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800+ miles on one tank

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Fuel Economy' started by Mark57, Jul 23, 2010.

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  1. cproaudio

    cproaudio Speedlock Overrider

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    800 miles a tank without plugin is very impressive. Most guys here can't push pass 600. Very few made it pass 700. There are people with plugins that can't get break 800 miles tank. You can pump 2 additional gallons before brim.There are 2 gallons after the flashing pip. If you brim the tank and drive til you ran out of gas, you'll hit 1000 miles for sure. From running out of gas to brimming the fuel filler has about 13.5 gallons, give or take a pint or 2.
     
    #21 cproaudio, Aug 11, 2011
  2. F8L

    F8L Protecting Habitat & AG Lands

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    I won't argue that. Safety should be everyone's first priority. It may not be your own life that you save by being safe. You share the road with others afterall. :)
     
    #22 F8L, Aug 11, 2011
  3. Dark_matter_doesn't

    Dark_matter_doesn't Prius Tinkerer

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    IMHO, using gasoline without ethanol is the key to this amazing range performance. Tire pressures are a secondary consideration. More of us would be routinely getting >>50 MPG if we could readily get plain gas (and didn't have to deal with friggin' hills!).
     
    #23 Dark_matter_doesn't, Aug 11, 2011
  4. Mark57

    Mark57 2021 Tesla Model 3 LR AWD

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    Thanks! It's not like I wasn't seating bullets towards the end but I did have a can of gas with me and was in a rural area to be safe. 800 was good enough for me.;)

    I agree that non-ethanol does burn with better mpg results.

    I will say that in my case the key to getting very high mpg and therefore high tank range is to tweak every available factor you can at the same time. So high PSI and non-ethanol gas together make for a better advantage.

    It's not flat where I live. I've driven all over Seattle, Redmond, Bellevue, Bellingham, Bothel, etc, in WA so I'm somewhat familiar with your hills. Granted the hills are not as steep or high but we have a lot of rolling hills and we do have extremely high average winds which makes a huge difference. I find the wind to be a bigger hindrance to mpg performance than the hills do in my area especially when it's gusty.

    This year the wind was relentless from mid-January right up to a couple of weeks ago. Every day, 15 - 30 mph & higher. It's never done that before.

    Also, we've had 46 days of temperatures above 100° this year.:eek: Our record is 50 days back in 1936. It's been hell trying to get good mpg in those temps.
     
    #24 Mark57, Aug 11, 2011
  5. cproaudio

    cproaudio Speedlock Overrider

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    I know exactly how you feel. I drove 200 miles on blinking low fuel before filling up. The first 150 miles I was ok. I started sweating when I got to about 190. At 201 mile mark, I broke down headed to a gas station and put gas. After I put gas, I realize that I could go at least another 50 miles with no problem. Unlike you I didn't carry spare gas. I figure if I ran out of gas, I still have enough electricity to drive to the nearest gas station, even if it's a few miles away. The key is to stay off the main roads. No one cares if you drive 25mph in residential roads on EV.
     
    #25 cproaudio, Aug 11, 2011
  6. windstrings

    windstrings Certified Prius Breeder

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    Thats pretty hard to get down here right now with every day being over 104 degrees...
     
    #26 windstrings, Aug 12, 2011
  7. windstrings

    windstrings Certified Prius Breeder

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    Not to mention your other passengers that don't get the same jollies for an extra 1 or 2 mpg......

    If you drive for 20 years and nothing happens, when a mishap finally happens due to excessive air pressure, it negates the whole prior 20 years if its your wife or kids thats taken out!

    Everything has a curve...... 60mpg is too far past the curve of benefit verses risk.

    If your a solo driver trying to break a record on a lonely highway.... maybe if you don't mind risking your car and your life.
     
    #27 windstrings, Aug 12, 2011
  8. Mark57

    Mark57 2021 Tesla Model 3 LR AWD

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    It's been tough. Oklahoma and Texas have been sweltering this year. The average statewide temperature in OK for July 2011 was 88.9°. That's the hottest average temp for any state in the USA since records have been kept. Texas was 87.1°.

    July Was the Fourth-Warmest on Record - NYTimes.com

    To put it into perspective for those of you in cooler areas . . . we've been over 100° for 46 days this year ranging up to 114°. We had a few days that were "ONLY" 98° and it felt cool. You know it's been HOT when 98° feels cool.:rolleyes:

    I've never seen it like this for this long in my lifetime (54 years).
     
    #28 Mark57, Aug 12, 2011
  9. windstrings

    windstrings Certified Prius Breeder

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    .
     
    #29 windstrings, Aug 12, 2011
  10. windstrings

    windstrings Certified Prius Breeder

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    We have been getting dodged even before the rain quit.... the band that came through yesterday split and went around us like we are cursed!

    Anyway.... I'm sure all the other non hybrid vehicle suffer the same symptoms of poor gas mileage due to the air running constantly.

    But the more efficient the car "hence 50+mpg" the more noticeable if something draws things down such as an air conditioner.

    I guess the guys up north have the same problem with having to run the heater when we have the roof open and the windows down ! :p
     
    #30 windstrings, Aug 12, 2011
  11. F8L

    F8L Protecting Habitat & AG Lands

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    Windstrings is right. Everyone suffers a loss of MPG to some extent when running the AC heavily. Even the diesel TDI guys are having the same problem with reduced mpg.
     
    #31 F8L, Aug 12, 2011
  12. Mark57

    Mark57 2021 Tesla Model 3 LR AWD

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    We've been on water rationing (even-odd method) and just received about 1/2" of rain yesterday. The "official" record site is at the airport and they got quite a bit more so they lifted the rationing. Go figure, lake Hefner is so low you can walk across a lot of it and that's our water source.

    I agree that the more efficient you car is they easier it is to notice the mpg hiccups due to temp and wind, etc. I'm hoping the heat continues to reduce so we can get some good mpg's in before they switch to the crappy winter formulated gas.
     
    #32 Mark57, Aug 12, 2011
  13. Mark57

    Mark57 2021 Tesla Model 3 LR AWD

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    Even with the no belts and totally electric A/C, I was still surprised at just how much it does drop you MPG in the Prius.
     
    #33 Mark57, Aug 12, 2011
  14. walter Lee

    walter Lee Hypermiling Padawan

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    I found that when the asphalt road surface is grooved/rough
    that over inflating Yokohama Avid S33 tires (50/48 psi)
    did not produce the same extended coasting effect (FE)
    as when I was driving on a smoother asphalt road surface.
    My fuel efficency suffered - during the time period
    I drove through this road construction segment of the route
    - and only improved/return to normal when they road
    construction was finished and the repaved that section
    of the road this summer...:(
     
    #34 walter Lee, Aug 12, 2011
  15. Mark57

    Mark57 2021 Tesla Model 3 LR AWD

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    That's exactly what I found when I went down to Big Bend NP. The roads were almost cobblestone like. It didn't look like it but it felt like they'd just poured oil over 1.5" gravel.

    I haven't been on any other roads like that since to reproduce it again but it sure sounds like your circumstance did. That makes me feel a bit better. Thanks!
     
    #35 Mark57, Aug 13, 2011
  16. windstrings

    windstrings Certified Prius Breeder

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    rule of thumb... as traction "resistance" increases, gas mileage decreases.
    Whether its an issue of road surface, different tires, skinnier or wider tires, wind to your back verses headon... driving in water verses not, gravel verses pavement etc.

    One of the main reasons trains get such good fuel economy is they have steel tires on steel rails.... another reason they slide like crazy if they have to stop fast.

    Before you get all technical about weight/speed etc... consider a single car with steel wheels on steel train rails and try to stop...... I bet it slides like crazy compared to rubber tires on pavement!
     
    #36 windstrings, Aug 13, 2011
  17. Mark57

    Mark57 2021 Tesla Model 3 LR AWD

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    Good analogy! I hope you finally got some of the rain last night.
     
    #37 Mark57, Aug 13, 2011
  18. windstrings

    windstrings Certified Prius Breeder

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    Started at 4:00 am and now at 10:50 still raining!!!!... about another hour may be done though.
    It was too late for many trees/plants though.. as you drive through the country... many trees are toast......

    We missed breaking our 42 day over 100 degrees by one day!..... at least now we won't have to run the air conditioner so crazy..... maybe the beginning of fall and nicer conditions for all.

    I"ve been very impressed with all 3 of my prius's this hot summer... they all ran without a nitch!....... crappy gas mileage but ran perfect!
     
    #38 windstrings, Aug 13, 2011
  19. Mark57

    Mark57 2021 Tesla Model 3 LR AWD

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    That's great news! I'm glad you're getting something out of it. I hate to say it but we really need a gulf hurricane to break this two year drought that both OK and TX have been going through. It's so dry, we've had zero mosquitoes.

    I know some have complained about the Prius A/C but even with the temps we've had, I've had zero complaints.

    I have a few projects I've been working on all summer inside my garage. It faces south and all I have are blow fans. I'm usually out there working on it by 5:30am (@90°) and finish around 2pm. Most of those days it would be around 118° inside the garage in the afternoon because of the radiant heat off of the concrete out front.

    I pretty much got used to it so perhaps I'm not as sensitive to the heat when inside the Prius running the A/C. Either way, I've been impressed by it.
     
    #39 Mark57, Aug 13, 2011
  20. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

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    While we have had less than 6 hours of 80 degrees or higher this summer, spread over 3 nonconsecutive days. I may have to turn on the AC for a few minutes just to exercise it.
     
    #40 fuzzy1, Aug 13, 2011
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