Top Prius c

Respect to you guys for doing this, and for getting the word out that we can easily beat the EPA estimate... (*ahem* Ford...)

As far as warm up vs. recharge cycle, I picked up an Ultragauge, and I've been using it to see just how hot the engine needs to be. It seems like the hybrid system will do a warm-up cycle if the coolant temp is like ~160F or lower. (Ultragauge looks pretty neat by the way.) I haven't paid close enough attention but the coolant seems to decrease in temperature by like 2-3 degrees per minute in electric mode, especially when the engine just got warmed up, so that could give you a feel for how to know if the hybrid will choose one cycle over the other.

If I do try to get myself on that Top list, I will probably just take backroads and aim for the high-speed corner of the graph, so that I can get it done and over with in a day or two...that graph has been tempting me for too long

 

Every tank I've filled up since I've purchased my C I've gotten better than EPA rated milage. It's one of those things that I almost expect anymore.. 60+ MPG's? No big deal!

 

60 MPG with E10, A/C use ?

 

60+ with E0, and yes I use the A/C (in Florida so it's pretty much mandatory especially in summer time). I've got a good commute to work and school which I'm thankful for. With E10 it wasn't easy peasy but doable. Now I feel like it's pretty much effortless (but the general consensus is that it only decreases milage by 2-3%, I feel like it's more of a boost than that but cannot base that off anything but my opinion.)

ETA: I have also been a lot more careful about my tire pressure. I wasn't too concerned with it when I first purchased the car, but I now make sure they are always pumped up (44/42 until just recently trying 44 all around). AC is on in ECO mode only, and is set somewhat high as to limit it's drain on my efficiency. I've only begun using E0 to see what the long term cost/efficiency ratio is but it looks to be about the same as E10 at this point. I think I will keep using E0 regardless though as it's better for the car overall.

 

Post deleted, data inadmissible.

 

I agree with the change. The only reason I got 500 miles was because I was out of town and couldn't find a gas station. I also think we need a column saying whether it was from daily use or specifically done for the contest. I understand people's desire to see how much you can push the car to its limits, but I also think it would be useful to show daily usage numbers.

 

OK, I understand, however there is precedent, see post #9 in this same thread.

 

I chickened out... My c fuel gauge dropped to one bar at 470 miles, and started blinking at 489 this morning. Car took 8.46 gallons, so the next tank should be my entry. I had plenty left!!! Real world commuting, my average speed was showing 38mph. Some a/c use and 70 miles or so with my wife in the car so we were drivinga bit more sggressively than I normally do. See you with pics at my next fillup!!!

 

My rule of thumb is that I have 1 gallon left once the light comes on, so as long as you pay attention to what your mpgs are, you'll know how far you can go. I know you have ~1.5 gallons, but I like to be safe rather than sorry.

 

I was fairly close myself. I could have actually gone a lot further but I was close to the gas station and didn't think it wise to have to go out of my way later, so I just filled up while I was close. Here was my tank though:

 

You still had over 150 miles left on the tank, if you kept going at 70 mpgs... how far away was your gas station?
If you had gone another 58.8 miles on this tank you would have been on the list easily.
*Note: I only multiplied this by 8.5 gallons. If you were to use the entire tank of gas at a 70 mpg avg you would get 665 miles.

 

No, I'm not too far. 15 minutes out of my way (I go to a station that has E0 fuel so I can't just fill up anywhere.) you are very correct, I had plenty of gas to go another 100 miles at least, but I didn't know when the next time I'd be out there would be and I just figured it would be smarter to save myself a trip while I'm there. My current tank so far is 72.X Miles with 180 some miles on the tank so far. I've got my daily route so pegged down that its not uncommon to get an 80MPG trip to/from work. It's going to school from work that 'kills' my average, gotta use the highway some to get there. Luckily that's only a couple times a week.

 

I made it 500 miles on a single tank... w-w-wub-wub


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Pictures:

Proof of fuel economy and distance





Overall trip statistics






I had to go on a road trip, and after I saw that I maintained a high enough fuel economy, I figured, hey, might as well try for the 500 mile tank. I did it all over the course of 4 consecutive days. Techniques discussed below.

Tires: Bridgestone stock 15", tire pressure in the front is 41, tire pressure in the back is 38.5. (41.0/38.5)

Fuel: Octane 91 - no ethanol (E0)

Temperature: avg. 70 degrees F, range from 64-77 degrees F



I filled up at the same gas station before and after the 500 mile run. I didn't reset Trip A until I was already a few miles down the highway and then I thought of it.



Hills: I let off on the gas a bit a few seconds before cresting a hill, so that I could keep my green arc just above halfway on the downhill but still not go faster than 55 mph downhill (faster means more drag).

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Day 1: Highway, 110 miles, both ways (62.4/60.3 mpg), at 53 mph. Music blasting, light AC, 70 degrees, ECO on. I drove at night on the way back.

Day 2: No commute.

Day 3: Went on a long lazy backroad, 40 miles both ways, around 49 mph. Mean fuel economy 68 mpg.

Day 4 (today): Same as Day 3, but slightly shorter, and really windy (25+ mph diagonal gusts), and I went back and forth 3 times each. Mean fuel economy 66 mpg.








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And just for fun:



My odometer reading: I still don't even have 3000 miles on the car yet







Also Trip B:

Trip B is my lifetime fuel economy. I reset the day that I first got my car and as soon as I parked it at home. Since I've had my car, my lifetime fuel economy is 60 mpg. I do mostly short trips (like 1 mile) so I have a ton of time on electric:

 

Congrats and great job! I have updated the log.

 

Are you sure? Then how come my fuelly says 54.6 MPG on my Prius C with 502.6 miles on my last fuel up which by the way was my personal record out of 14 months of ownership.

 

Am I in 500+ mile club, Bob? Check my fuelly badge for last fill up #37

 

That's not how the charting system works. See post #1 in this thread for the rules of participation.

ETA: This sounded a bit rude of me.. I apologize! I didn't mean for it to come off that way!

Basically Bob has it set up so each entry to the chart has photos of the display with the average speed, miles per gallon, and of course distance. Also a brief summary on how you went about getting such a great tank! Anything you think worth mentioning that helped you get to the mileage that way others can try it too! Any other questions feel free to ask!

 

Cool. Yeah I know it's a high speed run. It's a little weird that my Ultragauge said I used 7.4 gallons and when I refilled the fuel pump said 8.279 gallons, which is why I had the one bar flashing fuel and 0 mile cruising range. No idea what's going on with that, but I felt like I was starving my car, I'm just so glad to be filled up again!

 

Because you put in 9.21 gallons, that's running dangerously low on fumes, or, I'd guess, topping off the tank past recommended. Filling to spec you need to squeeze out a bit better mileage to not run out of gas before 500 miles.