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Max Miles on First Pip?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Fuel Economy' started by a priori, Jul 13, 2008.

?
  1. Less than 100 miles (Who cares about MPGs?)

    5 vote(s)
    8.6%
  2. 100 to 150 miles (I never add gas past the shutoff)

    26 vote(s)
    44.8%
  3. 151 to 175 miles (At least I think that's where I've been)

    10 vote(s)
    17.2%
  4. 176 to 200 miles (Wow! How did that happen?)

    11 vote(s)
    19.0%
  5. 201 to 225 miles (I AM the Hypermiler)

    2 vote(s)
    3.4%
  6. Better than 226 miles (I don't care if you don't believe me)

    4 vote(s)
    6.9%
  1. a priori

    a priori Canonus Curiosus

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    For me: 197 miles before losing the first pip.

    Just this past month I drove to Minnesota and had my first tank of greater than 600 miles. The first step along the way was very interesting. THe first pip on the guess gauge lasted nearly 200 miles. Here is a picture just before I lost that first pip: FirstPip197.jpg

    I know many others have bettered this number. Please share what you've done -- and how you did it!

    200 miles? 210? 225? 250?
     
  2. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    I had my biggest first PIP right before my first gas gushing out of the gas tank on fill up incident.It was at 6,000 miles on my 07.
     
  3. jammin012

    jammin012 The man behind The Man

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    179 last week. I got scared, thought the gage was broken.
     
  4. Fraser

    Fraser New Member

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    213 two tanks ago and again last fillup seven days ago. First time, probably overfilled. Last time, did second click and stopped. I'm guessing that if I stop on one click, I'll get a different figure based on how much fuel is in the tank and the mpg I'm getting to that point.
    Average mpg has been 48-50. I also watch the intermediate pips down to 2, when I start hunting for a pump. Appears that each pip represents 30-35 mpg, although not completely consistent -- one pip lasted 40 miles.
     
  5. upfisk

    upfisk Junior Member

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    I normally get 200-210 miles for the first pip. When filling, I add 1 gallon after the nozzle first clicks off. Never have overfilled doing this. I have been able to get in 1.5 gallons after the first click but then it did overfill, which is why I now stop at 1 gallon. Average mpg hovers at 50.
     
  6. tochatihu

    tochatihu Senior Member

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    I always imagined (but never proved) that all the variation in bladder capacity would show up in the variation of the first pip. If that is the case, then the later pips should be much more consistent among tanks.
     
  7. a priori

    a priori Canonus Curiosus

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    OK. Now I see why there is so much variation in first pips miles.

    I fill to the auto stop point and then go to the first click afterward. In the summer (or very warm weather -- 60 or up) I will go to the second click, but no further.

    My guess is that if I added another gallon I could go past 230 or 240.

    Perhaps the question is quite irrelevant!?

    I was just so thrilled to get that far on one pip, and I thought it had more to do with my getting all of those miles without stopping.
     
  8. morpheusx

    morpheusx Professor Chaos

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    I only add after the first click if I plan on driving a long distance immediately.
     
  9. tochatihu

    tochatihu Senior Member

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    A Priori, I think the question is entirely relevant. But if the data existed on how many gallons subsequent pips represent, then we could be pretty sure about whether the first pip variation is related to bladder stretch variation. As far as I know, we don't know. Merely an hypothesis.
     
  10. Che_y_Chau

    Che_y_Chau Argentine girl

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    My max was 230 something or could have been in the 40's. Don't quite remember, but I was shocked. Then after that, the pips started going down faster then the first and that sucked :(

    Chau
     
  11. tom1l21

    tom1l21 Member

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    How does the pump autoshutoff system work? Is it the same for every pump or do different gas stations have different levels?
     
  12. a priori

    a priori Canonus Curiosus

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    Interesting question. I'm assuming not every pump's system is the same, but that's only because I know there is more than one type of pump. That doesn't mean the systems aren't designed according to a common requirement.

    This site is filled with knowledgeable engineers (and others), and among the lot, I would expect someone will have a good answer for you.
     
  13. nooaah

    nooaah New Member

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    The first pip has nothing to do with how you're driving the car. I've gotten 60mpg for my first 100 miles on a tank and the first pip still went away after about 75 miles. I'm currently at about 54 mpg for the tank and I'm at 3 pips, 350 miles.
     
  14. a priori

    a priori Canonus Curiosus

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    I've got to agree with certain aspects of this comment. There are many activies that will affect mileage, and the miles you travel on the first pip will vary dramatically.

    The only way to truly compare is to be certain you're filling the Prius tank the same way each time. That is nearly impossilbe to do, though!
     
  15. nooaah

    nooaah New Member

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    The first pip on my current tank went away after about 110-120 miles. In those first 120 miles, I only started the car twice. Perhaps there's a connection. That, or long distances alone have a greater effect than how you actually drive the car. Heck, more than once I've seen a pip disappear while I was in a full glide. Another time when I was at a complete stop with no yellow arrows and the engine off. Darn thing has a mind of its own.
     
  16. avocadoman1

    avocadoman1 Member

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    i normally get 150 miles for the 1st PIP.
    can get to 250 miles in 3 PIPs.
    then it deteriorates rapidly.

    however, with the warm up in weather, last week i got to 350 miles @ half a tank based on PIPs. then pumped in 6.5 gallons at the gas station.

    so it seems to be fairly accurate when the weather is warm...
     
  17. boppo

    boppo Active Member

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    I drove to upstate NY (Owego) to see my ailing mom for a month. I left her home on 5/11 at 5:45 am and the temp was 32 and only had 2 pip's left and also had my EBH on that night. Gas is high up here so I drove to Hallstead, PA to get some gas. When I got to the station my pip was blinking, I only put 7 gals in since the gas was 2.349 and I could make it where the gas was cheaper.

    When I got down to 2 pips I reset my trip A to see how far I could go until my blinking pip started. I got to Raphine, VA and had 78.9 miles with no blinking pip so I figured I would stop at the Hess station to fill up (2.159). I pumped the gas very slow because I had that splash back happen to me when I got my car used in March 13th of this year when I tried to topped it off. It took 11.611 gals and I am sure it was completely filled with no splash back and the temp was 57. IMO if I drove until the blinking pip there would not be much gas left.

    Now I had a full tank I wanted to see how far I could go on the 1st pip. I got 246.9 when I lost the 1st pip and I was at 60 MPG, it was real windy most all the way back to Kannapolis, NC. At the end of the month I will be moving back to NY to take care of mom for a extended period of time.
     
  18. john_dough

    john_dough New Member

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    You can see a small hole at the front bottom side of the filler nozzle. When this gets covered with gas, the pressure changes inside the nozzle and shuts it off.
     
  19. a priori

    a priori Canonus Curiosus

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    Whew! I have never gone that far before filling (either that, or I've never pushed so hard to get gas in the car). My largest fill was 10.173 gallons.

    Wow! I'm not even in that zip code!

    How did that tank end up in terms of miles and final MPGs?
     
  20. boppo

    boppo Active Member

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    We are going to Savannah on Friday for the weekend, it's about 279 miles from home so I will get back to ya on what I got on that tank. At this ponit I am at 60 MPG. I feel I can do better than 60 if the weather and the wind hold up. The best MPG since I got my prius on march 13 was 67.1 Mpg, but this is the first time that I put that much gas in it so I feel that this will be a good indicator of my ture MPG since I put 11.611 gals in.