Newbie in northern Wisconsin

Okay, after lurking for a week I figure I should introduce myself. My wife and I became the proud owners of a black 2011 Prius 3 with 34,000 miles.

We needed a fuel efficient vehicle, since my wife is traveling 167 miles, 4 days a week for college, and as much as we loved our 2003 Honda CRV, the gas mileage wasn't the best (26 - 27 mpg). Needless to say we immediately fell in love with the Prius, not just because of it's efficiency, but because of it's looks and handling too.

I have been anxiously awaiting the chance to fill the tank up to see what kind of mileage we get and how the computer vs calculated mileage compares. With our first tank of gas (404 miles) the computer showed 45.3 mpg and I calculated 42.3 mpg (-6.6%). I wish the computer was a little more accurate, but the mileage isn't too bad considering the recent cold temps (12 F), the hills, windy days and driving it like a normal car.

I have already learned a lot from this forum, just in the past week, and I look forward to learning the ins and outs of getting the most out of this car.

Thanks,
Mike

 

Thank you. The car came with Uniroyal Tigerpaws that had only 30 psi. I didn't catch that until half way through the tank. After searching this forum I inflated the fronts to 44 and the rears to 42 psi and seen the calculated mileage go up to 45.5 mpg so far, if the % difference holds true.

When the Tigerpaws are shot I want to get a set of the LRR tires. We are, unfortunately, going to be putting on 40 to 45K miles this year, so we may be getting those tires pretty soon.

This weekend we are headed down to northern Indiana and will be putting on 1,300 miles. A perfect opportunity to learn how to drive the car and see exactly what we can make it do.

 

It is a nice color. When I get a chance to wash it I'll have to take some pics and post them. All I have, for now, is one of the dealer photos.

One thing I want to do, when it gets warmer, is give it a real good polish and wax. I always meant to do it to our CRV, which was black also, but never did. The one drawback of black is that it tends to really show the scuffs and scratches. I'd like to get the Prius protected before it gets too many scuffs.