My thoughts on GenIII vs. GenII

You're fretting over 1/10th of a gallon, which is easily accounted for by the pump click-off time and always averages out over a few tanks.

 

Yes, it does--but only because the experience is a bit different. After enough time behind the wheel you won't even notice the difference.

I was expecting a 10% improvement in FE based on the EPA numbers. I'd be real pissed if the '10 came in below the '06. My Gen3 had a rough start being picked up between snow storms the last week of 2009 and having to run through a long cold winter that the Gen2 missed. The '06 was picked up in June and experienced very mild winters.

All of the MID's are optimistic, I believe by design. Most drivers don't run their own numbers & will believe what the car tells them. Is it really too much to want accurate instrumentation? At least the speedo exceeds UN standards.

 

What the hmmmmm? Crank that height adjust handle down? Maybe you and Justin have really tall sitting heights? did you pivot the double joint arm up on the rearview mirror? It's not the Homelink mirror that hangs lower, right?

6'2" here, 2011 mirror is so not obstructing. No cars or people are blocked. Wow, that 2nd gen with Homelink, i couldn't see squat with that mirror.

3rd gen view here really good. I feel right at home in it.

hang in there, it should grow on you. ...

I left for a 3 1/2 mile boulevard trip, cold start with 51.3 mpg on gage, arrived with about 50.1, car sat for 1 hour, returned home with 51.1 gage. I only have 5 to 6% error, so that's really close to 49 MPG. Getting that mpg on a pretty short trip is quite good. Better than 2nd gen in winter.

 

Surely I was never an owner, it was just in my garage ....

Wow was I glad to see that car go ... far away. I talked to the buyer a couple weeks ago and she loves it ... 5'3" tall, good fit for her.

3rd gen ... it's a keeper !! :rockon:

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About the CONS gage, I'd prefer something more accurate than 5 to 6% error. All those times I rented the 3rd gens, thought the gage was accurate, Got some inflated numbers on refill.

 

Justin, you had a lot of mods on your 2nd gen and you had it for a long time. Once you get some mods in on your 3rd gen, it should come around.

I've run nothing more than 38/36 in stock tires (Assurance?). I had some longer trips last tank, nothing really far, two 40 miles one way, local freeways, 25 one way RT to airport, etc ... more than a few 1 milers and the 3 milers to gym. Filled up with 54.4 gage and 51.x calc'd.

Have you tuned into the HSI gage yet? That's a good one. Get up to speed, let off gas and go light with right foot.

we gotta get you well over 50 MPGs!

 

Embrace Change!!

i had the same feeling on my Gen 3 as well, but i knew i would like it (sun roof!!) and it did happen. now it took a while but i really saw it about once every 10 days or so before the Leaf when we traded cars (i always get the gas) and i got to the point where i dreaded it so much that i started coordinating meetups at Costco to fill both Priuses at the same time.

unfortunately her commute was much longer than mine so still had to drive the 06 at least once a month or so.

 

I'm very curious to see how you like them.

 

I've only heard a few things about these tires. Hope the difference in performance adds to you MPGs. We will be waiting for a full report! Are you installing OEM size?

Have been reading the thread... very interesting. We just made the leap from an '05 to an '11 on Feb 28. A friend of mine bought a 3rd Gen, and I had the chance to drive it a couple of times. The first was a short drive in 2010... but I noticed immediately the better weighted steering, the very nice ride compared to our '05, and of course the drivers cubicle.

The second time I got to drive his car was on the way back from a New Hampshire ski trip in late Feb of 2011, about a 3.5-4 hour drive. He was not achieving more than 44-45 MPG and he wanted to see if I could get better results having driven a Prius for a few years.

It took me a few miles to get the feel of the car, but once I did, I was able to dial into it pretty nicely. He only had a few thousand miles on it, around 3500 to 4500. There were only two of us in the car plus normal ski gear. I didn't reset the indicated average, so it started from 45 MPG. We did take a more circuitous route, adding some hilly terrain to balance the small drop from 1000 feet elevation to 700 at my house.

A long drive story made short... I kept close to speed limits and used as much gliding and regen braking as I could during the trip. At one point, about 3/4s of the way back I had the average up a little over 53 MPG and by the time I arrived at my house it was a tick over 51.

That was the first time that his car had reached and actually stayed in the 50 and above MPG range. It was a cloudy and mild late afternoon into evening drive with temperatures in the lower to mid 30s. His tire pressure were in the upper 30s. I recommended 40 front and 38 rear.

I did my best to impart how the driving technique I was using worked, and think that I succeeded some. He sent a text telling he ended up with an indicated 54 MPG. The drive from my home to his takes about 45 minutes and there's nearly a total elevation drop of 600 feet... although it's still up and down on several sections.

He tracks his MPG each fill-up and has found a little less than a 3% difference.

I loved the way his 3rd Gen drove. Way better than my '05. The interior driver's cockpit felt well designed, and driver oriented. How anyone can like the 2nd Gen interior over the 3rd is beyond me. I have stated before that I always felt that when I got into our '05, it was more like getting on a chair and pulling up to a desk that just happened to have a steering wheel attached. To each, his own I guess. The flying console is brilliant. I like the controls at easy logical reach and wrapped around the driver.

Ditto our new '11, so far so good! We drove our '05 for almost 6 years and it was a great car, except for rear tire degradation we could not solve during it's lifetime. In any case, we were pretty used to it. The change to the 3rd Gen has been very positive.

 

Not even close. I love new tires so I never care if I get 80k miles on any tire. New stuff comes out that I want to try & as long as the tire works for me in what I want it to do I'm fine. For the Prius, mpg is the top desire, for my MR2 it's maximum dry grip.