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High speed mpg

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Fuel Economy' started by Fubar1764, Oct 15, 2012.

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  1. Fubar1764

    Fubar1764 Member

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    Well, after having had the 08 Prius #6 for two weeks, I decided this was the weekend to let her run. Took a 1k road trip this weekend to west Texas: Houston to Ozona on I-10, I-10 to 290 then 290 to Sheffield, 349 to RM2400 to 285 into Sanderson. (BTW, the route from 290 onwards is scenic, but only in the direction I went. . .not so beautiful the other way.) From Sanderson, took US90 to San Antonio then I-10 back to Houston. Most of the trip was set at cruise control between 65mph to 78mph. I have a lead foot, look at my other cars. . .
    With some hill climbing and sudden breaking to avoid deer, we averaged 39mpg - 40mpg, actual. The gauge was off only by 3%, give or take. Tires were at 50 front, 48 rear.
    A few observations:
    * If you don't fill the gas tank at the lowest flow rate setting on the gas pump, you'll never get a full tank. Costco likes to tell you how quick its gas nozzles are. Well, that just means you'll never get a full tank like I hadn't until this road trip. It doesn't take long to fill up the tank.
    * The a/c is extraordinarily efficient. Frankly, it's the best a/c I've experienced since R12 disappeared. My old SC400 was close, but it was also a significantly smaller cabin. Only in full sun did I ever have to put the fan speed to Med. All other times, the fan speed was set to Lo.
    * The car is very loud. Road noise is translated everywhere. The Kamm back creates a magnificent echo chamber. And the a/c fan speed is loud as well.
    * The traction control makes climbing on unpaved surfaces very difficult.
    * When you gas up and pay cash, expect to pay a lot less than you think you will. On more than a few occasions, I plunked down $40 for gas and got over $20 back. The Prius is thwarting my ambitions to consume.
    * I want to kill the person who thought up the beeping seatbelt nanny.
     
    #1 Fubar1764, Oct 15, 2012
    Data Daedalus, PriusGuy32 and WE0H like this.
  2. miscrms

    miscrms Plug Envious Member

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    I usually drive my '05 pretty sedately, averaging ~52mpg, but just did the following 300 mile RT mostly at 70-80 mph in AZ and was pretty happy to average a little over 46 mpg (by the display) for the whole trip. Its cooling off so no AC was required which probably helped. Its amazing how much your driving changes when you've got a 36 hr babysitting window to go camping in ;)
    [​IMG]
     
    #2 miscrms, Oct 15, 2012
  3. cwerdna

    cwerdna Senior Member

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    #3 cwerdna, Oct 15, 2012
  4. Britprius

    Britprius Senior Member

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    NO over here $20 doesn't buy much gas at $10.11 a gallon. Gas price UK.
     
    #4 Britprius, Oct 15, 2012
    Data Daedalus likes this.
  5. cwerdna

    cwerdna Senior Member

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    #5 cwerdna, Oct 15, 2012
  6. ftl

    ftl Explicator

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    That sounds about right - I've been commuting between the USA and England for the last forty years, and gas in the UK has always been approximately double the US price.
     
    #6 ftl, Oct 15, 2012
  7. Britprius

    Britprius Senior Member

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    If you can find fuel at that price in apart from "supermarket specials" in the UK please tell me. I live in a rural area and the price is £1.51 per ltr. I have not seen the price below £1.39 ltr any where for weeks and it goes up weekly.
    I think that site you looked at was for mainland Europe not UK.

    We have been informed this week our gas bills are going up 9% + VAT in the next month after going up 18% last year. The profit for the largest supplier went up in March by 25%.

    I'm lucky we are to rural to get gas, but because we do not buy gas and electricity from the same supplier "because we have no gas" we do not get the dual fuel discount for those that do even though by default we have to use more electricity, and have to pay more for it because the suppliers do not supply gas in our area for us to be able to buy it.

    I heat my home by burning wood fortunately not in short supply in the countryside, but still not free.
     
    #7 Britprius, Oct 15, 2012
  8. Britprius

    Britprius Senior Member

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    I have just recalculated fuel cost per UK gallon at the price I pay.

    Fuel cost £1.51 ltr x 4.55 (ltrs in a gallon) = £6.87 per gallon x 1.6 conversion to $ =$10.99
     
    #8 Britprius, Oct 15, 2012
  9. cwerdna

    cwerdna Senior Member

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    Aha! That's the problem. Per Google (query for 1 us gallon in liters), 1 US gallon = 3.78541 liters. Querying for 1 uk gallon in liters yields 1 UK gallon = 4.54609 liters.

    So, recalculating based upon 1.51 UK pounds per liter, that comes out to $9.187/US gallon. Eek, very pricey by US standards. Or, Google can do it in one fell swoop and yields almost the same #: 1.51 uk pounds per liter in usd per us gallon.
     
    #9 cwerdna, Oct 15, 2012
  10. Fubar1764

    Fubar1764 Member

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    At $3.40 - $3.65/gal, I'm actually horribly offended it's not cheaper. For cryin' out loud, I live in Texas. I should be able to stick a straw in the ground and put what comes out directly into my tank! Somehow, I know the French are complicit. ;)
    Oh yes, the a/c was on 100% of the time during the drive. If ya'll haven't been to west Texas, the humidity is around 0% - 20%. In the gulf coast area (where Houston is), the humidity is around 70% - 95%, generally 80%+. I could tell when the vent was bringing in outside air just from the feel of the humidity.
     
    #10 Fubar1764, Oct 15, 2012
  11. Britprius

    Britprius Senior Member

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    We have the north sea oil and gas fields but we still pay through the nose.
     
    #11 Britprius, Oct 16, 2012
    Data Daedalus likes this.
  12. Britprius

    Britprius Senior Member

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    The price I am paying is not the highest in the UK by any means. I parts of Scotland it is over £1.60.
     
    #12 Britprius, Oct 16, 2012
  13. CaliforniaPrius

    CaliforniaPrius Active Member

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    3.66 per gallon here
     
    #13 CaliforniaPrius, Nov 20, 2012
  14. bielinsk

    bielinsk Gremlin

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    That seems insanely high. I run 42/40 and that makes for a rough ride.

    I would check the tires, I thought the MAX inflation was 44psi.
     
    #14 bielinsk, Nov 20, 2012
  15. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

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    ^^ While many tires are stamped 44 psi max, some models are marked 51. And some hardcore hypermilers (not me) are known to go well over the sidewall label.

    The worn tires I scrapped last year, on a different car, didn't really have a maximum inflation rating. Instead, the labeled pressure was the pressure required for the maximum load rating to be valid.
     
    #15 fuzzy1, Nov 20, 2012
  16. mikesarebetter

    mikesarebetter Junior Member

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    Seatbelt Beep On/Off:
    1. Power on the car to IG-ON or READY. IG-ON will do for this purpose.
    2. Using the Trip/ODO button, set the Trip/ODO display to ODO (not Trip A or Trip B)
    3. Power off the car.
    4. Now power the car to READY (brake on). This is required so that step 6 works correctly.
    5. Within 6 seconds of powering on, press and hold the Trip/ODO button for 10 seconds or more.
    6. WHILE STILL HOLDING ODO *after* the 10 seconds, buckle then unbuckle the appropriate seatbelt
    while continuing to depress the Trip/ODO button. Now release the Trip/ODO button.
    7. If the last step was successful, "b on" or "b off" should be displayed in the location where the Trip Odometer or Odometer is normally displayed. "b on" is beep on, and "b off" is beep off.
    8. Press Trip/ODO to toggle the mode.
    9. Now power the car off to exit the toggle mode.
    10. Power the car on to READY and confirm the seatbelt beep status
    The beep should not be audible if "b off" was selected, and should be audible if "b on" was selected..

    Read more: http://priuschat.com/threads/how-about-disable-seat-belt-beep.17661/#ixzz2E7Iuqq5Z
     
    #16 mikesarebetter, Dec 4, 2012
    Speedfink and Fubar1764 like this.
  17. Wilsid

    Wilsid Junior Member

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    Went to New Orleans in oct.,set cruise at 83, once in a while would kick it up to 90
    I got 37 mph. I pay $2.93 for gas, pay with a card and it comes down another .03
    cents.
     
    #17 Wilsid, Dec 9, 2012
  18. NortTexSalv04Prius

    NortTexSalv04Prius Active Member

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    price drop 2.92
     
    #18 NortTexSalv04Prius, Dec 19, 2012
  19. uart

    uart Senior Member

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    Wow that's cheap. It's $1.44/L here, which works out at $5.72 USD/USgal. :cry:
     
    #19 uart, Dec 19, 2012
  20. Jaquimo

    Jaquimo Paraglider, Prius glider...

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    #20 Jaquimo, Dec 20, 2012
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