Hypermile stock 2006 Prius 60mpg+ with no mods

Hi BellaRose,

Welp, right now there in coastal California your not going to get 60 mpg, due to the heavy rains, mud on the roads, and in some places snow.

Also, in the video the driver was apparently in what is called SHM (Super Highway Mode). He was at 51 mph, in Florida, which means very humid air probably 80 F or above and the roads are flat. Humid air is less dense, as more of it is water vapor than Nitrogen (N2) and Oxygen (O2) gasses. Water is made up of two hydrogrens and one oxygen. The two hydrogens are much lighter than either the extra nitrogen in a the N2 gas, or the extra Oxygen in the O2 gas. So warm humid air is the lowest density air. This reduced aerodynamic drag a bunch, which at 51 mph is about 1/3 if not more of the total drag on the car. In super highway mode, the car finds the highest gearing and highest spark advance to just keep the car rolling along. But that depends on the total force that the engine has to push. Go much above 55 mph, and the car cannot stay in SHM on level ground. Get in cold dense dry air, and the car cannot stay in SHM mode unless one is down hill or being pulled along in a semi draft. Go uphill and one needs to fall back in speed dramatically to stay in SHM.

But, if you can find a flat coastal plain two lane rural road and its warm, the roads are dry, the air is damp and its cloudy - its great.

 

At 51 mph and a very light foot on the throttle, the instantaneous readout will quite commonly read in the mid to upper 80's mpg on my '07. With a Scanguage you can achieve this by holding a throttle position (TPS) of 17-19. After awhile though, the speed bleeds down and you'll have to speed back up some. I have often achieved 70+ mpg by using this method.

 

Aaaah, from last winter ... california winter ... low 60 degree temps ... but why settle for 60mpg?



Haven't all us hypermilers been doing this for years now?

 

Interesting about the humidity and temperature affecting MPG. I moved from TX to CO about a year ago, and my MPG took a huge hit, but I assumed it was just the altitude. Apparently it's the climate as well (not to mention the hills around here).

 

Prius doesn't need any special driving to achieve 60 MPG on long trips. I took a trip from NY to Boston and got 60 MPG when I reached downtown Boston for the Whale Watch.

The trick is to keep the speed under 60 MPH with 42/40 psi and prevent sudden accelerations, .

 

Yea! My defination of "normal" driving changed. LOL
I used to drive faster in my Celica and tailgate other ppl to move out of my way. All that changed with Prius.

I took a relax driving and not blocking any traffic. We stopped at rest areas a few times and had a few sudden acceleration to pass. There were times I went over 60 MPH momentarary also. But I averaged 60 MPG with A/C on in the summer. Enjoying the drive is better than rushing and worrying about getting a ticket.