37 MPG !?!?!

This is the balanced view in comparing your new Prius to another midsized 4c like a CamCord. For the same 9 min trip in very cold weather the CamCord likely would be getting FE ratings in the 25-27 mpg range. You are doing 50% better overall than other vehicles in what is a difficult commute for all vehicles.

Try to pulse and glide then feather the pedal as much as possible during your short commute and then think of the benefit of living 9 min from work ( as opposed to one who has never lived and worked in the same state since 1981. ) There are always tradeoffs.

 

Saginaw Michigan, new car, new driver you are doing great! It is cold up there. You may be using heat and defrost. That will cost you!! Get out that down one piece snowmobile garment and turn the heat down. Look around for info here on block heaters and radiator blockers. It is cold up there. It will get better summer is coming. You are still getting winter gas. Yes the formulation of gas changes with the seasons and winter gas has less energy per gallon. M.P.G. goes down. When the stations switch you will see it a sudden jump in your M.P.G. from one tank to another. Look around here learn to drive the car. BTW have you noticed that it is cold in Saginaw? Ex Michigander.

 

I was averaging 39 mpg with mostly short trips of 3-5 miles. Had to drive like a bat out of hell last night. This was on a fresh tank of gas. After 9 miles up and down hill and quick off the line at lights, I had a 54mpg average. Go figure.

 

I believe my first tank or two avg was less than 40 or close. I now have 3900 miles on the car and my last tank avg was 48 mpg and so far on this tank it is over 50. Be patient, thinks will get better, if not then get it checked.

 

Nope, same energy content. The compression characteristics are different and can result in more power for an engine that's designed for that octane rating (Gear heads, please jump in and comfirm or deny this). Since the Prius isn't designed for that octane the fuel does more harm than good in addition to costing you more.

 

and if you don't believe tripp...

http://priuschat.com/index.php?showtopic=1...ndpost&p=226276

 

A couple more quick questions. When you are picking up and dropping off your kids and co-workers are you turning the car off or are you staying in the car with it on? Is your commute home the exact same route as your commute to work?

I am in field sales, and often have make short trips (a block or so). I make sure to use EV mode when I restart to go a block or too so that the ICE does not kick on again to warm things up. That really sucks down the gas and MPG numbers.

If you are turning off the car to pick up passengers, and then restarting, that is a killer on you MPG. You may want to try leaving the power on (sounds scary, but if someone did hop in and steal it they would not be able to restart it without the fob).

I have also tried to figure out the best commute routes, with the longest flat or downhill streches. If your commute both ways is the same, then usually the MPG averages out...but if it is different, you may want to examine it to see if you can find a better route where you can glide more.

If you are not turning it off and your route is the exact same both ways, then I agree with everyone that the weather, coupled with the extra weight is probably the culprit.

Don't worry, it will get better.

I live in Los Angeles, and with 50-60 temps I have averaged 50-54 MPG with each of my first 4 tanks!

 

I used to get 35-38 MPG for my first 2 month. But I figured out that there must be at least 2 reasons, firstly, the short trip I have every day between my home and work place, only 5 miles, and lots of stop sign and red lights. Secondly, the weather was extremely cold, most of the time, the temperature is somewhere in between 20-37 oF.
I believe I have good driving habbit, because if I drive it for more than 30 miles per trip, even in cold weather, I can still get 50-50 MPG. So, the short trip is the major MPG killer. I noticed the first 5 minutes, the MPG always shows lower than 25, and it will reach 25-35 in the second 5 minutes, but when it finally reach 50 MPG in the third or fourth 5 minutes, usually, I have arrived my destination. So, I never expected to get 50 MPG in my daily trip.

But now, after I got 1000 miles in my new prius, I found a little bit booster in MPG. This week, even the weather is still cold, but a little bit higher than before, around 35-40 oF, I usually get about 45-47 MPG in my short trips. Last week, there are 2 really warm days (45-50 oF), I got 52-56 MPG depends on how long the trip was.

Anyway, 25 MPG is still too low to believe, at least to me. Unless you were doing a lot of extremly short trips (I mean each trip is less than 5 minutes driving).

 

Yep, when I drive... my first comsumption bar is about 25 to 27 mpg, the next one goes to about 35, the third to 42 - 45, the fourth "20 minutes now" gets 45 - 47.
If I travel even farthur, I get up to 50 or better, I have have 1500 miles so far.

MPG sucks when the engine is cold. Don't baby it with takeoffs... get up to speed quickly, then titrate the pedal to maintain or slowly loose speed... if you get too slow, give it a good punch again and quickly get back up to speed an repeat the process.
If you slowly gain speed it is usually less efficient and mileage suffers... the atkinson engine does best when it works and works hard, then let it cruise.

I can do this method at speeds between 60 and 75 and get upper 40's to 50's mpg... its a modified method similiar to what the long distance gurus used at speeds between 30 and 40 to get 110mpg.

 

Having the AC indicator turned on does not neccisarily mean the compressor is running. It just means the car can adjust the internal air temp. It helps to think or "air conditioning" as "to condition the air to the desired temerature" rather then "to cool the air." I do rather wish Toyota had picked a different way of labeling this stuff, though. I would have liked "delta temperature on/off" or "car controls temperature on/off" or anyting more clear then "air conditioning."

 

I know that this can't be the answer but I keep wondering if you are driving in the B mode. I believe that this would cause alot of regeneration and low mpg.

Please keep us informed. Hopefully it is just weather and as it warms up your mileage will climb.

 

I was sure you weren't, but I have heard of a dealer that was telling customers that the B was for Battery

 

efrench515, I count a 18 mile trip in the morning. That in my experience should be enough distance to hit 50 mpg in 30 - 40 F weather if the AC is used in moderation.

soo... possibilities. First, make sure the manual brake is all the way off. I push down on the pedal, and then let my foot slide off so that the lever 'jumps' up.

2. Lead foot driving. Many people drive inefficiently and do not realize it.
3. Unlikely, but problem with the car.

I suggest starting with a test. Drive for 5 minutes or so to warm the engine up, then get on a highway and drive a 10 mile round trip at 60 mph on CC, with the AC set to auto at 66 F. Your driving habits will be taken out of consideration. If you do not know how to compute the FE, just note the tank mpg and mileage at the start and end of the test. Try to perform the run in the first quarter of a tank for improved accuracy.

 

put your pencil to it and see what you are getting.I went to mich from ky
and i seen only 42.9 in my 430 mile trip.i filled it to the brim before i left
and when i got there.with my pencil i got 53 plus mpg.
i went to my dealer with my new o6 and they found the inclination senser
was out of wack and fixed it.I was getting false readings.now last 130 milesi got
51 mpg.prior to the repair i was getting 38 mpg.
traded my 05 with 13000 miles in jan for my 06.
dont cost a dime to get it checked.

 

I grew up in Michigan (Grand Rapids). I now live in Colorado, near Boulder. The winters are very mild here, but we had Michigan style winter weather (below zero) here for about a week and my mileage dropped into the mid 30's. Here's the best way to tell it it's temp related, does the engine run when the car is stopped? Does turning off the Climate system cause the engine to shut down? If so, you are burning gas to make heat.

At least wait out the car until summer. Gas prices will be extremely high, so if you sell, you can get more for your car, and by then you'll have a better picture of the MPGs.

Nate

 

There is anothe post going on right now about gas octane....

don't use anything above 87 octane, you're just wasting money and could cause problems down the line.

The Prius was designed to use 87 octane only. This is might help quite abit in the mileage area. T

 

You can keep the rims off