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San Francisco owners MPG

Discussion in 'Prius v Fuel Economy' started by Tim Davydov, Sep 27, 2015.

  1. Tim Davydov

    Tim Davydov New Member

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    Location:
    San Francisco
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius v wagon
    Model:
    Five
    Hi guys.

    I just purchased my first Prius. Its a 2012 Prius
    , trim 5 with ATP. 62000 miles, Toyota Certified. I put Micheline Energy Savers on it, and did an alignment. I am running 42 PSI on the front and 40 PSI on the back.

    However, It seems that my MPG is not so hot. I know how to drive a car for maximum MPG. I used to own Jeep Wrangler before that, so I got used to trying to squeeze every mile per gallon I can :) I am fully aware of pulse and glide techniques, etc.

    I am getting about 35 MPG on average, and I see people getting 45-48 of fuelly when they try to drive for max MPG.

    I do live in San Francisco, Sunset district. Which means I live on the top of the 25 degree hill, and there are hills EVERYWHERE with a stop sign no every block.

    Anyone else lives in San Francisco? What is your MPG? What's your commute like?

    Thank you for your input guys!

    Tim
     
  2. Toppcat

    Toppcat Member

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    Location:
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    Vehicle:
    2015 Prius
    Model:
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    San francisco is hilly, tons of traffic, stop sign almost every block some blocks are less that 500 feet! Yes expect SF city mpg 30-38 mpg, my vw tdi got 22-26 mpg the Volt gets 55-65 mpg e depending on price of gas vs kwh cost! Heck my ram pickup get 7-11 mpg city! I would burn 20+ gal of gas every 160-200 miles!
     
  3. Tim Davydov

    Tim Davydov New Member

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    Location:
    San Francisco
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius v wagon
    Model:
    Five

    Thank you. Good to know that I can expect to get a 20-30% fuel efficiency increase if I ever decide to move out of this city :)
     
  4. pernst

    pernst Junior Member

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    Location:
    Union City, CA
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius v wagon
    Model:
    Three
    Make sure you have your ECO button pushed to the on position... I had a friend who for fun turned mine off and my MPG went way down. You can tell because the A/C will blow full blast when it's off.


    Thank you, but keeping the car in Eco mode makes it border line painfull to get it up a 15-20 degree hill.

    Eco just controls the throttle response and AC/Heater.

    I keep AC off most of the time. Just the fan. It's around 60-70 in San Francisco most of the time :)
     
  5. Toppcat

    Toppcat Member

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    Eco mode don't help much in S F driving condition. Hills. Stop and go, heavy traffic, lots of cars in a place there not much room! Pick idea routes and time to drive! It's lot worst in the L.A. area spending 1-2 hrs to travel 10-15 miles!
     
  6. Tim Davydov

    Tim Davydov New Member

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    Location:
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    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius v wagon
    Model:
    Five

    Thanks.

    I do understand that city driving is an MPG killer, but would love to hear the actual numbers from v owners that live in San Francisco.
     
  7. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    Plug-in Base
    reset the meter and take it for a nice long drive outside the city. 20 miles should give you a reasonable readout.
     
  8. Tim Davydov

    Tim Davydov New Member

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    Location:
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    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius v wagon
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    Five

    Thanks for the advice, but as I said earlier, my readings are based on every fill up calculations.

    :) they are as accurate as it gets.
     
  9. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    agreed, but a test run outside the city would give you a better comparison to fuelly.
     
  10. Tim Davydov

    Tim Davydov New Member

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    My bad. I just noticed "outside the city" in your post :) I have tried that test, and I actually do get better results on flat surface going 30-45 MPG. MUCH better results.

    I still would love to hear from actual Prius owners in San Francisco sharing their MPG stories while driving Prius v. It's more than just a simple curiosity.

    Thanks everyone for your input so far :)
     
    bisco likes this.
  11. PriusistingCondition

    PriusistingCondition Junior Member

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    I'm across the Bay from you, but live in a hilly neighborhood. After 2 years, I'm averaging 37mpg, always on Eco mode. Most of my trips are under 3 miles, a mix of city and highway traffic; which (off-topic) makes it difficult to have non stinky/moldy AC, since a common solution is to run the vents on outside air for a few miles. I just don't use the AC much, which is silly for a new car with 6,000 miles.
     
  12. Tim Davydov

    Tim Davydov New Member

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    Location:
    San Francisco
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius v wagon
    Model:
    Five

    Thanks for the information! Do you get 37 MPG based on onboard computer readings, or actually miles divided by gallons calculations?

    What kind of Prius do you drive? What kind of tires?

    Thanks :)

    Man...

    San Francisco is a Prius Capital of the US of A, and not one person can post their fuelly results? :) Come on! ;)
     
  13. tangcahyadi79

    tangcahyadi79 Junior Member

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    Location:
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    Vehicle:
    2015 Prius v wagon
    Model:
    Two
    i get 37-38 mpg on the city , but when driving in freeway is more MPG could 40 or 40+mpg depend how long drive in the free way speed about 75 Miles .
     
  14. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

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    They say Prius v is very good for short trips, with a shorter warm-up time. 35 MPG in SF does not sound too bad at all for a v.

    There have been prior threads on San Fran MPG, probably not for v though. Use search function.
     
  15. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Well not if you leave the AC off, lol.
     
  16. Eric34

    Eric34 New Member

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    Location:
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    Vehicle:
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    I have a 2014 model 3rd gen Prius purchased used at 2017 at 96 k miles and as of now it has 238k miles I worked for ride share in SF for 3 years I experienced exactly the same numbers. It gets 48-50 mpg on highway. I perform basic maintenance myself There isn’t any evidence of burning oil yet. What comes out is what goes in

    manual calculations confirms Prius comp. results 35-38 mpg in city 48-50 on Freeway. Brand new vs. used tires also affects the average mpg as well as if driving with fresh oil vs old. I also observed about 10-15 mpg difference when power button is on vs. eco. I was going with 5k OCI since started performing oil changes myself based on the drained oil condition I observed recently, switched to 7.5k. Before backing up to 7.5k once I tried 10k as recommended by manufacturer drained oil was almost black although it might Still be fine for the peace of mind I have decided 7.5k is the sweet spot. 0w-20 full synthetic Walmart oil. Not burning oil yet at 238k on odo.

    .

    I don’t think there is much difference if any in between Prius vs Prius V average mpg. Both are basically the same car one with larger trunk space.

    I disagree, having been driving 1000 miles every week in SF for past 3 years. Staying with eco mode is well worth regardless of driving conditions. I have clocked total of 155k miles in SF and keeping track of my actual earnings I keep close look fuel consumption in daily and weekly basis. In Stop and go traffic and speed up to 15-20 mph Prius stays mostly on electric drive until battery needs to be topped off or if additional torque is required to keep moving. There for , Prius advertised factory average mpg readings for in-city driving is slightly higher vs. Freeway driving.
     
    #16 Eric34, May 6, 2020
    Last edited by a moderator: May 6, 2020