Improving Mileage of the ICE Engine

The only one of those that might be typical of Prius owners is the synthetic oil; it might help a bit. (I use it.) Sorry, I can't remember the substance of the K&N discussions, but IIRC, there are some drawbacks that outweigh any benefit. I can't speak to items 3 & 4, except to say I've seen nothing on any of the Prius forums reporting that they've been tried. What sort of computer chip are you suggesting, anyway?

For typical fuel-saving steps among Prius owners, see this. Even if any of what you suggest helps, the marginal improvement is likely much less than applying the simple and no-cost steps (like modifying driving technique and increasing tire pressure) outlined in that thread.

 

Not really!
You will not find that list typical of suggestions on this forum.

The Prius is in no way similar to a GMC Sierra.

The best way to improve MPG is through driving tecnique.

 

1. Synthetic oil may help a little, especially at very low temperatures.

2. K&N filters are oiled type filters and some of the oil may find itself onto your air mass flow sensor and cause it to malfunction. They may adversely affect your warranty if the dealer/Toyota want to be picky.

3. The exhaust system was designed to properly function with the Atkinson cycle engine, I wouldn't mess with it. If you want a hot rod, get a Honda or Mustang and have fun.

4. This whole car is controlled by several quite complicated and capable computers, there is no "chip" that you can replace. As an alternative, see 3 above.

 

I agree with the rest. The Prius is already a highly tuned vehicle, optimized for low emissions and high mileage. How you drive it will make the biggest difference.

Tom

 

Maybe one of those magnets you attach to the fuel line

 

Running down the list:

1. synthetic oil - we're already running synthetic, often Mobil 1. You're welcome to change but I wouldn't expect any great results.
2. K&N filter - the Prius uses an Atkinson cycle by keeping the intake valves open for about 1/3-1/2 of the compression stroke. Fuel-air mixture is pushed back into the intake manifold. What this means is unlike ordinary engines, there is no real filter drag on the intake charge as some of it is pushed back into the manifold.
3. Exhaust system - this remains an area not investigated but unlikely to help much unless you plan to operate the engine at high power levels for long stretches of time. The original engine in a Yaris produces 108 hp but in a new Prius, no more than 76 hp so there is not a whole lot of gas flow to "free up."
4. chip or software - this car already uses computers more than you might imagine. For example, the accelerator is a pair of Hall effect devices that feed input to the hybrid vehicle ECU. This control computer sends a power request to the separate engine ECU that actually operates the throttle plate, fuel injectors, ignitors and variable valve control as well as a host of other controls and sensors. The car is a small network of at least five distinct control computers and they all network together.

What tends to work best is to become a student of the car and learn how the energy flows and systems work. It turns out that our Prius are sensitive to warm-up (low speed and power for the first 1-2 miles), a control law change at 42 mph (stay 3-4 mph below or above 42 mph), low rolling resistance tires (use max side wall pressure for best performance,) and minimizing regenerative braking (but don't be afraid of it.) Unlike ordinary cars, slower speeds return great dividends at the pump so that taking short cuts through slower routes really pays off.

You might also consider the Camry hybrid, a more spacious hybrid. It also gets good mileage. But a Prius is a very good commuting car too.

GOOD LUCK!
Bob Wilson

 

"more free flowing exhaust system" does not equal more hp or better efficiency. That might have worked on old V8's with a carburator, but not with todays modern engines and exhaust systems.

K&N filters reduce pressure drop in the intake system, but they also allow more dirt into your engine. The amount of dirt can be readily seen with an oil analysis.

Slow down, pulse and glide, anticipate stops, block your grill, get a block heater. These are some key ways to improve mpg with a Prius.

 

No.
Maybe, the 0W-20 oil will help you a few %.
If you learn how to drive Prius more efficiently, you could improve your mileage 20% more, maybe 50% and more, than normal drivers.
Prius has a capability to run more than 110mpg.
World record distance on a single tank for a Prius II - Japan - July 4 - Aug 16, 2006 - CleanMPG Forums

Ken@Japan

 

you could always make a custom turbo charger... it's been done once.

 

Here's one on E-bay

Prius Superchaeger

 

Since Prius' Atkinson cycle ICE is already very efficient (Diesel like), the only way you can improve further is to not use it. This means runs Prius on HV battery wisely or glide if possible. Another trick we do is block the grill to reduce heat loss during winter in order for the ICE to shut down easier.

 

I bought my Prius ('08 Barcelona Red, pkg #2 w/ many mods) in November '07. Having been a service manager for 5 Years at O'Brien Toyota/Scion, and sales representative with the same organization two years prior, I've long held a great interest in the Prius and tracked all things Prius for the last several years.

Having owned a Tundra, I just couldn't afford to pay $3.00+/gal for that thirsty beast anymore and decided that when I bought my Prius, I'd just drive it and be happy, as I'd be averaging 3X the Tundra's mileage by just pressing the power button and driving.

However, the Prius, sort of like the 1958 Dodge in the movie "Christine", took over my senses and morphed me into a proud uber-geek who now averages 53.2mpg combined mileage. My quest began by joining Yahoo Groups Prius 2G. There, I amassed a dizzying amount of great information, as I have in this forum as well.

As fortune would have it, I was lucky enough to start correspondence with one of the group members, Joseph Poliakon, who is an engineer/genius who turned me onto his website where he eloquently writes about how to pseudo-hypermile. He emailed me yesterday to report that he's now averaging 69.2mpg! Of course, he lives in Florida and doesn't have to deal with cold weather driving. However, his "manual" addresses cold weather driving (like those of us in the Midwest). I do plan to average 60mpg by the time summer hits. I should have close to 5K on the odometer and should be broken in pretty well.

Joe's manual is a pragmatic approach to everyday driving a Prius without impeding the flow of traffic. Even though I consider myself Prius savvy (I have several Toyota certifications), I found his knowledge and writings to be invaluable for increasing your mileage. As a matter of fact, I keep printed copies that I hand out to all of my Prius, Camry Hybrid, and Highlander Hybrid customers. Most of them report back to me, ecstatic over their mileage increases.

I've attached his link. Print it out and digest it. You should be very happy with his writings. In the meantime, I'll give you the Reader's Digest condensed version of what I do in order to keep a very good 53.2mpg.:

1) Use Toyota brand 0W-20 full synthetic oil. Make sure that your dealer puts in just 3.5 quarts. You want your oil level to be approximately 1/8" below the full mark.
2) Inflate your tires to 42psi front and 40psi rear. You'll still have a good ride while substantially reducing rolling resistance.
3) Use your energy meter! When accelerating, your instant mpg reading (IFE) should read approximately 1/2 of what your speed is (20mph/10mpg, 30mph/15mpg, 40mpg/20mpg, 50mph, 25mpg, etc.). You'll not be accelerating too quickly to gulp fuel and not too slowly to drain the battery.
4) Use your cruise control in the city. Get in the right hand lane and set your cruise. Let it do the work, or as some would say "get out of its way". It's smart enough, except on steep hills, to optimize your FE.
5) Drive as is you don't have brakes. Anticipate! Look far down the road and see what traffic and traffic lights are doing. You can pretty much tell when a light will change. Let up off your gas pedal (or disengange your cruise) and go into "glide" mode where your energy screen doesn't show any arrows and coast up to traffic. By the time you get there, the light should be in your favor and you should be able to to accelerate to the proper conditions.
6) Foam your grille. Hardware and box stores sell foam pipe insulation. Buy and cut a 6'X2"dia section and 6"X1" section and then place them over your grille to block the cold air coming in. Cold air is a death warrant for Prius FE. Blocking the cold air lets your engine warm up quicker and stay warm. Hence, it won't run nearly as much as without the grille blocking or foaming. NEVER use it in temps above 45F.
7) Buy a block heater (EBH). It's the best $49.00 that I ever invested and it installs easily. Even though my car is garaged, I plug it in to keep it warm. The heater keeps the engine nice and toasty and keeps the warm up stage to less than a minute (even if left outside in sub-zero weather). You'll instantly be pulling down excellent FE.
8) Buy a coastaletech.com EV mode circuit. Another excellent and inexpensive investment. I use mine quite a bit when creeping through traffic jams and when going through mall parking lots. It lets the Prius run exclusively on the battery for extended periods up to 34mph. However, you'll want to use it judiciously! Over use (from personal experience) depletes the battery and causes the engine to start and run furiously to recharge the battery, negating any FE gains used with the EV mode.

I hope that the above will get you on your way to happy hypermiling. I love my Prius and am enjoying the uber-geek life, especially in light of $3.33/gal gas prices. My Prius has become more than a car. It's now a way of life and a hobby (much to the dismay of my family). I plan to add more mods such as leather seats, Dice Ipod integration unit/lockpick, 3M front end film, etc.

Here's the link:

Hybrid Hypermiling


Best of luck,

Erick Faust
Indianapolis, IN
'08 Barcelona Red #2
EV Circuit
Electric Block heater
Scion TC self-dimming mirror with homelink and ambience lighting
Splash guards
Prius logo bumper protector
Exact mats
Mio C220 GPS
Nokian WR tires (phenomenal winter performance without harm to FE)

 

You could do all that OR you can put really dig tires on the back so you're driving down hill all the time....:bolt:

 

It looks strage to me.
Can we accelerate using less fuel at higher speed?
Can we accelerate 50mpg reading at 100mph?

My bet is Pulse and Glide is better than cruise control in the city.
Our P&G master, 108@Nagoya, records more than 80mpg(34.16km/L) lifetime results.
â€Râ€Ã¯

Ken@Japan

 

I agree pretty much with Erick on keeping iMPG at 1/2 the vehicle speed during acceleration. The only suggestion I would make is to keep it at least half the vehicle speed. I've found that doing so keeps ICE RPM within efficient ranges across a pretty wide range of speed. Hobbit has noted the same. Now, whether it applies at 100 MPH, I can't say. I really haven't been interested in testing it at that speed.

I do agree that P&G is likely to produce better results than CC at speeds <40 MPH, based on extensive anecdotal evidence of many. However, I don't know of anyone that has actually done a controlled test on this on the NHW20 Prius. (Bob Wilson has done it on the NHW11.) I hopefully will be doing such a test later this spring, comparing P&G at various speeds, ranges, and acceleration rates with steady-state driving.

 

:rofl::crazy: