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How many miles is a "tank"?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Fuel Economy' started by AndyMartin826, Oct 18, 2007.

  1. AndyMartin826

    AndyMartin826 New Member

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    Just a light-hearted perception question - I'm on an awesome tank right now, and want to tell the world of my (relative) accomplishment. I don't want to push the miles higher and higher to the point of risking going dry, but I also don't want to fill up when I'm at 6 pips left on the gauge (even though I'm almost at 300 miles). If I fill up now and say I've gotten my first 60mpg tank, but there's only 300 miles on the tank, the community probably wouldn't count that as a "tank" since I haven't even gone through half my fuel, right? So, would you guys say a "tank" would be filling up at 2 or 3 pips left on the gauge? Every day I battle keeping it above 60mpg (really hard when my wife takes it out and cranks the AC...).

    Oh, and my block heater is on the way - MetroTPN got them back in stock.
     
    #1 AndyMartin826, Oct 18, 2007
  2. Bob64

    Bob64 Sapphire of the Blue Sky

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    At my current lifetime average, I can get about 550 miles on a tank... Haven't decided to push it when it drops down to one pip... Never experienced it blinking though. If I really pushed it, I estimate about 600 miles on a tank...


    It really depends on how efficient you use your gas.
     
    #2 Bob64, Oct 18, 2007
  3. qbee42

    qbee42 My other car is a boat

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    I think you can count it as a tank if you refill at two pips or less - just my opinion.

    Tom
     
    #3 qbee42, Oct 18, 2007
  4. efusco

    efusco Moderator Emeritus
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    I won't fill up until I'm down to at least 1 pip....I'm at 575 miles with one pip now and will wait until it starts flashing (CAN-View says the tank level is at 17% so I'm sure I'm ok).

    You can do what you want, but I think part of claiming a 'best tank' is that you run it the entire way to at least 1 pip...It's pretty easy to have a few good days...heck, this tank I was near 75mpg until around the 300 mile mark, then I had some short trips, the weather cooled, etc...it's part of the challenge, dealing with the adversity and still seeing how high you can finish. I'm at 72.4 now, but it's been a battle...rainy last night, temps down to the low 50s, etc.
     
    #4 efusco, Oct 18, 2007
  5. nerfer

    nerfer A young senior member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(AZTriGuy @ Oct 18 2007, 12:50 PM) [snapback]527372[/snapback]</div>
    I would think 3 pips is fine, that's a quarter tank essentially, which is what my wife always uses as the minimum level to keep. I usually put in 7 or 8 gallons, plus change, at a time. OTOH, you could try for a nice even number of miles in a tank. I remember my first and (so far) only 500 mile tank, I pulled off the highway at 499 miles, so I had to drive a half-mile past the gas station and back again just so I could claim a 500-mile tank. My wife thought that was so geeky.
     
    #5 nerfer, Oct 18, 2007
  6. Prius 07

    Prius 07 Member

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    Manual says refill when the tank is down to a 1/4 full. Some people like the challenge of how far they can go on a tank and sometimes run out of gas as a result.

    Personally if I see a good tank I always want to know the one before and the one after (especially manually calculated MPG). Yes it is true that the more mileage on a single tank the more the MPG number is valued. I usually have a weekly cycle of trips to work and weekend getaway and can do it all on one tank and fill up at the same station on the same weekday. This gives my an ideal tank to tank comparison. With more in between shopping trips my weekly mileage varies, but I don't mind refilling at 3 pips seldom do I go down to 1 and only do that if I'm in town with a gas station always close by on my way.

    Gabe
     
    #6 Prius 07, Oct 18, 2007
  7. AndyMartin826

    AndyMartin826 New Member

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    I probably should have titled the post "How many pips is a "tank"?" rather than miles. Last week was awesome, I was able to keep it up around 63mpg. Then my wife drove :) . Actually, she drove my son to a doctor's appt in downtown Phoenix, so highway there and back, of course it was rush-hour back so a LOT of stop'n'go traffic with the AC going pretty good. It was 57 when she gave it back to me, and I've gotten it back up to 59 with almost 300 miles, 6 pips still showing. My first instinct was, "As soon as I get this back over 60mpg, I'm filling up so I can claim my first 60mpg tank", but it seemed too early to fill up. I'll wait until next week then when I hit 2 pips to fill 'er up. I can't wait to see how the EBH helps when I get it. I feel weird living in Arizona and buying a block heater :)
     
    #7 AndyMartin826, Oct 18, 2007
  8. likesmpg

    likesmpg Junior Member

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    I usually go down to one PIP, the blinking makes me nervous. I have only had one 600+ mi. tank so far, but a lot in the high 500's. I know what you mean about the EBH in AZ... I felt the same using mine over the summer here in Southern CA. In my experience I saw ~2-3mpg increase/tank. Good luck on the 60+mpg 'tank'!
     
    #8 likesmpg, Oct 18, 2007
  9. ken1784

    ken1784 SuperMID designer

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(efusco @ Oct 19 2007, 04:01 AM) [snapback]527406[/snapback]</div>
    Hi Evan,

    Please be very careful about the rough percent readings from CAN.
    On Japanese NHW-20 Prius, we observe these least numbers are only 7% and 4%.
    There are no 6 or 5% reading and it still shows 4% when we ran out of gas. :angry:

    Ken@Japan
     
    #9 ken1784, Oct 19, 2007
  10. efusco

    efusco Moderator Emeritus
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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ken1784 @ Oct 19 2007, 04:02 AM) [snapback]527658[/snapback]</div>
    Thanks Ken, I don't plan to let it get below 10%...I don't like being stuck on the side of the road quite that much!
     
    #10 efusco, Oct 19, 2007
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