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fluid change and better economy

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Fuel Economy' started by Gen 2x, Aug 1, 2013.

  1. Gen 2x

    Gen 2x Junior Member

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    I would like to report an economy increase of 0.9L per 100km better after changing my oil, filter and cvt fluid. I dont know which had the influence but its made quite a difference. Average was 5.7L now down to 4.8L. Very happy, new oil is 5w40. Cheers.
     
  2. uart

    uart Senior Member

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    Thanks for the info Gen 2x. Just wondering, what grade/brand oil you were previous running and in what region/country are you located.

    Also, what brand is your new oil?
     
  3. HaroldW

    HaroldW Active Member

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    Those are still poor #'s for a prius. Prius recommends 0-20 engine oil here in Canada but folks in hot climates prefer 5-20 engine oil. Very important not to over fill crank case! H
     
  4. Gen 2x

    Gen 2x Junior Member

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    The oil is penrite HPR 5 full synth and I am in Australia
     
  5. Gen 2x

    Gen 2x Junior Member

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    I am not 100% happy with the fuel economy yet
     
  6. Gen 2x

    Gen 2x Junior Member

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  7. uart

    uart Senior Member

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    LOL That's all you needed to say and I knew you were in Australia. :)

    But what was the previous oil you were using. We're interested in what made the difference.
     
  8. Gen 2x

    Gen 2x Junior Member

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    I only just got the car so cant tell you about the old oil except a toyota dealership put it in. My guess is the old cvt fluid had more to do with it
     
  9. uart

    uart Senior Member

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    Ok, then wouldn't pay too much attention to that 5.7L/100km figure. You need to drive the car for quite a while before you're going to really get an accurate figure there. When I got my s/h Prius it took about 6 weeks before my displayed MPG settled to a truly accurate value. Mine came down from about 6L/100km to about 4.5 without me changing anything. It just happened.

    It collects "historical data" related to your driving to improve the accuracy of the calculated fuel consumption. You may find it come down a bit more over the next few weeks.

    Getting 4.8L/100 km is not too bad really. There was a gen2 fuel economy poll here some time ago, 49 MPG US (4.8L/100k) was pretty much the average for the 200 odd respondents. Depending on your commute you may be able to do even better. I usually get between 4.0 and 4.5 L/100km, and I have one "record" tank of 3.9 L/100k.
     
  10. Gen 2x

    Gen 2x Junior Member

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    interesting Uart, historical data meaning a simple average? or perhaps you mean the car cant measure L/100 or mpg accurately when you press the reset button until it has been through a few tanks. This would mean the car is showing 5.7L when only using 4.5 which does not make sense. Perhaps after 6 weeks you got to really drive in a very effective way.

    I live in a hilly area so I doubt I will ever get extreme economy but the way I see it a very efficient car these days claims 5.5L but uses closer to 6.5, or in the case of the new diesel hybrid c-class mercedes it claims 4.3L but used on the test 6.5. My prius even at 5.7L real world is excellent in comparison.
     
  11. jdenenberg

    jdenenberg EE Professor

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    No, UART is saying that the car adapts to your driving style as you use it. If you do a full ECU reset (disconnect the 12v battery), then it has to re-establish data on how to best perform given your driving style.

    JeffD
     
    Merkey likes this.
  12. Gen 2x

    Gen 2x Junior Member

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    cool. Do you have any examples of parameters the car can change to improve economy given a particular driving habit?