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Mileage

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by bckburn, Oct 23, 2005.

  1. bckburn

    bckburn New Member

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    Sorry if this has already been asked but I am new here. Can sombody give me an idea of how long it takes to get the kind of gas mileage thats on the sticker. Im getting roughly 40mpg average between city and highway but, my prius only has 2300 miles on it. Thanks in advance for the help.
     
  2. Wayne

    Wayne Active Member

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    Short trips, cold weather, and hot-rodding might get you that, but otherwise I would expect something higher than 40. You are right, this has been discussed many times before, but can you tell us a little about how you drive your car, how far you go on a typical drive, and where you live?
     
  3. Oxo

    Oxo New Member

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    Mine has done less than 300 miles, mainly on very short (less than 3 mile) journey. For the 174 miles since it was set I've got 45.4 MPG imp.gall, which is about 37.8 MPG American gal. Not good, but none of my journeys has yet been over 10 miles, and these in hilly country in heavy traffic.
     
  4. DaveinOlyWA

    DaveinOlyWA 3rd Time was Solariffic!!

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    location location location.... should be required... state is all thats necessary if you are worried about TMI.

    i was averaging 50-52 mpg last year when my Prius was new. this past summer, i averaged over 58 mpg. my driving habits changed a bit. my technique is more refined, and i have learned the driving habits of my co-commuters...(more important than one might think. light timing and common bottlenecks is very important)

    another thing that may or may not be an option for you. with instant feedback on your mileage, its easy to compare routes for efficiency. start varying your routes to see if there is another way to go that is not a lot of difference in time or distance but is an easier and more predictable drive.

    i used to jump on the freeway because it was less than a mile from my house, but on the other end, the exit is past where i want to go and i have to double back plus its one of the busiest exits at rush hour, so i found that besides being nearly 2 miles longer, it killed my mileage. just that change added less than 5 mins to my commute (because of the traffic hassles at the work end, sometimes the difference was neglible) reduced the length by 1.8 miles, and did the entire trip at 35 mpg (much calmer and more relaxing to be honest with ya. realize on the freeway, the traffic slows to as little as 20 mph sometimes as much as a half mile from the exit...always paranoid that someone would rear end me as very heavy fog in the morning is common in the Puget Sound area)

    but to make a long story short (something i rarely do... hehehe) higher mileage will help, but there is a lot of things you can do right now.

    oh and on your question... i did notice a small improvement at about 5000 miles and a better one around 12-13000
     
  5. bckburn

    bckburn New Member

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    Wayne and Oxo Thanks for the replies. I live in the central valley and commute to the bay area where I work. I normally drive about 70-73 mph on the hwy. Round trip to work and back is approx. 380 miles. I get better milage in the city approx 45mpg but averaged with the hwy it drops to 40. In the city I drive the speed limit and try not to gun it off the lines. I wasnt sure if my mileage was low due to the break in period or if im just driving wrong.
     
  6. Wayne

    Wayne Active Member

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    Round trip to work and back is 380 miles??? Yikes!!! At 70 MPH that's almost 5-1/2 hours!! You do that every day? Did I say YIKES??!

    I've recently done some highway mileage tests on my still-new Prius (which I hope to figure out a way to format and present here soon!), and my car is pretty much right at 50 MPG at 70 MPH. At highway speeds, the general rule of thumb I found in the testing is you lose roughly 1 MPG for every MPH faster you go, so driving 73 would net me 47 MPG. Seeing that your commute is equal to most of my work day, I sure wouldn't recommend going slower, however. Hopefully, your Prius will improve as it breaks in.

    Are you all the way down to 40, or is it maybe a little higher?
     
  7. Brian K

    Brian K New Member

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    Dittos what Wayne wrote, we need more info re: the type of driving you do.

    Personally, I think "how long it takes" to get good mileage is more dependent on how long it takes one to learn to drive it. Sure there are some worse case scenarios where one simply can't get the higher figures quoted. If you're driving the car the way you would any other auto, then what you're getting is about right.

    Here are some more gas guzzlers.
    >Run the A/C
    >use "B" mode w/o an extreme descent
    >Don't feather the brakes
    >Run with the windows open
    >follow Toyotas tire inflation pressure recommendations
    >drive at high speed- faster uses more gas-75 is worse than 65
    >race from light to light rather than looking ahead and planning the driving
    >carry unneeded weight
    Those are just off the top of my head and all will squander fuel, some more than others. I'm not saying to not do those things, only that you choose how to use the gas you buy. For best mileage either don't do them or moderate their use. Just by using the climate control and vents intelligently will gain one some MPG.

    Regarding the racing from light to light (a pet peeve). I don't mean beating a light that's about to go yellow. I mean accelerating toward an obviously red light just to jam on brakes. Though trying to beat that light about to go yellow DOES use excess fuel. Not beating it and allowing the engine to shut off, then taking off in EV mode I'd wager uses less fuel.
     
  8. IndyDoug

    IndyDoug New Member

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    ummm. i would move closer to work and slow down.
     
  9. DaveinOlyWA

    DaveinOlyWA 3rd Time was Solariffic!!

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    sounds like your tire pressure is too low. also, if you EVER have to touch your brakes at 70 mph, you need to adjust your driving style...

    i think that is where you need to work at. anticipation is the #1 way to improve your mileage. it takes about 22 horsepower to maintain a Prius at 70 mph, but takes nearly triple the energy to get it up to that speed. not maintaining a constant speed will kill your mileage.

    try this. get on the freeway and set cruise control. you can adjust your speed in one mph increments on the stalk. if you can make all your adjustments by that method, you will see your mileage go to near 50 mpg if your tires are set at least 42 front/40 PSI rear.

    if you cant, or dont have enough time to make your adjustments that way, you are following too close. you are not giving yourself enough time to fully ulitize regen. its more effective when additional stopping power is not needed. regen DOES lose energy on the conversion so you want to convert as little as is possible. iow, all your regen should be from coasting in drive with no brake pedal action.

    i have done a ton of 70 mph trips to the Vancouver WA area all at 70 mph and i do average right at 50 mph. many others have posted the same figures. so you can do it too by NOT braking. constant speeds.
     
  10. efusco

    efusco Moderator Emeritus
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  11. keeponrunning

    keeponrunning New Member

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    I just got my Prius 10 days a go. I am now at 800 miles. Tank 1 was 55.1 MPG, Tank 2 is pushing 56.5!

    All I do is accelerate VERY slowly, go probably 5 - 8 MPH under the speed limit and use cruise cntl whenever possible. When I am on the interstate I drive 60 instead of 70, anticipate all stops so that I dont have to go from a cold start (ie stopped) and I never let anyone else dictate how I drive.... if the person behind me wants to go 90, let em pass me... otherwise I just take it easy, take it slow and enjoy the ride :)

    Basically I drive the way I always should have... if you dont change your driving habits to take advantage of the car, 40 is probably close to what you'll get.
     
  12. maggieddd

    maggieddd Senior Member

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    I always have Priuses passing me, they must be doing like 70-80mph. I always wonder what mileage they are getting. They are probably the ones complaining that they are not getting the mileage they should be getting.
     
  13. Wayne

    Wayne Active Member

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    Stay tuned, Maggie. :) In the next few minutes I hope to put up a post that answers exactly that!
     
  14. maggieddd

    maggieddd Senior Member

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    OK Wayne, I am staying tuned. It is Sunday afternoon, I have nothing else to do, husband is only active at night (this could be due to the fact that he thinks that I love Prius more than him), PriusChat is the most entertaining thing these days...
    I am waiting patiently...