Finally Good Mileage

Hi!

A few things I did within about the first week of ownership dramatically improved the mileage on my first tank.

1. Put 42 psi in the front tires and 40 psi in the rear.

2. Learned how to practice "Pulse and Glide."

3. Reduced my highway speed from 65 mph to 55 mph and used cruise control.

I am now getting over 40 mpg average in cold temperatures (I live in Alaska and, in March, we're still below freezing).

I've had the car since Saturday, March 8th. I am just now (today being the 18th) getting ready for my first trip to the gas station. I have 430 miles on that first tank. I expect even better mileage and further distace on the second tank since I didn't practice the above 'till after about a week of ownership. Also, I expect even further improvement as temperatures warm and the car gets more broken in.

Hope this helps!

Dave

 

Hi Thriver,

Congratulations on improving you mileage! I also have a 08/pkg 2 and am getting 52-56 mpg's (more or less) from tank 1 on (at about 5k miles now) with the help and tips I have gotten on this incredible forum.

I'm guessing that you know about tire pressures 42/40, grill blocking and such from being a forum member. Just looking at your miles to date (1400 miles in about 10 weeks), I'm guessing your driving about 140 miles a week (I drive 150 a day) which is about 28 miles a day (for a 5 day week) which will deliver lower mpg compared to other longer distance drivers (who tend to get the higher mpg's). Getting mMid 40's mpg for such a new vehicle, in the winter, with a new driver, on short trips, is still not too shabby.

 

I just got my car Monday - so far put on 300KM .. with an avg of 4.9L/100KM .. which translates to 48 MPG

I figured out the Pulse and Glide thing right off the bat, haven't done anything else special - I've done a mix of highway/city driving. Its like a video game .. in this case my goal is to keep it under 5L/100KM.

Its a Canadian Prius so not sure what diff that makes in mileage - it has the 16" tires, mudflaps. The only things I got added was hood defelctor and side window visors. The weather has been decent .. so that hasn't had an impact (just above 0C translation above 32F)

From reading the forum I was expecting worse mileage right off the bat .. so I'm pretty impressed with the numbers I'm getting, I hope they stay good.

 

Mid 40s isn't bad for winter. You may want to look at grill blocking and a block heater if you haven't started reading about those yet. The warmup cycle takes a pretty big hit on your mileage, which is where the block heater comes in. The grill blocking helps, as the cold air rushing over the engine cools it down pretty fast every time the engine shuts down. Then you have to burn gas to warm it up again. Blocking should also help our heater work better.

Of course things should really improve when it warms up. Even here in Phoenix, I notice a big difference between a 60 day and a 80 degree day. In the 50s-60s its hard for me to break 50 mpg either highway or city. In the 80s, I can easily get mid 50s highway and over 60 city. When temps were in the 50s I actually did block the upper grill and got the mileage back up into the low 50s. Of course we'll see how I do when its 120 this summer :flame:

Rob

 

I'm definitley going to block the front grill next winter. Spring is almost here, so I won't do it this year. My car came with a block heater, haven't used it yet. I park in my garage, so its a bit warmer in there.(plus I've only had the car for 2 days. I made myself not drive it this morning - I take the bus/train to work .. yesterday I drove it the train station just because I wanted to drive it)

 

Hey Thriver,

I noticed your location - I'm in Indy, too. Got my '08 from Tom Wood. You?