San Francisco MPG

San Francisco is a big place. This means several things:
1. Yes, I'm sure somebody has had the same experience.
2. There can be a lot of traffic, which can make your mileage a lot worse, especially if you accelerate and brake like most drivers.
3. Terrain is widely varied, from ridiculous hills to flat. What's your route like?

More specifically, you should answer the questions from this post. Personally, I think some of them are a bit silly (there are too many questions asking about relatively uncommon problems), but the leading nature of many of them might give you some clues as to why you're not getting what you expect.

Especially if your typical routes are fairly short, I doubt your experience is uncommon. San Francisco has a lot of lights, and they're timed on only a few streets, so you lose a lot of efficiency with all the stop and go.

 

I think this is my favorite kind of question on PriusChat!

I say that because raising you gas mileage is a combination of so many different things... Driving habits and how high you want to take your tire pressure have a significant influence, but many many other factors can also help up your gas mileage.

Most of all learn all you can on here about how to improve you mpg and your Prius will not only respond favorably but you'll be a much more aware driver both on the road and under the hood.

PS: I grew up near San Francisco, timing your drive with the streetlights and not flooring it on hills will help lots...

 

Yes. Please answer my questionnaire.

Many lights in SF are not timed. So, using streets where they are helps. San Francisco's 49 Mile Scenic Drive: The Guidebook - Joseph M. Lubow, Laurel Rosen - Google Books has a list.

Driving in SF unfortunately means a lot of stop and go along w/hills in many places.

 

Driving Environment Efficiency
Use roads with synchronized traffic lights/pedestrian timer so you can regulate the Prius' speed to avoid braking (est value 10 mpg).
Drive during non-rush hour - (est value: +5 mpg).
Use roads which are dry, smooth, and straight (est value: 3 mpg).
Avoid roads with stops signs, speed bumps, tolls, & rumble strips(est value: 3 mpg).

Driver/Driving Efficiency
It is better to accelerate downhill.
It is better to decelerate uphill.
It is better to coast on the crest of a hill (or on a flat surface).
Anticipate braking and slowdown 1 to 5 minutes before needing to stop.
Drive at a slower speed ( max city speed 35 mph, max highway speed 55 mph)
Short trips are bad for Fuel efficiency. Combine short trips ( less than 5 miles/30 minutes) with less than 20 minutes between trips stop-overs[ If your trip stop-overs are greater than 45 minutes for combine short trips and you do this frequently then consider switching to a 2nd gen Prius or Plug-in Prius. ]
The highest Fuel Efficient speed for making a 90 degree turn is about 21 mph on a Prius anything faster will loses momentum/energy.

Prius Efficiency
In Hilly roads, Switch to Normal or Power Mode .
In Flat roads, Switch to Normal or Eco Mode.
Over inflate your tires to 42psi front /40 psi rear.
Grill block the air intakes during city driving (take them off for extended superhighway driving)

 

^^^
Hopefully you copied and pasted from a previous post/your own notes and didn't spent too much effort writing it up.

We've gotten no info from the OP and he really needs to answer the questionnaire.

I suspect the hills, stop and go are part of the problem. I also suspect the trips are short. Unless one takes streets w/timed lights in SF (there aren't many, AFAIK, see earlier post), it's unlikely to go very far in SF w/o having to stop.

 

I suspect that if the majority of the OP's driving is in the City, that 40 - 43 mpg would be very typical. Lots of hills, lots of stop lights or stop signs. Pedestrians and bicycles to yield to....

Yep, I think that mileage is to be expected.

 

Yep. Hoping for the OP to answer the questionnaire...

 

Now if we can convince the OP to use The Sunset when moving North/South through the City, his mileage will improve!

 

OP posted Monday. It's now Saturday w/still no reply from the OP.

We can't help people who provide virtually no info and don't answer our questions.

 

I don't live in the city, but this bay area in particular has a lot of hills. That's the problem. I usually get 47 MPG. Like 450 miles per tank. Not bad when I compare it to my old Jeep, that gave me like 220 miles per tank ($65).

 

I find myself around getting 46-48mpg mostly freeway and some city driving. I mainly see my mpg jump when I get stuck in traffic on 101. I think FWIW the Prius does very good in traffic and city driving if it consists of more than 20min driving.