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New Mexico = ~50 mpg .. California = ~43 mpg .. Why?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by Ken Cooper, Jul 4, 2004.

  1. Ken Cooper

    Ken Cooper New Member

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    Don't know why the big differences in mileage.

    . Was it the gas (which, by the way, costs 75 cents more per gallon in California)? Do all those extra additives have a negative effect on mileage?

    . Was it the fact that there are more abrubt variations in elevation when driving around in California?

    . Was it the the fact that it's virtually impossible to maintain a constant speed on the freeways in California?

    Anyhow, I found a marked mpg difference between driving in New Mexico as opposed to driving in California. Haven't figured out why.

    Do you folks who drive in the Southern California area find that your mileage is closer to the low 40s rather than the high 40s or low 50s?

    The weather was fine everywhere so that wasn't a factor. There was no difference in driving style, car weight, or anything else that comes to mind. The way I see it, I shouldn't have experienced a mileage difference of between 6 and 8 mpg.

    Comments anyone?
     
    #1 Ken Cooper, Jul 4, 2004
  2. JJay

    JJay New Member

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    A few weeks ago we drove 300 miles in our Prius to pick up a Prius for my Dad.

    On the way there we had strong headwinds and got only 40MPG. On the way back the winds died down and we were back to 50MPG.

    Strong headwinds at freeway speeds seem to make that kind of difference.
     
    #2 JJay, Jul 4, 2004
  3. peart75

    peart75 New Member

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    I would also suggest that san diego has more hills than NM

    -drew
     
    #3 peart75, Jul 5, 2004
  4. TucsonPrius

    TucsonPrius Member

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    I'm just back from NM and I can say I saw the exact same thing. My trip to San Diego (~4weeks ago) the milage about 41 mpg, trip to NM milage 50mpg. In both cases, mostly highway driving (cruise set a 75), similar change in elevation (San Diego trip 0-4400ft, NM trip 2500-7000ft)

    Thanks,
    Shawn
     
    #4 TucsonPrius, Jul 5, 2004
  5. amped

    amped Senior Member

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    Sea level vs. ~4,000' elevation difference? The normally aspirated ICE loses about 3½% power per thousand feet elevation gain. ICE power = fuel burn, so that could be a contributing factor.
     
    #5 amped, Jul 5, 2004
  6. Ken Cooper

    Ken Cooper New Member

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    By the way, did I mention that I had the my 5,000 mile maintenance along with, and maybe more importantly, the CPU recall work done the day before the trip?

    By the way, just as a matter of interest, I love this cruise control. For every tap up or down on the lever, the car's speed increases or decreases exactly one mile per hour.
     
    #6 Ken Cooper, Jul 5, 2004
  7. DonDNH

    DonDNH Senior Member

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    As suggested by other threads, have you checked your oil level?

    Could it have been overfilled?
     
    #7 DonDNH, Jul 6, 2004
  8. bruceha_2000

    bruceha_2000 Senior Member

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    Maybe it's the effect of the Jet Stream which blows from the west ;-)
     
    #8 bruceha_2000, Jul 6, 2004
  9. DaveinOlyWA

    DaveinOlyWA 3rd Time was Solariffic!!

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    California is one of a hand full of areas that requires a different mix of gasoline because of polution mandates.
    in fact there are 41 different formulas for the country. counting winter mix that makes 82 different versions of gasoline.

    because the Prius contributes little to the polution levels there is no difference between a Prius bought in Ca or any other state. that is not true for nearly every other kind of car. A car sold in CA has much more smog emmission controls on it than the identical car sold in another state. These usually belt driven pumps and additional values that restrict air flow through the motor all contribute to lower efficiency and corresponding drop in mpg for all vehicles in CA.

    to me i thought it was always ironic that CA with its polution problem uses a method that reduced gas mileage in order to polute less. maybe we have less polution but where does the gas go then?
     
    #9 DaveinOlyWA, Jul 7, 2004
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