And now you know the rest of the story. The Worst MPG.

OK before you jump all over me for even suggesting such a topic bear with me a moment.

First my rant. . .

Went down to Gardena (LA) in SoCal to take my Real Estate Apprisal test for state certification. I hate driving in LA, I hate taking tests and well just generally I wasn't in a good mood. So after the 4+ hour trip, over $100 dollars spent on gas food, lodging and not much sleep I show up in the morning ready to be tested and . . . What do you mean I'm in the registration computer but not the testing computer? So put me in the testing computer. What do you mean you can't put me in the testing computer? So after all that I can't take the test and now I'm in a really foul mood cause it's only 9 a.m. and I have to do the LA shuffle north out of town on the 405 in late morning grid lock traffic. Not only that but I left late the night before and was in a bit of a hurry to get to the motel. So the trip down to LA was done at an average speed of 75-80 MPH. But look at this; the MFD indicated that I had averaged about 43.4 MPG. Well those aren’t very good results so I thought to H with the MPG I’m going home and I wanna get there fast, so the GW guys can eat my dust! <_<

Hence the quest to assertain what the worst MPG in a Prius is and the genesis of this story.

So back at the grid-locked stop and go traffic on the 405. I'm mashing on the go pedal and accelerating up to the next stopped car then jamming on the brakes trying to burn gas. At about the 210 Freeway the traffic starts thinning; so down goes the hammer and I begin my High Speed Low MPG dash home. By Santa Clarita the traffic is really thinning out now! I’m in the fast lane all alone and doing 75-85 mph. But I’m still getting about 42+ mpg and averaging a little over 43 MPG overall according to the MFD. I can do better than that and as the traffic continues to thin I kick it up to 90+ MPH. But now I’m hitting the big rolling hills at the top of the Grapevine and the MPG holds fast. Ahhh Crap! Here comes the down hill and the MPG starts going up again Wth!?! I use all my skillz to keep the engine running and the gas burning but by the time I hit the bottom of the Grapevine it’s up to 45 MPG!

But I’m in the flats now just north of Bakersfield and there is surprisingly little traffic. So I do 85-90 all the way to Bakersfield where I stop and refill the tank determined to start with a fresh MFD screen and see just how low I can drive the MPG. BTW, the MFD indicated 43.2 mpg and my fill-up calculation indicated 44.7 MPG.

So now I’m on 99 just north of Bakersfield getting ready to put the hammer down when someone in a Honda Civic passed me doing about 85. I have brand new Goodyear ComfortTreads so I was feeling pretty confident and at about 95 I caught up to and left the Civic behind. I also noticed there was a 10-15 mph headwind! SWEET! I glanced down at the MFD and Wth! I was indicating high 30’s with forays into the low 40’s! Dang! At about 85-90 how can that be although it doesn't look like it I must be in a soight downhill streach? Oops a little gust of wind at 95 can sure move you around in that little Prius so I better concentrate on my driving. Hmmmmm, now that my head has had a chance to cool down and think sensibly there is still traffic on the road. So maybe this isn’t the safest or smartest move and then BINGO! It hits me! Much of the 99 up to Fresno is 3 lane, I’ll stay in the fast lane as much as possible but if there is traffic in the lane next to me when I'm passing a slower vehicle I’ll slow to 75-85 to pass and then jam on the gas again once I’m past. BTW the speed limit on the 99 is 70 MPH. That way it'll be safer and I’ll be using even more GAS! BaHaHahahHAahHahAhHAHaHA! :lol: So off we go accelerating to 90-95 mph and then slowing to 75-80 to pass cars in the lane next to me. After about 30 min of this I look at the MFD and it still shows the MPG in the mid to high 30’s and IIRC the average is at 35+! Another thing I notice is that this method really uses the battery and I’m slipping into the purple bars.

Ahhhh, I see new asphalt ahead and it’s still three lanes so I’m beginning to feel the need for speed! My best is 109 with a slight downhill and that would be nice but 107 the top governed speed would be just fine. The road is smooth with little traffic and I hold 105-107 MPH for what seems like a long time but was probably 5 minutes or less. Stealing some quick glances down at the MFD I see the Prii is getting about 22-27 MPG. I’m guessing an average of 25 MPG at top speed in the flats with a 10-15 MPH head wind. Does that sound right? Anyway I think that is impressive.

OK so now there is some traffic and I have to slow down for awhile into the 70 and 80’s. After driving at that speed for a little while I glance into the rearview mirror and notice some cars catching up to me. Hmmm, some of these cars are the ones I passed just a short while ago during the 100+ mph run. Traffic is still sparse but it’s in all lanes now and I have to pass cars and trucks utilizing all the lanes. I think I was paying to much attention to the read view mirror and fending the cars behind me off when I get caught behind a 18 wheeler and have to slow to 65 or 70 MPH. Dang, some of those cars get by me and one of them was the Honda Civic I passed just outside of Bakersfield! Ha! His ego couldn’t take a Prius passing him. Well that won’t do, no not at all so back out into the fast lane and for about the next 20-30 miles it was a cat and mouse game finding holes in the traffic to get back around all these guys. But then I notice Wth! These guys are starting to cut me off, speed up just as I pull alongside and force me behind slower traffic and not only that but the Civic guy is cooperating with some guy in a Saab to block lanes!! I remember passing the Saab guy doing abot 105 MPH. The Prius is pretty fast for it's size but it doesn’t accelerate all that well. So some strategy is called for and I fall back and wait for 3 or 4 trucks to line up in the slow lane. I also need the two guys cooperating with each other to line up in a lane. I see my chance ahead when another car, doing about 75 takes the middle lane.. I time it just right and as the car in the middle lane gets to the lead truck I’m doing about 90 and the two guys are lined up in the fast lane. They see that the road in front is clear and they actually slow to the same speed as the guy in the middle lane to block me from making a break-out because the two of them can’t block three lanes! BaHahahahHaHahAha. The guy in the middle lane sees me coming up on him at high speed and being a courteous driver he moves into the slow lane just as he passes the lead truck. I anticipated his move and was at 100 MPH when I flashed by the Civic and the Saab with the pedal mashed firmly to the metal. Throwing caution and sanity to the wind I glance their way as I went past with my tongue sticking out. How Sweet It Is!!! Juvenile? You bet. Fun? Absolutely! :lol:

I didn’t drop below 105 for the next 10-15 miles and I’m sure those guys could have gone faster but they didn’t and my smug factor maxed out since I passed them at 100+ MPH and was still averaging almost 33 MPG!

Well this has been a long story and I if you stuck it out this long thank you. At the end of the journey my average MFD MPG was 32.7 MPG and I was driving like a madman. I think my average speed between Bakersfield and Fresno was 85-90 MPH all the way with the AC on and a head wind. I never let it go below 75 except going through some towns, during one area where there was road work and a few other brief times. I noticed on several occasion others guys trying to keep up with the Prius but I just took her back above 100 MPH if the traffic allowed and they eventually fell behind.

So 33 MPG is about the worst a Prius can manage on the highway. If the temps had been lower, or more wind I suppose I could have taken it down another notch or two. But that is another day and time and another story. Well it was fun trying and now you know what the Prius can do at both ends of the MPG scale.

Happy to be of service.

Wildkow