First "milestone" in new Prius!

Something very funnny.... That was the exact MPG I got on my dealer tank, picked up 2 weeks ago today

 

i enjoy driving because of my prius, i used to hate driving too!

46.1 is good for a first tank on hilly terrain. keep it up!

 

Use cruise control as much as possible. I've never had this in a car before so I didn't try it for some months but then I tried it and now think it greatly improves my mpg. OK, I do set it lower than the general traffic flow. For example there is a 3-lane road near here where heavy traffic is always running at about 70-80MPH or more and in previous cars I used to keep up with this but in the Prius I set cruise control for 60 and I think this improves mpg considerably.

 

A guy at work remarked tat my car was "crazy" because it doesn't have a key and gets about 3x the mileage of his hemi pickup.

 

46.1 according to the car....

What did it get according to the fillup?

I drove pretty well the same over the first 2 tanks. The one off the dealer tank was closer to actual of 45mpg while my daily commute readings were closer to 50-53.

My second tank was 50.32 according to the fillup while seeing mostly 51-54 on the car each day.

I've been punching the reset on the consumption screen each time I leave home, or leave work. After 64.4 miles, I am at 51.0 to 55.5(highest), but somewhere in that range pretty much each time. One of these times I guess I need to push reset on that right after I fill up and wait until it's fill up time again to check a whole tank against the actual fill up mpg.

Anyhow, I am wondering how your descrepancy came out with your fill up, and what the measured mpg was in relation to your consuption screen readout.

 

Where are you at ? as it been cold where you live ?

 

Well congrat on the car.

we just took delivery on an 06 and getting 45-46 mpg but temps here range 20-40's

Last time we took delivery on a prius was summer 04 and we got 48-50

 

For next time, please remember the correct response:

"I don't GET to plug it in. I still have to drive to the gas station."

I'm glad your first fillup went better than mine! I didn't think I'd get a full cup of gas in mine! Took FOREVER to put the six gallons in that it needed. One click at a time.. Grr. I hope next time will go better. But that won't be for another month or so.

 

Hi and Congrats!

You and your family have made a very wise choice. I am sure that you will only love the car more and more the longer you have it.

As for your friends questions, Torque, in a nutshell, is the "power" of the engine. I don't unfortunately have the exact numbers, but what it all boils down to with or without the numbers is the fact that the motor is plenty strong. In fact, I just learned yesterday that our cars will beat ANY other gasoline only vehicle in by about 1 full second on 0 - 60 acceleration. That is plenty fast and really what she is trying to figure out is "how fast is it able to go".

As for the cars that she routinely sees creeping up the hills, those drivers are indeed trying to maximize thier mileage (but the car can out run almost anything I have encountered going up hill if you want it to.)

The chassis is the body of the car and it is very solid and extremely safe. My guess is that the sounds she was hearing may well have had alot to do with what you were carrying and whether or not your cargo was properly secured.

By the way, most of the folks 'round these parts tend to fill their tires to 42/40 for max fuel economy. It will make the ride potentially a bit "rougher" but not enough to notice really, and the FE can be worth it.

Just for the fun of it you might want to start a car diary. I have had my car for 1yr 22 days and have 31,430 miles on it (I drive ALOT) and it has been really fun for me to be able to see in a real and very concrete way what my driving has cost and what I have been able to save while still doing all this driving. Incidentally, for me it boiled down to 46mpg lifetime average, around 600 gallons of gas used and around $2,000 SAVED versus what I would have spent on fuel alone in my previous vehicle.

I record when I have purchased fuel, what my mileage on the ODO was, what the car says my MPG for that tank is, what the actual amount of fuel purchased (0.000), how much it was per gallon and what I actually spent, and how many miles were driven from fill-up to fill-up. I also record anthing that might have potentially significantly impacted mileage, i.e. extreme temperatures (I spent the summer driving back and forth to Palm Springs and most of the time it was in excess of 115 to 120 degrees). I also note oil changes.

Oh, and you do know that you can close your vents completely if you desire. And, did you know that there are vents beneath both of your front seats that deliver heat, air or ac to your back passengers? Just make sure not to put things under the seats that will block the vents for maximum effectiveness.

You also know about the "secret" drawer/cubbies right? There is one drawer right at the front of your center console near the floor and another when you lift your hatch, move your carpet mat and look at the triangular (sort of) shaped panel to the front left of the hatch. Tspot is geat for storing window wipes, microfiber cloths or just about whatever you can make fit. Oh, and your back hatch cover fits neatly beneath the back hatch for storage.

You might want to explore joining the San Diego Prius Club (a really great group of people). There is also an Orange County Prius Club (another super group). You can join either or both and learn loads from these people.

Again, congrats on your new addition. By the way, details please, like pkg, color, dealer experience, etc..

Take care and have a super day,

Tisza

 

I can usually guess the meaning of US usages - but what's a "surface street"? Is it what we call a back street, i.e. a street not used much?

Outside the USA "Breaking-in" a car means forcefully opening it (or breaking a window) usually to steal the contents. The phrase "running-in" is the British version for the first few miles of a car. Burglars break in to houses, etc too.

 

How funny! Yes, our burglers break in to houses, too. But we "break in" cars, shoes, and new saddles on our horses here in the great southwest.

What's funnier -- we park on driveways and we drive on parkways! :lol:

 

Uh... :blink: Not even close! Don't go racing anyone "title for title" in your Prius.

The '04-06 Prius can go from 0 to 60 mph in a little over 10 seconds. That's on par with most 4 cylinder cars, including the Toyota Camry. But don't try racing a 6- or 8-cylinder car.

My other car is an Audi A8 sedan and it will suck the paint right off the doors of my Prius in a race. While getting about 14 mpg in town! :lol:

 

Break-in: Come to think of it, it does apply to shoes, etc in the UK, but not usually to cars. The dictionary says,
1. to wear until comfortable
2. to tame or discipline an animal, especially a horse
and in Austra & NZ "to bring land into cultivation"..


I had to look up "parkway" in the dictionary: it means (in the US) "an open landscaped highway" and (in the UK) "a railway station with extensive parking facilties."
I've never heard the word used for either of these.

 

No problems filling up our 06 either. QuickSilver has had 3 fillups so far without incident. We've been short-tanking it, filling up when it reaches 1/2 tank because gas is way less expensive off island.

You bring up an interesting point. I think there is a nice social side to this car that I hadn't anticipated. Yesterday, I went out for a ride after changing the oil. We had a lot of extra dahlia bulbs, so I went around delivering them to friends. With a nice day and a good CD cranking away, it was very pleasant and I got to see friends I haven't seen in almost a year. I find myself just wanting to get out of the house and go for a drive. Haven't done that in quite awhile.