1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

MPG great BUT......

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by olddude, Jun 11, 2014.

  1. olddude

    olddude Junior Member

    Joined:
    Jan 8, 2012
    16
    4
    0
    Location:
    Illinois
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    III
    I have a problem I don't know how to compensate for. I live in the mountains in Tennessee and get 50 to 51 mpg every tankful that I check. So what is the problem you ask. I am convinced my speedo is off reading at least 4 or 5 miles faster than I am really going. I have no guaranteed way of knowing this however it has registered the 4 or 5 faster on the police signs that show your speed when you go past. It has also been off the same speed when driving side by side with my other vehicle. I wonder what this discrepancy would equate to when figuring actual mileage?
     
  2. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

    Joined:
    May 11, 2005
    108,880
    49,471
    0
    Location:
    boston
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    do you have any measured mile markers on your highways? you can reset your odo and see if it matches up to the markers. tyres can affect speed and mpg read out, but the best mpg gauge is refilling and knowing actual distance travelled.
     
  3. nsfbr

    nsfbr Member

    Joined:
    Jan 6, 2014
    112
    30
    0
    Location:
    Northern Virginia
    Vehicle:
    2013 Prius v wagon
    Model:
    Five
    Do you have an iPhone or similar? There are free GPS speedometer apps in the app store. Speedometer+ is the one I use.

    If there is a true discrepancy, it doesn't necessarily mean there is also one in your odometer. Screwy, I know. It seems that there is no real penalty for having a speedometer that is off, while the lawsuits have necessitated that the odometer be pretty close to dead on.
     
  4. usnavystgc

    usnavystgc Die Hard DIYer and Ebike enthusiast.

    Joined:
    Jul 29, 2011
    3,159
    989
    0
    Location:
    Tucson, AZ
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Model:
    Four
    Or you can borrow a Garmin or a TomTom from a friend and it has an accurate GPS speedometer you can compare.
     
  5. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

    Joined:
    Oct 17, 2010
    55,551
    38,718
    80
    Location:
    Greater Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    Touring
    If I'm going 52 km/hr (as shown on the speedo) the Garmin or Scangauge will show 50. Consistently.

    This is intentional on the part of auto manufacturers; it's mandated that the speedo should either be accurate or read a bit high. It encourages people to slow down.
     
    #5 Mendel Leisk, Jun 11, 2014
    Last edited: Jun 11, 2014
  6. usnavystgc

    usnavystgc Die Hard DIYer and Ebike enthusiast.

    Joined:
    Jul 29, 2011
    3,159
    989
    0
    Location:
    Tucson, AZ
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Model:
    Four
    There is a thing called a speed-o-healer that can fix your speedo to read exact. I used it on my Hayabusa which read 5 to 6 mph faster.
     
  7. nsfbr

    nsfbr Member

    Joined:
    Jan 6, 2014
    112
    30
    0
    Location:
    Northern Virginia
    Vehicle:
    2013 Prius v wagon
    Model:
    Five
    What I've found is that my display speedo reads just about .6 mph over my iPhone's GPS, while my Enginelink readout (via the OBDII connection) shows about 2.3 under. Weird and crazy things the auto manufacturers do.
     
  8. nsfbr

    nsfbr Member

    Joined:
    Jan 6, 2014
    112
    30
    0
    Location:
    Northern Virginia
    Vehicle:
    2013 Prius v wagon
    Model:
    Five
    I don't think they have them for cars. At least not on the website store that I could see.
     
  9. usnavystgc

    usnavystgc Die Hard DIYer and Ebike enthusiast.

    Joined:
    Jul 29, 2011
    3,159
    989
    0
    Location:
    Tucson, AZ
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Model:
    Four
    They are designed for motorcycles but can be used on a car as well. If you read the reviews, you will see that a reviewer used it on his Honda Civic. :)
     
    nsfbr likes this.
  10. nsfbr

    nsfbr Member

    Joined:
    Jan 6, 2014
    112
    30
    0
    Location:
    Northern Virginia
    Vehicle:
    2013 Prius v wagon
    Model:
    Five
    Cool. I didn't read the reviews. Thanks for the tip.
     
    usnavystgc likes this.
  11. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

    Joined:
    May 11, 2005
    108,880
    49,471
    0
    Location:
    boston
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    when i go by a speed radar at 32 mph, the radar says 30.
     
  12. ETC(SS)

    ETC(SS) The OTHER One Percenter.....

    Joined:
    Oct 28, 2010
    7,755
    6,554
    0
    Location:
    Redneck Riviera (Gulf South)
    Vehicle:
    Other Non-Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    You have a 2010.
    Usually, any built-in bias works the other way unless you're rolling non-OEM tires which would make your car read slower than you're actually traveling. I'd look there first.
    A GPS, Police radar sign, or interstate mile markers are all excellent way of determining whether or not your car's speedo is accurate.

    The VSS compensator works on bikes and cars alike, and they're plug and play but I don't think I'd bother if the error is only 5MPH.

    Your call.

    Good Luck!
     
  13. nwprius

    nwprius Member

    Joined:
    Feb 26, 2004
    227
    35
    0
    Location:
    Lacey, Washington
    Vehicle:
    2011 Prius
    Model:
    Five
    No one has said anything about the tires. Right size??? or worn way down or air pressure???
     
  14. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

    Joined:
    Oct 17, 2010
    55,551
    38,718
    80
    Location:
    Greater Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    Touring
    Nothing.

    The speedometer reads high, by design and legislation, to encourage drivers to go a little slower. The odometer should be reasonably accurate.

    (Oh hell, I answered this already, back a bit. Oh well, still stands.)
     
    bisco likes this.
  15. mmmodem

    mmmodem Senior Taste Tester

    Joined:
    Nov 17, 2011
    2,732
    1,703
    0
    Location:
    Bay Area, CA
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    We don't have to. The speedometer by design reads faster. The odometer however is accurate. You can yahoo the variety of reasons all manufacturers do this not just Toyota.
     
    Mendel Leisk likes this.
  16. lar.smith42

    lar.smith42 Active Member

    Joined:
    Jun 3, 2014
    203
    118
    0
    Location:
    Double Oak , Texas
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    II
    My speedo is always reading 1mph faster than my Garmin gps. Tires are right size, new and 40lbs air. It shows 76 when my garmin shows 75
     
  17. DoubleDAZ

    DoubleDAZ Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 2, 2014
    1,209
    322
    0
    Location:
    Peoria AZ (Phoenix)
    Vehicle:
    2014 Prius
    Model:
    Four
    Mine is the same, even with tires now at 37 vs 40 and worn a little more. There are stretches along the interstates where they read the same and 2 mph over though, so go figure. :)
     
    lar.smith42 likes this.