Sudden Bump up in MPG

It's most likely the warmer temperature. My mileage is also up in this warmer weather.

 

Warmer temperature and the fact that you just reset the mileage calculation. The farther into a tank, the less you notice short periods of good mileage (the bumps get averaged out). I get my best mileage readings in warm weather, with a warm engine, right after I fill up and reset. Sometimes then I will average 68 mpg on the 25 mile drive home. After a few hundred miles I will be back to my normal average, which in good weather might be around 54 mpg.

Tom

 

Absolutely! If you start up cold with low miles on the reset, the numbers are depressing. I often have a little internal conversation about the ethics of hitting reset again and purging those evil numbers. So far I have resisted, except on one occasion where I wanted to impress a skeptic.

My better averages come from the fact that I rarely drive around town. We live in a little village, and my wife and I walk everywhere we need to go. My typical trip in the Prius involves driving 30 miles to Traverse City over fairly flat two lane state highway, making a number of stops at various stores, and driving back the 30 miles. The two lane highway (M-22) is posted at 55 mph, but with tourists the actual speeds are often lower. If there is no traffic, the weather is good, and I'm not in a hurry, I'll poke along at 45 or so and get really great mileage. I've turned in runs better than 70 mpg on days like that.

Tom

 

Agreed. One of the secrets of the Prius is that it teaches you how to drive more efficiently. I too am an incurable engineer.

Tom

 

I saw a definite jump in mpg around 5K miles, but I also had an alignment and oil change done at the same time. But I do think that part of the increase was the car breaking in. I have seen a jump just in the last two days with the warmer temps we've been getting too. It has been pitiful recently with my short trips.

 

No cure required or desired!
I wonder if the percentage of Prius owners that are some sort of engineer is higher than with other vehicles? I'm thinking that it is

 

You drive too fast.

Stick to the speed limit, and/or look for ways to drive slower, like choosing alternate routes.

You can't expect any kind of mileage doing 75. Not gonna happen...

Harry

 

I would agree w/everyone......slower speeds and cold weather have a big impact on your MPG.

I finally decided to drive 65mph, the posted limit. What a difference, my ride on the AC XpressWay was an average of 56mpg.

I saved a screen shot from my display to show off!

 

You should try to find the "sweet spot" for the temperature. Example, when it was warmer, I would get incredible MPG by going 51mph. REadings were in the 70's - 90's and this happened on multiple days. Another magic speed for me has been 65mph. This one has yielded very high MPG.

I guess it depends on the temperature where the "sweet spots" are.

 

I agree that you get better mile by going (generally) slower. But 50mpg+ is doable at speeds faster than 65mph.

We did a fall trip across the northern tier and back. ~5000miles. Speeds beter than 70 all the time, often as high as 82. We averaged just at 50mpg for the entire trip. We had 600 miles of howling head winds (50-70 mph) returning across N.D and MT. Without those two tanks we would be perhaps 1-2mph better.

We did a series of test for long durations of 55mph, then 60mph, then 65 mph, on up to 75. It seems that the sweet spot balance between getting there and getting the best mileage was around 68mph.

Good luck,

Icarus

 

I will agree w/both of you that the slower you drive the better MPG. I live in the NE and it is unthinkable to drive any slower than the posted limit because of safety. If it 65 mph, then I drive it and by doing so I finally starting seeing my daily 160 mile trip showing 50+ MPG. I am very happy w/this and in my oipnion buying this vehicle was a smart move and will pay for itself.
Any thoughts??
Thanks again guys.

 

Hey Steve,

I've just experienced the same dramatic bump in mpg. I bought my Prius just after Thanksgiving (Nov. 28). I was getting mileage in the 35-40 range. Then, just before the weather turned warm, I blocked my grill.

And the mpg started to go up.

Now that the weather has been in the 50s, I'm getting 53-54 mpg. per tank. My odometer reading is now approaching 3k, so the car is well broken in. And, I'm learning how to take advantage of hills, as well as using my cruise control.

I tend to avoid Rte. 495, but I do take the Mass Pike extension and a stretch of Rte. 93 every day. I know that this has something to do with better mileage: I travel roughly half of my commute on secondary roads and half on the Pike.

On the highway, I try to keep the cruise control set at 65 mph, but in some places here in Massachusetts, as you know well, that's a good way to get yourself killed--even if you stay in the right lane.

--Joe