Nor Cal Prius owners w/>50 mpg lifetime, mostly highway commute w/little opportunity to pulse drive,

When I started, 2004, my commute met your criteria at least 42 tanks out of 60, I ended the year with 16,170 miles. Basically commutes to Elk Grove/Sacramento, and my average speed is usually 73 mph.

For those tanks only I averaged 42.7 mph. (EDIT: but admittedly, I sometimes didn't fill up the tank from these trips until the next day, but I doubt that would add another 7 mpg, eh?)

But it ain't happening now that I'm pretty much SF/Daly City 90% of the time if not more and 5-7 mile round trips.

b

 

I bought my 2005 and averaged 42-45 MPG no matter what I did and the commute is from Hayward to Walnut Creek with an average speed of 70-75. Later, with 15,000 on the odo and running sythetic oil, I now am reaching averages of about 48-50 MPG.

Give it some time to loosen up. I think it takes about 15,000 miles to get optimum economy. Run synthetic in the motor after 15,000 miles on dyno oil and make sure your tire pressures are 40 rear 42 front. That helps too.
Good luck,
-Paul R. Haller-

 

I go Stockton to Livermore every day (ALTAMONT PASS).
I'm about 50mpg lifetime. 50 of 88 miles is on freeways at 75mph. 30 miles on 2 lane road at 55-60mph and 5 miles in town driving.
I have Bridgestone RE950 tires that dropped my average from 52-53 to 49-50mpg.
2004 now with 85k miles.

 

I commuted from Pleasanton to San Jose in a 2005 Prius. I did 62-65mph on the freeway and averaged 52-55 mpg. My best tank was 57.3 mpg. I usually slow to 55-60 mph by the time I'm at the top of the big hill in Sunol on 680N because I know gravity will speed me up to around 80 mph by the time I'm down the other side.

My new commute from Pleasanton to Mountain View has been as good as 58 mpg. This was with my tires inflated to 40 psi. After my last oil change at 35,000 miles, my mileage has gone down to about 52 mpg. I attribute this to having 35 psi in all four tires. I will bump it back up to 38 psi when I get the chance, but higher pressures mean a more jarring ride and more rattles over our broken roads in the Bay Area.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Recovering Gas Guzzler @ Jun 15 2006, 10:26 AM) [snapback]271643[/snapback]</div>

I wanted to clarify that my new commute has been as good as 58, but it is usually around 55-56. I bet I could get 53 or 54 mpg on 35 psi, but someone else drove my car for a few hundred miles this tank. I think inflating your tires to 40 psi is worth about 3 miles per gallon.

 

I commute between Livermore and Walnut Creek, 66 miles round trip, taking 580, 680 and Ygnacio Valley Road. I usually stay in the slow lane (55-65mph, depending on traffic) and use pulse and glide.
When a tank is primarily commute driving, I can get over 60mpg, my best tank being 62.5mpg.
But most of the time I run errands in the evening and weekends, and average about 55 to 58mpg.
This is with the stock Integrity tires at 35/33psi.

My lowest tank was 46mpg. This was two years ago on a vacation to Colorado with two passengers, cargo area loaded with luggage, and always going the speed limit (up to 75mph). I drove the same trip this year but kept mostly around 65mph. This time my lowest tank was 52mpg.

At 51,000 miles, I just replaced the Integritys with Michelin HydroEdge tires. So far they're a little noisier, but I need more miles on them to tell how they affect my mpg.
- Ed

 

Ok, don't have a lifetime average, but I do average 51-54mpg each tank. Commute is from Newark to Mt. View 40% back roads, 60% freeway. Back roads avg. speed is about 45, 5 minutes of bumper to bumper getting on 880 south, then 70mph to Mt. View in the carpool lane, home is the reverse, except using 101 N to the dumbarton bridge, first 15 minutes avg. 30-50mph, then 5 minutes of 65mph, then last 10 minutes at 35-45mph.

Round trip commute is aprox. 40 miles/day, 200 miles/week, and for commuting only, avg. less than 3.5/gal per week. Weekends usually to to the coast, over the hills, avg. drops to about 51, usually driving 5mph over the speed limit.