Wow - fuel, we don't need no stinkin fuel!

David,
How many km would you normally get for a tank of fuel or at least down to about 2 bars/pips until refuel?

 

The few times I've found non-ethanol gasoline, I get a 20-25% increase in fuel economy. Unfortunately, the station that carried real gas, in this area, no longer does.

 

I know we've talked about the whole E85 thing before and i'm back to using it 50/50 with unleaded,the price of unleaded has risen so much over the last while..€1.33 per litre average compared to .99c per litre E85,
Anyway,since i've started using this combo the km per tank has risen,at present i'm 1 pip above half and i've covered 480km so far,the first pip generally doesn't disappear until i've covered between 250-270km,and bear in mind my 06 is a Taxi with just under 300,000km,i thought this was just a glitch but it's been consistent over quite a few fill ups,the best i got was 800km but that was down to 1 pip before a refill.

 

I think that is the major reason for your fuel economy improvement.

When we moved from CA to AZ last summer, I noticed a big improvement in mpg: low 40s moved up to low 50s. This is because the CA gasoline is "oxygenated", hence it has lower energy content, yet costs 15-20% more. Another reason is because there were more altitude changes associated with daily driving back in CA.

 

Are Priuses sold in Ireland certified for use with E85? E10 is the maximum allowed for Prius in the US.

 

I passed the 2 year mark with my Prius not that long ago. I'm at 39K km and the best I've ever got on a tank was 4.8 L/100km. I find the two biggest things that affect my mileage here on the Prairies are the wind and the temperature (outside). As the weather warms up, so does my mileage, big time. Maybe that contributed?

Right now I'm just over 600km on the current tank (2 pips left) with a rating of 5.0 L/100km. Hoping to hit 4.9 but not sure I'll be able to do it...

FYI I've hit 700km on a tank only about 2-3 times in 2 years. Not an easy task ;-)

 

Tideland, I'm not the one in a rush. I'm the one driving 100 km/h (or a little less) to keep the fuel economy at or under 5.0 on the #1 highway (where the limit is 110)...

I think I'm at 640-ish now on the tank. It'll make 660+ easy since the rest of the tank should be all city now until I fill up (and there are still 2pips). If I'm in the city, I just run it until it's at a flashing one pip.

Anywho, good job David. I'm really not trying to derail this thread. I'm just excited to see others from the Prairies on a forum... I rarely see that on any other forums I'm on.

 

Yep the bladder must make a fair difference, because here (Australia) I've gone over 1000km on a tank! Normally I don't push it though, on most tanks I'm re-fuelling somewhere between 930 and 980 km, sub 900 km tanks are very rare for me.

I think it's not just the reduced capacity that bladder causes but also the variability and increased uncertainty in "where's empty" that also makes a difference when you're pushing for maximum range.

 

I don't really get the desire for large range since there are lots of gas stations where I drive. I don't really want to drive more than 3 hours witthout stretching so on road trips I fill every second stretch.

As to mileage, I've now got 33 Mm on my car and the lifetime consumption average is 5.1 l/100km. My best highway trip got me 4.1 and my best fill up was 3.9, but that was likely just a short fill. When I checked the accuracy of the mfd consumption by letting the average run for 10 fill ups and calculating from fuel bought I found the mfd to be within 0.1 l/100km. (I did this three times and was impressed at how chose it was)

I get the best highway mileage (on the dreaded 401) by following 2 seconds behind a truck going 105 km/hr which I think they're governed to by law here now. On smaller country roads I pulse/shm.

 

My desire for long range includes experience with not just long distances between gas stations, but also:
* the few stations along my route being closed at night or on holidays;
* an operator at an area's only open station on a holiday demanding a separate extortion payment to unlock the pump;
* tourist trap prices on roads with no competition;
* memories of alternate day gas rationing, where drivers could buy gas only on odd or even numbered days, depending on the last digit of their license plate. If/when this should return, I want to be prepared with advance knowledge of the car's capability, especially on a certain route to family.

While the travel world has changed since these experiences occurred, I am not convinced that they cannot happen again.

 

My G2 Prius is at 110K miles. Driving is usually a mixture of highway and city between myself and my wife, so tanks over 60 (US) mpg are rare these days. This week though only I have driven, on highways mostly 55 - 60 mph. The tank is at 64 mpg, 3/5ths of the way empty. I've thought for a while that 60/60 (60 mpg at 60 mph) is about the best Prius can do in good conditions, but 65@55 is pretty nice too! Results with E10.

Note: sea level dwellers should not expect this at home. My Prius breathes rarefied air at about 6000 feet.

 

I thought you would have been driving with a "chilled out" attitude since 2007...lol

 

Hi David. If most of your usual trips are around town then yes a good long highway run can actually be good for your engine. It can heat off any gasoline dilution of the oil and can burn off carbon deposits too. So it's possible that your engine is operating just a little more efficiently after the trip than before.

The (reported) loss of mileage due to the ethanol in E10 varies extremely wildly as self reported by users. I've seen figure ranging from +5% to -25% (5 percent gain through to 25% loss - self reported). In every controlled test that I've ever seen however the figures are in a much narrower range, typically between -1% and -5% depending on the vehicle and driving conditions.

 

Hi Check this out.
I manage to clock this :rockon: