multilane roads go as slow as you feel comfortable with, people can just go around you; on two-lane roads I drive the limit and people just deal with it. I've been doing this for 5 years, no problems. Driving isn't a race, focus on trying to get the obnoxious ones past you and on down the road.
(6) Obvious: try to "time" stoplights. Not always possible, but at least try to slow early to a speed that will get you to the light as it turns green. That way you've preserved as much momentum as possible.
(7) Leave a big "buffer" between you and traffic ahead so you don't have to stop if they suddenly slow to make a turn, etc. Ditto for traffic jams, try to smooth them out.

Warmup: it takes only a mile or two to reach operating temp (I can see water temp on my Scangauge). MPG will slowly rise after that as you "average out" the lousy mpg during warmup.

The mpg "hit" from leadfooting your Altima may be numerically lower than that in your Prius. But because the mpg is lower in the Altima it may be a similar percentage of the car's mpg. Does the Altima have an average mpg display? If so, are you getting your number there. And if not, where are you getting it?

I agree 100% about the pillars and blind spots. I try to remember to look 3 times before pulling out, changing lanes, etc.

Boring to drive? I have a lot of fun driving mine. Driving for mpg keeps me occupied and relaxed. With so much traffic on the roads these days, driving on a racetrack seems like a better way to get exhilaration. Or riding a motorcycle.

 

"If you want to see the EPA's rating of 50 mpg in the city, you will need to live in an area with flat terrain and make city trips that are at least 10 miles. For some reason, this car seems to be more affected by short trips than other cars."
Every time you start the car, it wants to warm up the catalytic converter and its internal fluids as a priority. So, you will experience lower MPG with a lot of short hops. I average about 47-48 MPG on the trips to town (about 20 miles away).

As to the comment about flat terrain, sorry, I disagree. In my trips through the mountains I get 52-54 MPG.

It really is the length of the trip that makes a difference: longer trips at speed yield better MPG.

Sorry it isn't as you expected. Perhaps you want to sell your Prius and buy something else? - like what?

 

I forgot to mention: be patient with yourself!! It's like learning to drive all over again. We're so used to trying to pass or stay ahead of other vehicles that it takes a major readjustment to get the mindset of wanting them to pass as painlessly as possible. Took me a long time when I started in the Insight-I.

Please let us know how it goes!

 

Wow, and this includes warmup?

 

Maybe I was unclear: ONE warmup per trip. Local errands. Helps to combine errands when I can.

Also almost never with A/C.

 

Hi Critic,

Please keep in mind that when you say:

The difference in fuel used is still better in the Prius. What I mean is that when you see a 5mpg difference because of aggressive driving in the Prius you would still use less fuel than aggressively driving the V6 Altima. The most important thing to look at is the percentage of difference between the two cars. If you lose 10% fuel economy by driving agressively in both cars then you would observe a 5mpg loss in the Prius (50mpg to 45mpg) but only a 2.5mpg loss in the Altima (25mpg to 22.5mpg). Most people would look at the numbers and think the Altima suffers less but in reality the numbers are the same. It just appears like the Prius is suffering a greater loss. Now if you calculate the fuel used in such conditions the Prius will always come out on top.

In summary, even if you get 45mpg instead of 50mpg you are only losing $121/yr*. So don't sweat it man.

Calculation based on 15,000miles driven per year and fuel priced at $3.70/ga.

 

Been a late night/morning and your post was a bundle of verbiage, soz (sorry).

 

Great idea. If you're able to rig the camera so we can see the HSI as well as the road that would be perfect (lets us see exactly what you're doing with your feet.

 

3.5L V6 is over-sized to be most efficient when driving aggressively. Prius' gas engine is properly sized for normal driving and uses the battery for the peak power demand.

 

Wonderful idea. Please include audio commentary so we know the road situation and what you are trying to do.

 

If I did this I would be banned for abusive language.

 

I really find it almost impossible to believe some poster's mileage claims. It's almost inconceivable that 99.9% of people get 45-50 MPG overall average, and then ONE person claims that they get 60-70 MPG. I'm generally capable of always getting the EPA estimates from my vehicles and can usually beat the highway estimates by at least 10%.

I drive my Prius quite conservatively, watch the HSI display, but am not obsessed with it, and understand exactly how the hybrid system works, as I also have a Scanguage. I know when the engine is off ... what causes it to come on ... and when it's using 0.00 or 0.02 GPH. I average 48-52 MPG on virtually every single tank. I can get 55-57 MPG highway on level ground with cruise control on for trips of 250-300 miles. My tires are inflated religiously to 42/40. In short ... I KNOW how to drive the car, and my mileage is 45-55 MPG. I always reset my trip computer after every tank, and on the scanguage, as well as calculating the MPG every tankful and tracked in Fuelly.com.

So when someone says they get 60-70 MPG .... quite simply .... I don't believe it. The only way I can see that happening is to cherry pick a certain short to medium trip that shows those numbers and then claim that that is their norm. Virtually no one here claims that type of mileage, and virtually no one on fuelly, fueleconomy.gov, or consumer reports claims that mileage.

So when you hear those kind of reports ... just discount them as either a one-time anomaly or flat out mis-representation.

Sorry to those who claim those ridiculous numbers ... but in the real world ... I don't buy it for a minute, and would challenge you to prove it while I'm sitting next to you ( or with a pic like the one below).

I also wanted to add .... there have been numerous posts indicating what the typical Prius mileage is for given speeds on the highway on flat terrain ... something like 55 MPH = 65 MPG, 60 MPH = 60 MPG, and 65 MPH = 55 MPG. I couldn't find it quickly. That I've seen, NOWHERE is 70+ MPG indicated, yet some claim to be getting even better tha 70 MPG.

I'd like to see the fuel tank history of some of these posters who get mileage so far and away better than the rest of the world. Should be easy to show .... just take a pic of the display for the last 5 tanks or so, with the 'best' tank indicated.

REV

 

Not everyone's commute is the same.

If I drive between my non-mountain house and the shopping plaza and back again the display sits on 60-ish without much effort, just normal looking out for lights. The roads are pretty ideal though with it all being under construction now and limited to 30mph. I wouldn't doubt that people with medium to long sized commutes with low average speeds and low-to-medium traffic volume could obtain those numbers with a little effort. You will never see those numbers if you ever drive on an interstate in the left lane, as I usually do.

 

2K1,

I have no doubt about the 60ish numbers displayed .... probably high 50's calculated, but some are claiming low seventies, and I maintain that they are unrealistic numbers and don't reflect the 'real' world. Sure I could cherry pick a trip or two where my MPG was in the 90's, but that wouldn't be realistic. I'm talking about the claim below and other similar ones .... not picking on anyone ... I think it's awesome if it can be documented, which should be easy enough.

I've gotten 66-68mpg on the display (65 mpg actual) on the last three tanks. A mixture of local driving 4-5 miles each way (where I get around 60-62mpg on the display) and longer trips (140miles, 70-73mpg).


I challenge the posters that supposedly get 60's and 70's to post a pic of their fuel tank mileages from the HSI from the screen where it shows 'best' mpg's ever. And I don't want to see a bunch of 20-30 mile tanks ... real 450-500 mpg tanks is what I'd like to see with those MPG's ... if you're really getting those MPG .... simply post a pic and I'll believe it. Honestly .... I';d LOVE to see someone get that incredible mileage. You have an excellent car, excellent commute, excellent terrain, and drive it better than 99.9% of the rest of us.

Here's mine .... right at 48.2 calculated for 25 fillups ... just like my fuelly indicates ...



REV