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Hwy Mpg better than City Why?

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Fuel Economy' started by BytesDoc, Feb 5, 2012.

  1. BytesDoc

    BytesDoc Junior Member

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    :confused: Prius advertises better city mpg than highway; however in my 2010 Prius III I consistently get better highway mpg than city. I just two freeway trips this week over 4 hours each. Dashboard mpg showed 55mpg for both trips whereas in city I ususally get only 44 to 48mpg. Wondering why my mpg is reverse and what Toyota indicates should be?
     
  2. V8Cobrakid

    V8Cobrakid Green Handyman

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    that's because down here highways don't really flow like highways.. they flow light fast inner city boulevards.... there's also a lot of slight up and down and cars everywhere breaking drag before you which makes it almost cruising like... our city streets down here are very short light to light and most of the time you use more pedal on the streets than you do on the highway...

    (no conclusion... just my .02)
     
  3. Keiichi

    Keiichi Active Member

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    Also, don't forget conditions in which you are driving will also dictate different MPG. I just looked at the article posted and can attest to that, plus the simple fact that from what I saw on the Fuel Consumption, it varied on the situation of where the system kicks in and how you let it go. Like for instance, within 5 minutes, I was capping 100 mpg for 3 bars because I didn't force the engine to kick over. Note, however, this was city driving. Thing is, if you are gunning the engine from 0 to 30, Eco or not, EV Mode or not, your car will average a lower MPG in City because the engine is doing the acceleration over the Electric engine due to trying to get to the speed you want faster.

    Most Highways will be 'flat' for the most part, allowing for burst acceleration, meaning you pulse your gas to do glide/coasting, which will improve MPG estimates, especially consistent in that area versus city inconsistent bursting.
     
  4. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    city driving is much more variable than highway. i get around 65-70 but it's more suburban than city. fewer lights, plenty of room for pulse and glide, etc. on the highway, i get 55-60 at 55-65 mph.
     
  5. xs650

    xs650 Senior Member

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    The city cycle used for mileage ratings includes about 30 minutes of driving so the engine is warmed up during most of the run. A good share of individuals city driving is short trips so they end up with poor mileage because of the engine warmup.
     
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  6. SageBrush

    SageBrush Senior Member

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    OP: EPA tests with a very defined route, and a very specific kind of driver. Why do you think you match the EPA profile ?

    If you want EPA numbers, drive like them.
    If you want higher highway numbers, slow down
    If you want higher city numbers, learn to coast to red lights and turns
     
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  7. F8L

    F8L Protecting Habitat & AG Lands

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    it takes me at least 2 posts and a few thousand words to say the same thing. Good job. lol
     
  8. SageBrush

    SageBrush Senior Member

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    ^^ Not true Justin. You say more, politely, and in a way people can relate.
     
  9. cycledrum

    cycledrum PSOCSOASP

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    If you start out in the city, I would think the trips tend to be shorter, hence reduced fuel economy.

    I can tell you this ......

    If I take a Prius out on the highway for a good run, like half hour in 60F+ weather, it will indicate over 50 MPGs, but ....

    when I get off the freeway, back into suburban traffic, after it's all warmed up...

    the FE gage climbs higher by a couple. I've almost always seen,..

    after the car is fully warmed up, the city fuel economy is a couple MPGs higher than highway FE.
     
  10. Moody's Prius

    Moody's Prius New Member

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    BytesDoc I am 6 years later but what a great point you have. No one is able to really give you an answer I see. It really cracks me up to see the slow down advice, lol like that is not obvious. I would like to know the answer to your question. I bought a 2012 Toyota Prius III back in December of 2017 and it was a dream UNTIL June 15, when I had to take it in for scheduled service and to buy four new tires. Now I get nowhere near the gas mileage I got in the days b4 June 15th. I complained to the dealership where i had it serviced but all they tell me is they did nothing to affect the gas mileage and a lame excuse saying it was the summer time and the battery gets drained more in the heat (well summer didn't start until june 21st and besides i live in phoenix arizona where the summer starts in March so that excuse did not work with me either)

    B4 the June 15th service i was getting 60 mpg City and 50 mpg Highway / after the June 15th service I am getting 42 mpg City and 48 mpg Highway. Where I used to coast down a hill coming to work and would get 90 mpg, now i coast down the same hill and only get 50 mpg. But the dealership says they did nothing to affect my gas mileage (yeah, right)

    Wish i could get that old gas mileage back
     
  11. Grit

    Grit Senior Member

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    Your rear pads are dragging, get it done properly and you’ll get your mpgs back.
     
  12. The Electric Me

    The Electric Me Go Speed Go!

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    I found that Highway MPG was higher than City MPG when I owned my Prius.
    I never sweated it, or felt anything was wrong. My "combined" or overall MPG was what I watched.

    My personal speculation as to the difference between the EPA and "reality"?
    I always speculated it was how the EPA comes to their ratings..the test itself. The test is NOT a real world test. So I figure it's not accounting for stop and go, warm up, cool downs, maybe even battery charge levels.
    Anyway I also rarely got higher city mpg than the mpg I would get on highway drives, but I never felt it was a problem. The MPG still was amazing.