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What's a pips worth?

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Fuel Economy' started by cproaudio, Aug 23, 2011.

  1. cproaudio

    cproaudio Speedlock Overrider

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    Anyone try to track the distance each of the 10 pips can be driven? Not all pips are created equal. The 9th pip has the shortest distance of all the pips.
     
    #1 cproaudio, Aug 23, 2011
  2. MJFrog

    MJFrog Active Member

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    YMMV.

    I've found that #1 can last up to 200 miles. #2 and #3 only go about 30-40 miles each. For me, #9 goes around 50 miles.
     
    #2 MJFrog, Aug 23, 2011
  3. TonyPSchaefer

    TonyPSchaefer Your Friendly Moderator
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    Probably the one thing everyone can agree on is that the worth of one pip is more than a mile but less than a hundred.

    If you want to estimate the distance of a tank, simply take the last refill amount and multiply by your lifetime mileage average. Then ignore the pips altogether until the last one blinks.
     
    #3 TonyPSchaefer, Aug 23, 2011
  4. cproaudio

    cproaudio Speedlock Overrider

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    Of course mileage may vary. Same with tank total but people are reporting them anyway. You're gonna have track each pip with Trip A and tank total with Trip B. Then figure out how many gallons each pip represent. 1 pip does not equal to 1 Gallon of gas. The first and last pip can represent as much as 4 gallons.
     
    #4 cproaudio, Aug 23, 2011
  5. Bootjacker

    Bootjacker New Member

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    Depends on how you fill the tank. If you fill to the very top of the filler pipe, the first "pip" can last for about 200 miles. The manual says that when you get to "0 miles left" on readout, (last pip starts flashing) you have about 1.6 gallons left. To be safe, I figure 1.5 gallons X 40 mpg (I avg 45 mpg)or about 60 miles to find a gas station. Never ran out so I can't say exactly how much gasoline left.
     
    #5 Bootjacker, Aug 23, 2011
  6. skruse

    skruse Senior Member

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    Using the pips to track fuel efficiency amounts to a "guess-o-meter". Every vehicle is different.
     
    #6 skruse, Aug 23, 2011
    1 person likes this.
  7. RRxing

    RRxing Senior Member

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    #7 RRxing, Aug 23, 2011
  8. Capt Ed

    Capt Ed Junior Member

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    Absolutely unacceptable! Basically a $25,000.00 car without a gas guage! Are all Toyotas like this?? :eek:
     
    #8 Capt Ed, Aug 23, 2011
  9. DavidA

    DavidA Prius owner since July 2009

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    Rounding it out, it is around 50. Yet, I've driven almost 120 miles on that top pip, and less than 20 on the bottom pip. YPMV.
     
    #9 DavidA, Aug 24, 2011
  10. macman408

    macman408 Electron Guidance Counselor

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    Apparently not. :p
     
    #10 macman408, Aug 24, 2011
  11. fjpod

    fjpod Member

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    Actually, the value of a pip depends on whether you fill the tank from the bottom up or from the top down. Pips on top are lighter than air so they don't contain as much gas. Pips on the bottom are heavier...unless you are in the southern hemisphere and then the molecules get mixed up.
     
    #11 fjpod, Aug 24, 2011
  12. F8L

    F8L Protecting Habitat & AG Lands

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    How do you figure it doesn't have a gas gauge? Is there not something that tells you how much fuel you have in the tank? Do you not average approx. the same number of miles per tank before refilling? Sheesh :p
     
    #12 F8L, Aug 24, 2011
  13. F8L

    F8L Protecting Habitat & AG Lands

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    It can all be explained in quantum theory. The act of observation can skew the results. There is no definite state for a pip. Kinda like Schrödinger's cat.
     
    #13 F8L, Aug 24, 2011
  14. Minion

    Minion New Member

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    What if we cover up the pips? Do we still know they are behind the cover? How can we be sure?
     
    #14 Minion, Aug 31, 2011
  15. F8L

    F8L Protecting Habitat & AG Lands

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    We know the pips are there even if covered up because the car is still moving but we don't know how many pips are there.
     
    #15 F8L, Sep 1, 2011
  16. cproaudio

    cproaudio Speedlock Overrider

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    If anyone care to try this, fill up the tank and stop at the first click, reset both Trip A and Trip B. At the first pip disappearance, reset Trip A, record the mileage for each of the 10 pips. On the last pip, record the mileage driven on the last pip while it's solid, reset Trip A when it starts blinking, reset again when DTE reaches 0, The last Trip A records how far you've driven on 0 DTE before filling up. The number of the pip should represent visible pip. So, when you fill up your tank, you have 10 pips. That's the 10th pip. Your record should look something like this

    10th pip - 80 miles, 65 AVG MPG on MFD, 60MPG calculated, 1.333 gal
    9th pip - 40 miles, 65 AVG MPG on MFD, 60MPG calculated, .6666 gal
    8th pip - 60 miles, 65 AVG MPG on MFD, 60MPG calculated, 1 gal
    7th pip - 60 miles, 65 AVG MPG on MFD, 60MPG calculated, 1 gal
    6th pip - 65 miles, 65 AVG MPG on MFD, 60MPG calculated, 1.0833 gal
    5th pip - 65 miles, 65 AVG MPG on MFD, 60MPG calculated, 1.0833 gal
    4th pip - 60 miles, 65 AVG MPG on MFD, 60MPG calculated, 1 gal
    3rd pip - 55 miles, 65 AVG MPG on MFD, 60MPG calculated, 0.91666 gal
    2nd pip - 55 miles, 65 AVG MPG on MFD, 60MPG calculated, 0.91666 gal
    1st solid pip - 40 miles, 65 AVG MPG on MFD, 60MPG calculated, .6666 gal
    blinking pip - 20 - This shows how accurate the 27 mile DTE estimate is.
    0 DTE - 50 - This shows how far you've driven when the distance to empty shows 0.
    Total miles on trip B 650 miles
    report total gas pumped, and Trip B's AVG MPG and calculated MPG. We can get the accuracy of MPG on the MFD vs calculated MPG.
    If you can, fill up the tank again at the same gas station, same pump, same time and temperature. Do a little calculation will show how much gas each pip represents. The 10th pip will be irrelevant but will be nice to know what the average is. It's the 9th - 0DTE that I'm interested to see.
     
    #16 cproaudio, Sep 1, 2011
  17. qbee42

    qbee42 My other car is a boat

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    Your Prius could be out of gas and full at the same time!

    Tom
     
    #17 qbee42, Sep 1, 2011
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