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Some 60 and 75mph measurements

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Fuel Economy' started by R-P, Oct 25, 2012.

  1. R-P

    R-P Active Member

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    I know it's hard to compare numbers and I'd love to have a hypermiler drive my car for a month to see what is possible and in how good a shape it is... :cool:

    The next best thing is probaly to have clearly defined testing conditions.
    Did some long, boring runs on cruise control, so maybe I can put them to good use :ROFLMAO: . In the Netherlands, so flat as a pancake. Wind negligible. Tires 36-38psi. Measured on GPS. Temp 60-65F (~15-18C), no rain, both with ~500pound load total. Fuel useage is from the Priusscreen, so a correction might be wise: average according to my Prius: 5.2L/100km (45.2mpg), according to fuel data (see sig): 5.45L/100km (43.2mpg)
    So the Prius seems ~5% too optimistic.

    60mph (98km/u) 4L/100km (58.8mpgUS)

    75mph (120km/u) 5L/100km (47.0mpgUS)

    The 60mph was a full half hour without any noticeable difference between the 6 bars. Resolution is 0.25 or 0.2l/100km (so I was stable between 57.4 and 60.6mpg for 30 minutes).

    The 75mph were 'only' 5 bars (then I ran into heavy traffic). Stable between 46 and 48mpg for 25 minutes.

    I have the pics to back it up (although you won't see the speed...)

    I could try 50mph, but I'll have pissed off lorry/truck drivers passing me and possibly flipping me...
     
    xs650 likes this.
  2. F8L

    F8L Protecting Habitat & AG Lands

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    We're you driving the exact same stretch of road for both speed tests? It is VERY important to do so!

    Drive a route at 65mph. Record the measurements. Turn around and drive back at 65mph. Record the measurement.

    Drive the same route as above at 75mph. Record the measurement. Turn around and drive back at 75mph. Record the measurement.
     
  3. a priori

    a priori Canonus Curiosus

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    This is a great help. Even if the tests weren't fully "scientific" in design, they produce valuable information for most of us. It would be helpful to know not only the state of charge on the HV (beginning and end), but also whether the car already was warmed to the point of being set for highest performance at the beginning of each run.

    I agree with F8L that the best tests are RT on the same course at the same time and under the same conditions. This isn't always possible, but it tends to give more credibility to the numbers. What you are reporting makes sense to me, as I've seen similar numbers in those conditions.
     
  4. R-P

    R-P Active Member

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    Thanks, that's a great help for me, as I long for confirmation my car is OK. I worry because I can't get even close to the numbers some of you get. E.g. the 2000km run on one tank of gas is simply impossible, as my driving out of town (while warming up the engine) averages about 7.5L/100km (~32mpg). As a wild guess the warming up of the engine uses 50% more during the first 5 minutes than driving normally. That alone would empty my tank with the amount of engine-starts she did long before reaching 2000km...:ROFLMAO:

    F8L, the engine was warm (having driven at least half an hour before) and the HV filled to 6-7 bars. With fuelprices darn close to 10$/gallon I am not going to drive an hour just for testing :LOL:, so a vice-versa run can rarely be done unless there is several hours inbetween (hence no guarantee the wind is still the same). I'd still like to stress that heightdifferences of more than 100ft are rare in Holland, I'd be surprised if I even had differences of half that in my runs.

    I'll try to give 65mph a try. That should keep me well above truck/lorry speeds yet still (almost) within the 100km/h (+ 5km/h legal correction:cool: ) speed limit.
    (Highways have 100km/h (62mph) and 120km/h (75mph) speed limits and recently a new 130km/h (~82mph) limit that simply uses too much fuel on both cars to warrant me using this new limit :confused:)
     
  5. uart

    uart Senior Member

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    You worry too much. Seriously, no one around here gets even close to 2000 km on a single tank. :p

    According to this poll, POLL : what MPG are you getting in your gen 2 | PriusChat , the majority of people get between 45 and 55 MPG. About 15% average better than 55 MPG and about 25% average less than 45 MPG (according to that poll). So your results definitely look about normal/good. :)
     
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  6. bwilson4web

    bwilson4web BMW i3 and Model 3

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    Thanks!
    These are consistent with reports I had gotten:
    [​IMG]
    The use of air conditioning giving 44-45 MPG versus your measured 47 MPG . . . close enough.

    If you ever get a chance to drive the autoban, I would be interested in data points in the 80 to 90 mph range. The reason is the dip for both the 1.5L NHW11 and 1.5L NHW20 correspond to speeds when the ICE has to run at a faster speed to avoid over-speeding MG1. I have lots of NHW11 data but only one set of NHW20 data points. It is nice to see a second set of data.

    Thanks,
    Bob Wilson
     
  7. uart

    uart Senior Member

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    Here's some more data that seems to jibe pretty well with the above. The most common speed limits here on the open road are 100 km/hr (~62 MPH) and 110 km/hr (~68 MPH).

    Not super accurate measurements or anything, but on the open road at 100 km/hr I usually get 5 min block after five minute block pegged at around 4.2 to 4.3 L/100km (55 to 56 MPG), and at 110 km/hr it's usually pretty close to 4.8 L/100km (49 to 50 MPG).

    So that's :

    @ 62 MPH - About 55 to 56 MPG.

    @ 68 MPH - About 49 to 50 MPG.

    These are typical results for fair weather, not too much wind, and reasonably flat to undulating terrain.