it was cold out...

It should take about 35-45 minutes, depending on traffic.

 

I'm a new Prius owner and am looking forward to learning all about the car. I've run two tanks of gas through it and only get about 40mpg (most people would love that!). I've been very careful with how I drive and followed all the tips for getting the most out of the mileage.

The last few weeks here in Indiana have ranged from 50F down to 4F with most of the driving done around 20F.

Should I expect better mileage? It seems that I should.

My daily commute is about 10 minutes, but I have plenty of other errands to run and trips out of town. Central Indiana is pretty flat so I don't have hills to contend with. It is a slightly used car (5,000 miles when I bought it).

Thanks for any input!

Michael

 

Yep. That's my old stomping grounds (well, the other end of the county, that is). I'm surprised their old record was only -37'F, but they always seemed a little warmer than what we had. Maybe it's the proximity to the Rainy River. Or maybe it was just in our heads, when it was -40 or so in our little town it didn't seem right when Int'l Falls got all the attention and they were 4 or 5 degrees warmer than us.

Also, upstate New York got 3 feet of snow on Monday. I wouldn't want to be shoveling all that.

I second that. I'm doing everything right (well, there's always more that could be done, next year I'll have the EBH installed, but it is garaged). I have higher tire pressure, blocked the grill, I don't go over 40mph on the way to work, I turn off the heat at lights or long coasts (which is set at 66, mostly to keep the battery warmer). I use neutral when possible in the first mile. Still I'm right at 35 mpg. The problem? This tank has been only for my commute so far, which is 3 miles one way, and the OAT when driving have been between -5 and +15 Fahrenheit. It takes me 7 or 8 minutes to get to work, so the second bar doesn't even show up on the consumption screen. (My lifetime average is 49.5 mpg)

But I still like the snow and cold. Can build an "igloo" with my son in the front yard, go sledding on a nearby hill or drive 4 miles for the big hill. Half an hour away is a real skiing hill. And it's easier to justify using fossil fuels for heating the house (a necessity for the house, not just the inhabitants) than it is for A/C (for comfort).

 

No, you're getting about the right mileage for the short trips in the winter that you're driving. I get 36 MPG at colder temps (-20C), and mostly short trips. You'll find once the car warms up fully the mileage will improve substantially, and the Prius is not "unusual" in this respect. All cars suffer at least as much as a Prius when cold. Try to run your tires at higher pressure than the door placard (I use 40 PSI front and 38 PSI rear, many use 42 front and 40 rear).

Your mileage will improve substantially once the weather warms up. You can also improve the mileage by installing a "block heater" (called an EBH here). It's available from this sites' shop.

 

Did you see that International Falls just registered the phrase "The Nation's Icebox." I guess you're right about them getting all the attention.

Tom

 

Actually, they used the phrase for a long time ("Icebox of the Nation"), but just recently won a legal contest for that phrase from some place in Colorado that wanted to horn in on our reputation.

My cousin who still lives there reports every winter he sees pre-production cars out on test drives past his farm, doing their cold-weather testing. They generally don't use camouflage either. I told him he should keep a camera handy to take pictures, but you can't store a camera outside in those temperatures and there's not enough time to run in and grab one. I'll have to ask him if he's seen any Toyotas, but I don't think so, I think it's more domestic models.

I was out shoveling this morning, our driveway is a local bus-stop, and one of the parents mentioned something about the cold. I guess the shoveling warmed me up, because I didn't feel that it was cold. I was only using my thin cloth gloves. Little wind, and a rare sunny day today. I was outside for a half hour and checked the temperature when I went in. I was surprised to see it was 8'F (-13'C)! I guess I'm just getting used to sub-teen temperatures now.

 

Yes, -13C is warm. We just got a "nice" snowfall last night, about 4-6 cm. With the temps up it's quite slippery. Roads haven't been cleared yet, but I had to drive on an errand this afternoon. Fun in the snow in heavy traffic! Testing the TCS. It was fine. The light was sure flickering though. I even got the VSC buzzer to go off in a corner when I slid around it. The car does just fine. I guess the newer TCS software makes a lot of difference. You just have to be a little patient when starting off at a light. Pearl accelerates just as fast as most other cars, just not as fast as I might want, and without the wheel spinning the others do.