Care to share any your special Driving tips?

1. I accelerate gently. Also, I usually leave a bit of distance between me and the car in front at the light. When you see the light turns green you can immediately start moving forward slowly to build up a bit of speed.

2. I don't have the EV switch. It may be a bit of use for me because I live at the top of a hill, and now to go in electric I go up the hill at 8 m.p.h.

3. Commute is 10 miles each way. Other trips are maybe one 20 miles each way on the weekend, and a few 5 miles each way during the week.

4. The top speed is usually 54 m.p.h. on regular four-lane state roads. On the interstate I would go up to 62 m.p.h. Never over the speed limit.

5. In Florida, things are pretty flat. There are some rolling hills, and one hill up to my house.

6. The commutes are 85% city driving, 15% rural.

7. Gasoline is Chevron 87 octane. That is the only gas ever used in the car.

8. No oil or gasoline additives.

9. The car now has just over 8000 miles. I can tell the milage is going up a bit, from 52 m.p.g. to 55 m.p.g. (actual, 59 m.p.g. indicated on MFD) now, but that could be because the weather is also warming up here in Florida.

10. There are usually other passengers, although one is my 35 pound daughter. Added weight is usually only 160 pounds. Total weight of passengers is then about 300 pounds.

11. Tires are at 40 p.s.i. front, 38 p.s.i. rear. They say the rear ones should be 2 lbs lower than the front. Also, the tires are rotated when they are supposed to be. Tires are also cleaned of any stones on an ongoing basis.

12. The oil is run at the full mark on the dipstick. I think that has been about 3.5 quarts, although the manual says it should be 3.9 quarts after an oil and filter change.

13. Oil is Pennzoil synthetic 5W-30, although I am now thinking of converting to Mobil1 5W-30 or maybe even AMSOIL 5W-30 based on research I've been doing.

14. I've been driving the car for 8 months. I have never been able to do the "pulse and glide" good. Usually I'm using at least a bit of battery energy. Also, contrary to what some say, I use the battery whenever I can. Although it is true that you lose a bit of efficiency going from gasoline energy to battery energy to driving energy, the engine is recharging the batteries for a large percentage of the time when you're going faster than what you can run on batteries alone.

15. Florida, what more can I say about the temperature. Now don't even start talking about wind!

16. Once again, Florida, where the highest point is about 50 feet above sea level.

 

I have a nice little 35 block climb then a drop back down to almost the same altitude as home and all I really know for sure is what you loose climbing up the hill, you never gain back going down the hill. For the most part I just drive it, yes conservatively most of the time but other times I'm sure I could almost push the gas pedal thru the floor boards. Most of the time I speed, over the limit by at least 10% maybe more, use Mobil1 5/30 probably 1/8" over the mark, use a block heater and have a miniscanner to tell when I'll get into S4, a trick I learned on the wife's 2k1 Prius is when you get to your desired speed take your foot completely off the gas pedal for 2 seconds and then slow put pedal back on to maintain speed, the car seems to realise your requesting it to go into stealth, this may or may not actually happen but it seem to help me. My last tank I averaged 48.6 US mpg. in winter, or what we call winter but still around freezing for 2 weeks and the life time is 42.8 US mpg. for almost 2 years of driving. This is with a Classic, 2k3
42-40
solo
mud flaps
Mobil1 5/30
Chevron 87
classic rock or blues

 

Can someone tell me why we don't think the MFD mpg is that accurate? I can see rounding errors, since there aren't that many significant digits, but is there something else I'm missing? Doesn't it measure fuel flow and distance? Seems like it should be able to do those quite well.

 

the point i was trying to make is that you cant accelerate and keep your mpg's at a reasonable leverl. thats why its key to maintain a constant speed. hey if you have a hill, take advantage of the downhill for sure. but coast and speeding up then coasting again will NOT be a good thing. its better to drive slower and more steady. keep in mind that this is the goal and like any mission statement, its only that.

rarely if ever close to achieving. but that is what you want to strive for

 

I'm curious as to where you see the pulse and glide technique fitting in, since that seems to be a whole lot like what you're saying will "NOT be a good thing". I'm way too new at this to have really drawn any conclusions yet, but I'd like to know what others think.

 

My average mileage is between 56 and 60 MPG. My current tank is at 60.1 MPG at 556 miles. My best tank ever was 818 miles at 65.1 MPG.

1. How fast do you accelerate to get to the speed limit? "baby it, or do you get on with it?"
When possible I accelerate without assistance from the battery. I feel that this is the engine rpm that the ecu determines to be the most efficient.

2. Do you have an EV switch and do you use it, and if so how?
no

3. How far are your commutes?
30 miles

4. At what speeds to you typically travel.....ie: over 60 or do you hang out and with flirt with grandma on the freeway?
speed limit

5. What is your terrain like?
rolling hills

6. Are your commutes rural or city?
1/2 rural 1/2 city

7. What Brand of Gas do you use? "and any special octane?"
chevron, they use a good detergent to avoid buildup of varnish. Cheap gas doesn't keep your engine clean.

8. Any modifications we need to know about?...like what type of gasoline additive or nitro do you use?
no

9. Is your car broke in?.. how many miles are on it?
yes 46,000 miles

10. Do you typically drive alone, or are thier others in the car with you?
typically alone

11. What tire psi pressure do you run?
42/40

12. Do you run your oil at the full mark or 1/4 inch below?
I use 3 quarts. That puts me right in the middle of the range.

13. Do you use synthetic oil or other than typical 5W/30? "and what brand"
Mobil1

14. How long or how many years have you been working on your technique?
learned it in the first few weeks. I minimize energy flow to and from the battery to reduce conversion losses and use the engine in it's most efficient range. I coast in N often(like a lot of the time) been doing it for 46k with no ill effect or reason to doubt it's safety. Probably my single greatest beneficial strategy.

15. Weather temp is very important, but not something we can alter or change.. feel free to add that if you want for good to know info.

16. Whats your approx Elevation associated with your driving stats?
1000 feet ASL

 

Ok, I am going to keep this short and sweet.
after I get to the speed I want to be at, usually 10 MPH over the speed limit, I look at the MFD and let off on the gas so the MPG bar is at the MPG number that I expect to get. If your expectation is realistic you will maintain your speed and get good gas milage. In warm weather I expect 52-55 MPG so that is where I set the MPG bar by adjusting the gas pedal and holding it there. In cold weather I expect to get about 45-48 so that is where I keep it.
If your expectation is to high you wil find yourself slowly loosing speed. If your estimate is to low you will find that your speed slowly increases.
Of course when you have to go up a incline or hill this all goes out the window.

If you have a lead foot or find it difficult to keep the gas pedal in position set the cruse control. It is not as good, but it's better than nothing.

Hope this helps
Good luck

 

Distance is the key. I drive 64 miles to work, 64 home.

When I start out, I'm in that 25-35mpg range over about the first 15 miles.

My first 12 miles of the day is stoplight to stoplight, the rest is tollway.

After about 15 miles, the mpg slowly creeps up the entire rest of the drive. If I were done after 35 miles, my averages would be 45mpg at best.

By the time I pull into work at mile marker 64, I'm typically at 52 to 55 mpg average (on the mfd).

My best 64 mile leg thus far was 58.2 on the trip home. (mfd).

I'm only 1800 miles (2 weeks) into owning the car, only 4 fill ups.

One tank was 50.2mpg actual, another was 53.1 actual at the pump. Those were "as expected" because they were primarily achieved during commuting legs.

My 2 tanks under 50 were in the 46mpg range (actual) and dipped because of weekend driving around town. This is one of my great mysteries.. if I can fairly easily get 50-55 on the road as the epa suggests, how come I can come no where near the 60 in town? I'm still trying thing to figure out how to drive in town to get high mileage. I also drove a large part of one of those tanks on the weekend traveling into a 40+ mph wind where I knew I was killing the actual mpg for this tank. I imagine this is on order of driving the car 110mph on a still day.

How I get 50+ actual when on the tollway: First of all, since I already have 12 miles of dogged 40 mpg light-to-light behind me when I get on the tollway, I imagine I must be getting a solid 55mpg for the 53 miles of tollway on the way to-from work. My best mileage comes from finding a semi going about 60 mph (+ or - a few). Stay back 4 or 5 car lenghts so if he stops, you can easily stop. Aka, I'm not getting bumper to bumper with a semi and drafting him for 50 miles to get good mpg's. That would be dangerous. With this, you'll get strings of cars coming around you because traffic flow is probably +10. When I see this, I blame the semi.. so when I'm the one car behind the semi, I still think the people pin it on him, and not me.. I'm just the dolt that got stuck behind the truck and can't get out..

I'm not yet sure if that truck is breaking the wind for me even at several car lenghts back or not. Maybe it's the consistancy of his speed which allows me to consistantly roll right along at a nice pace and get high mpg.

No EV switch (still debating)
BP or sams club gas 87 octane
42 front, 40 rear psi
just me in the car
I'm a rookie still, only just under 1800 miles on the car, I got it 2/15

I'm just getting into letting the mfd run for the whole tank. I've been resetting before I leave home or leave work to see how my 'leg' would be. Now, I'm going to try a few weeks of letting it run the entire tank to see how that's matching up to my calculated mpg.

 

"Regarding Dave's technique: I agree varying speed is bad, at least when travelling over 42 mph."


Does this mean pulse and glide is only useful under 42MPH?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(windstrings @ Mar 3 2006, 11:10 PM) [snapback]220114[/snapback]</div>

Energy never goes nowhere! With additional instrumentation you might see that the prius is almost never in a totally neutral state. You can pass through it but it is hard, impossible, to maintain it. Both "dead banding" and gliding are misnomers based on what the MFD is showing. The amounts of energy are small and biased towards savings vrs expenditure of energy.

 

If I start hot on a nice day and stay on backroads, I can maintain
over 70 mpg for seemingly arbitrary lengths. Many folks can do that.
I'm hoping to push over 80 on the Tour de Sol "efficiency rally"
course in a couple of weeks under somewhat idealized conditions; see
http://techno-fandom.org/~hobbit/cars/prius-rally-hints.txt
.
But real life creeps back in and robs you of mileage like that --
cold starts, traffic lights, braking harder than regen capability,
cabin heat ... busting all but the extreme hypermilers back to the
50-60 range. Still, I don't understand why the EPA testing, which
also runs [or used to] under idealized conditions, didn't show
better figures for the car. It *is* doable.
.
The main thing about P&G is to run the engine efficiently, or not
at all. Even if it feels like you're accelerating "briskly" at
times -- it's better than letting the engine loaf along at less
than about 15 KW output. See prius-curves.gif in the same place.
.
_H*

 

I mirror Hobbit and Ray Moore, just about to a tee.

Since all my driving is in the city though, I have more opportunity than most to stay below 42 mpg.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(tomdeimos @ Mar 3 2006, 04:33 PM) [snapback]219620[/snapback]</div>

1. How fast do you accelerate to get to the speed limit? "baby it, or do you get on with it?"
As hard as the driving conditions dictate, keep up with the traffic stream.

2. Do you have an EV switch and do you use it, and if so how?
EV switch standard in the UK. I don't generally use it.

3. How far are your commutes?
No commute because we're retired. Round trip to town/nearest grocery shops is about 10 miles.

4. At what speeds to you typically travel.....ie: over 60 or do you hang out and with flirt with grandma on the freeway?
When I'm travelling to a specific destination generally near or at the national speed limits, 60 mph on ordinarry roads & 70 mph on dual carriageways or motorways. Days out in the local hills 40-50 ish.

5. What is your terrain like?
I live by the Lake District and Scottish borders. Terrain is generally hilly with short steep gradients.

6. Are your commutes rural or city?
See Q 3.

7. What Brand of Gas do you use? "and any special octane?"
Ordinally 95 octane, the cheapest on offer. At over £4 a gallon savings, even for the parsimonious Prius, are worthwhile.

8. Any modifications we need to know about?...like what type of gasoline additive or nitro do you use?
No mods although I'm considering fitting cruise control. (see http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/Prius-UK/message/6331 )

9. Is your car broke in?.. how many miles are on it?
2 Years old with 20K miles.

10. Do you typically drive alone, or are thier others in the car with you?
At least 2 people in the car, frequently 4.

11. What tire psi pressure do you run?
Standard tyre pressure as reccomended in the manual.

12. Do you run your oil at the full mark or 1/4 inch below?
At the full mark as reccomended in the manual.

13. Do you use synthetic oil or other than typical 5W/30? "and what brand"
Synthetic 5W/30 well known brands (Shell, Esso etc), whatever is on special offer at service time.

14. How long or how many years have you been working on your technique?
It took a couple of days (ish) the learn to get the best out of the Prius, around the hills & mountains several journey. Like all drivers I'm still learning. Best piece of advice I received was to drive as if you have a raw egg between your foot and the accelerater.

15. Weather temp is very important, but not something we can alter or change.. feel free to add that if you want for good to know info.
Consumption is temperature dependant. Winter (typically +5 to -5C) I average 51 mpg, Summer (typically +10 to + 25C) I average 57-58mpg but can quite easily hit 60-61mph if I'm anal about my driving.

16. Whats your approx Elevation associated with your driving stats?
Live at sea level and spend at least 50 of most journeys at up to 2000 feet (lots of up hill & down dale).