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600 mile tank...should I go for it??

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Fuel Economy' started by efusco, Jul 10, 2005.

  1. bigbaldcuban

    bigbaldcuban New Member

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    Just to add to the confusion, I just had a 613 mile tank, with a 49.8 avg. The tank was filled to the brim before hand, but it only blinked for 41.7 miles.
     
  2. DaveinOlyWA

    DaveinOlyWA 3rd Time was Solariffic!!

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  3. tomdeimos

    tomdeimos New Member

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    Just got my first over 600 mile tank and fill up before the last bar was flashing. If I had my spare gas with me I could have tried for 650.
     
  4. prius04

    prius04 New Member

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    When I read the first post in this thread, I thought I'd never get even close to 600 miles. My prior highest tank was 550. But it happened today. 607 miles.

    When I filled up I filled it at a non self serve station so could not "push it" and they put in 10.83 gallons. The temperature on fill up was 87.

    The info screen gave me 54.8 mpg. The calc mpg would be 56 but that's based upon a fill up only to the first cut off point on the pump.

    My last bar was blinking for 22 miles.
     
  5. efusco

    efusco Moderator Emeritus
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    Well, this tank I topped off quite a lot. And at the moment it shows 529 miles with 2 pips on the fuel guage. 600 miles should be doable, but I don't know if I have another 70 miles of driving to do before leaving for the lake this weekend so may end up filling before I have to just to have a full tank for the trip. But 600 miles seems quite doable with a 'topped off' tank.

    Display is showing 60.4mpg.
     
  6. efusco

    efusco Moderator Emeritus
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    Update after driving to work--
    60.8 MPG (didn't have to come to a complete stop once!!)
    544 Miles
    Down to 1 'pip'
     
  7. dreichla

    dreichla New Member

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    I think you made it!
     
  8. Marlin

    Marlin New Member

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    Just curious...

    Why do people here seem to put so much emphasis on miles per tank, rather than miles per gallon?

    Which is better? Person "A" who gets 80 mpg and fills up every 400 miles, or Person "B" who gets 60 mph but overfills their tank and pushes it to 650 miles before filling up?

    And what does forcing an extra gallon into the tank prove? That you can flood the charcoal filter? That you can poor gasoline down the side of your car?

    Maybe it's just an old wives' tale, but I've always heard, on car shows and such, that you should fill up around 1/4 of a tank for 2 reasons: One is that you don't want to run out of gas, because the fuel filter is in the tank and uses the fuel for lubrication, and the other is that over time, water and debris collects in the bottom of your tank with the gas floating on top and you don't want the engine sucking that stuff up.
     
  9. Ray Moore

    Ray Moore Active Member

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    Evan- This is a 700 mile tank in the making. I just filled up at 708 miles and I was only running 58.5 MPG.

    Marlin- because we're just a bunch of big sillies.

    People who look for silly behaviours have their hands full if they live with humans.
     
  10. efusco

    efusco Moderator Emeritus
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    Marlin,
    I don't put a lot of emphasis on it, but it's one of the 'games' one can play. By optimizing mpg and maximizing the fuel in the tank one can get further b/w fill ups. I've had my car almost 22 months, never pushed for a 600 mile tank before, but it seemed a good goal with my improving mileage.

    I don't think either person A or B is 'better'.

    Forcing fuel into the tank doesn't 'prove' much other than it's hard to get to the stated tank capacity of 11.9 gallons without doing so. I do not usually top off, I have no idea why I did this time and I do not recommend it. The fuel just kept going in without a lot of effort and I was careful to listen for 'gurgling' and to not too quickly pull out the pump spiggett...there was no spillage and fuel never got into the upper neck of the filler tube so I don't think any went into the charcoal tank.

    And I think it is an old wife's tale. It's the fuel pump that is in the bottom of the tank and the gas acts to keep it cool. There is also a small reservoir area in the tank designed to capture any particulate material and that resides below the fuel intake...which is in the bottom of the tank anyway.

    But thanks for your concern, I've thought through all this for quite some time and am quite comfortable and confident with what I'm doing. Considering I've never had a fill up of more than 9.5 gallons in my Prius I think there's a huge safety margin on multiple fronts here.
     
  11. efusco

    efusco Moderator Emeritus
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    It probably could go that if I ran it to fumes, but I just can't run the risk of running out of gas with a 1 year old and twin 6 year olds in the car on a 95 degree day!!

    Plus, I'm just chicken. One step at a time baby!
     
  12. rflagg

    rflagg Member

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    Marlin,

    I couldn't agree with Evan more. No one is better than anyone else here, but for some of us with long drives, and previous vehicles we had to fill up every other day or so - it's kind of nice for us to brag among each other that we can now go, say, 700 miles before filling up. For me, that's going 11 work days instead of 2.5 without filling up. And on the very unlikely possibility that I happen to have problems down the road with the filters or the gas tank - it'll be my problem and I'll have to deal with it/pay for it/etc.

    Evan -

    I hope you can hit the mark before your trip, but if not, you can always try again! If you make it, next step is regularly getting 600 mile tanks! :) Have a good trip!

    -m.
     
  13. JeffHart

    JeffHart New Member

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    Go for it!

    I'm a newby and haven't gone beyond the 500 mile mark - still learning and really really really don't want to investigate how quickly the last two fuel bars fade away during my commute. I've got 139 miles on my current tank with all the bars still there, so this will probably be my first 500 miler, although I'm at less than 50 MPG so it will depend on the city stop and go traffic today and tomorrow that I'll be doing instead of my normal commute.

    You just may need to make a lunch time cruise somewhere to make sure you get to 600 before leaving for your trip.

    Cheers & Good Luck!
    Jeff
     
  14. efusco

    efusco Moderator Emeritus
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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(JeffHart\";p=\"115584)</div>
    It's more likely that I'll get a 700 mile tank than that I'll get a lunch-time break...I'm an ER doctor...lunch time breaks are unheard of.
     
  15. DaveinOlyWA

    DaveinOlyWA 3rd Time was Solariffic!!

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    Evan, now that you know that its in reach, you will have other opportunities to do it. your time will come
     
  16. efusco

    efusco Moderator Emeritus
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    ADD FUEL warning came on at 575, 61.1mpg I've got a ~30 mile round trip to work, plus a party to go to tonight. I'll fill up in the morning before my trip so should be past the 600 mile mark at that poing.

    Thanks for putting up with my petty little game here folks, I realize this is probably a silly thread, but it's fun for me to share. Thanks for the encouragement.
     
  17. rflagg

    rflagg Member

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    Nothing silly about it Evan - setting a goal and achieving it in this car is something to be proud of! An early congrats to you, and I have yet to even break 60mpg for a tank, so I don't think this thread is silly at all! :)

    -m.
     
  18. DaveinOlyWA

    DaveinOlyWA 3rd Time was Solariffic!!

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    nothing silly about it at all... if you had seen me when i got my 602 mile tank you would have thought that i had lost it or something.

    my last bar started blinking at 570 miles or and it was the most stressful 30 miles of my life, but i have to admit that even the proudest of peacocks would have admired my strut at the gas station!
     
  19. efusco

    efusco Moderator Emeritus
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    590 miles, 61.3MPG, will pass the 600 mile mark on the way home this evening. And I'm not stressed about it, oddly, Even if I'm only getting 55mpg I should have plenty of reserve for the trip.
     
  20. tomdeimos

    tomdeimos New Member

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    First time I got 600 I was ultra stressed. I went by gas stations with 3 bars thinking I could get home easy! Then the three went to 1 faster than usual and it was night in the middle of nowhere climbing steep hills.

    Then it went to 1 bar flashing and had another 20 miles up hills to get to a station that might be closed for the night and I knew for sure I could not make it to any other stations. ! I made it on fumes and the station was still open.

    The next time got easier as I got to 600 before the flashing! One reason I try for mega-fills! I filled up right then. Not ready yet to try for 650. For 700 I will have to get better mpg too! Winter is coming so I can relax and just fill up regularly till next summer!