gen 3 gas mileage

We can tell. Please do a search in the Gen 3 - MPG forum and you will get tons of helpful information.
:welcome:

 

This.

 

I live in Southern CA and I'm getting about 45.6mpg. I think it is because of the combination of hills and our heat wave. I think this is probably the norm for this area? Probably another penalty for living in this great weather.

 

There are tons of things you can do to improve mileage. It depends on how far you want to go to do it. Most mileage improvements require changing something about the car or the way you drive it.

Short Trips?
Hills?
Hot Battery?
Wrong Oil?
...

 

I talk about some of the stuff [POST="824244"]that worked for me here[/POST], but its a fairly involved driving experience.

11011011

 

Lets all remember that California gasoline contains Ethanol, which acutally has less BTU per gallon as regular gasoline.

So 10-20% Ethanol will give you less MPG than a gallon of regular grade gasoline.

If you get 46 MPG with Ethanolized gasoline you will probably get 50 MPG or more with regular grade gasoline with NO ETHANOL.

alfon

 

That is right around 10% less then the EPA combined. Not too far off from 50. .... Is the AC on? Over 65mph? Both of those could take you below 50mpg.

 

Little Effort

• Don't drive agressively
• Take it out of PWR Mode

More Effort

• Keep tires properly inflated.
• Keep oil level correct
• Drive in ECO Mode

Lots of Effort

• Keep the HSI out of the "PWR" part of the graph
• Learn about the 5 stages of Prius Operation
• Learn how to test for S4 and how to trigger S4 (see above)

Beyond that.. PM me .

11011011

 

Following is a copy of my post.
-----
There are a lot of factors we see low mileage such as...

• break-in period - We'll need at least 2000 miles to see a normal results, especially with new tires
• short trips - We'll need an extra warming up fuel other than the driving fuel
• A/C use - We'll need an extra fuel for the A/C system energy other than the driving fuel
• hybrid driving skills - We'll see better and better mileage numbers after learning how to drive our Prius
• highway driving - Above 46 mph, the engine is always spinning, therefore we see low mileage. Also, we see stronger air drag at higher speed
• too many stop&go - The best one is non stop 25 - 35 mph driving
• steep hills - A flat or very gentle up/down hills are good
• cold weather - We'll see lower mileage on cold weather than the warm weather
• low tire pressure - We have to set the tire pressure at least recommended value, but higher is better

If you understand these, you have an opportunity to see more than 85 mpg results.
1000miles a tank

Hope this helps,
Ken@Japan

 

So far I've got 62+ mpg with my Prius 2010. Two times I drove locally to work and one got 75 mpg and another got 74 mpg. Road to work is slightly down slope since a river runs the same direction. The back home drive renders less mpg. (all above are computer calculated)

My experience is you have to drive Prius way to get good mpg. Prius is very sensitive to road condtion and driving habit.

 

I'd say all you have to do is own a Prius to get good mpg. In the US, anything over 30 mpg is good by comparison.

To get great MPG, you have to drive with MPG on the brain.

11011011

 

Agree.

Ok, we're talking in Prius world. I'd think 60+ mpg is good and 70+ is great mpg (50+mpg is fair), at least during August in Columbus, OH. What I mean is to have fun driving Prius and you'll get amazing mpg.

 

Lots of things effect MPG, many that few people think of. It's possible that the engine never shuts off. If you start your prius cold, then you could get stuck in S3. You may burn twice as much gas as if you triggered S4. I'll never forgive Toyota for requiring the S4 trigger in the 2010 as well. It's not necessary.

11011011

 

Dan.,
I just noticed your amazing achivement in Prius mpg. I need to follow what you do. BTW, what are S3 and S4? (you can tell I'm new to Prius)

 

[post="148509"]Here's Bill's Writeup on the Stages[/post]. What you really need to get good at (if you don't have gauges) is listening (or feeling) for when the engine is on. Beyond that, I tell people to try to force S4 as often as possible until they are sure they are in it. There are a few ways to force S4, but none of them are convenient, so you might not choose to go through the trouble:

1. When you know you are gonna have to stop, shift in to B while your speed is faster than 20 mph. Once you come to a stop, shift back to D and wait 10 seconds for the engine to cut out. If your engine was warm, you will now be in S4.
2. Or... When you come to a complete stop, turn the car off for 3 seconds, then back on. If your engine is warm you will skip the stages and start directly into S4.
3. Or... When you come to a complete stop press the brake as hard as you can, then tap the gas to force the gas to force the engine on. Wait 10 seconds for the engine to cut out. If the engine was warm, your in S4. Best to practice this in an empty parking light so you don't rear end the guy in front of you.

To TEST to see if your engine was warm (ie to test for S4), do any of the above steps again and time how long it takes the engine to cut out. Once your in S4 the engine will cut out within 1-2 seconds. If your not in S4 it will take 5-10 seconds.

Don't get discouraged. You certainly don't have to do this stuff to enjoy your Prius. I only provide the information because I was asked directly.

11011011

 

I was concerned that I just could not drive to get good mileage out of the Prius (I've been getting 46.5mpg average over its 2400mi life). I thought my drive was more of a contributing factor than my driving because of short up and down hills with traffic lights at the bottom and speed limits of 60mph causing me to acc. in the full red zone just to get up the hill and the naturally the light at the bottom would be red so I am imeadiatly off the gas an just braking enough to max regen but I still need friction brakes. This weekend I went fishing and traveling on normal back roads @45-50mph my mileage jumped to 62mpg for the 230 miles. Wow what a difference good roads make. Now I want to move

 

According to the data I have been keeping since 1998, all cars are more or less equally sensitive. In the Prius however you are confronted immediately with bad habits and adverse conditions.

 

Biggest thing I see is that if I am not actively TRYING to get high MPGs, I get about 46. If I try, i get about 56. Trying = using my brain = hurts... so I tend to focus more on my radio and enjoying myself while I drive instead

 

Dan, BuckeyeOne has a 2010 Prius, there is no need for all these instructions. The Gen III will go into S4 very easily.