1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

Placebo Effect? V-Power "Nitro" After 113 Miles

Discussion in 'Gen 4 Prius Main Forum' started by Starship16, Jul 13, 2018.

Page 5 of 8
  1. Starship16

    Starship16 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jun 8, 2018
    1,348
    1,453
    0
    Location:
    Beach Christmas
    Vehicle:
    2016 Prius
    Model:
    ----USA----
    Thanks. I haven't over-filled since last year, and no more overflows.
    And this latest little oddity with the gas guage is now over. It is moving down normally.
     
    #81 Starship16, Jul 15, 2018
    alanclarkeau likes this.
  2. kithmo

    kithmo Couch Potato

    Joined:
    Apr 25, 2010
    2,404
    2,773
    47
    Location:
    South Yorkshire, UK
    Vehicle:
    2016 Prius
    A mute point now his gauge has started to move, but he didn't say his mpg calculations were off, just his fuel gauge.
     
    #82 kithmo, Jul 16, 2018
    alanclarkeau likes this.
  3. Starship16

    Starship16 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jun 8, 2018
    1,348
    1,453
    0
    Location:
    Beach Christmas
    Vehicle:
    2016 Prius
    Model:
    ----USA----
    69383396-13AA-42C8-9FE7-F88D7EEB7D5F.jpeg

    The first 900 mile tank? :D

    I just hit 300 miles. Driving normally. Lots of city stop & go, and a nice stretch of Pacific Coast Highway doing 55 mph. The gauge would usually be at the 1/2 mark after 300 miles.....

    The ICE is running smooth and quiet. I had an oil change a couple months ago, it just might be that the Pennzoil Ultra Platinum is also helping to reduce engine noise a bit.

    Remember, I didn't buy Premium to test the MPG results. I am just curious to see how Shell V-Power Premium might affect engine response, noise level, and smoothness. Have a good day, mate!
     
    #83 Starship16, Jul 16, 2018
    Last edited: Jul 16, 2018
  4. alanclarkeau

    alanclarkeau Senior Member

    Joined:
    Feb 24, 2016
    7,041
    7,580
    0
    Location:
    near Brisbane, Australia
    Vehicle:
    2016 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    What is your odometer reading?
     
    #84 alanclarkeau, Jul 16, 2018
  5. alanclarkeau

    alanclarkeau Senior Member

    Joined:
    Feb 24, 2016
    7,041
    7,580
    0
    Location:
    near Brisbane, Australia
    Vehicle:
    2016 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    I wouldn't test it - if it's got a glitch, you'll end up on the side of the road with a gauge showing ½, but no petrol for the engine to drink. And possibly big bills for a pump/filter failure. Fill up and see if it goes normally next time. 900 is impossible.
     
    #85 alanclarkeau, Jul 16, 2018
    Starship16 likes this.
  6. Starship16

    Starship16 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jun 8, 2018
    1,348
    1,453
    0
    Location:
    Beach Christmas
    Vehicle:
    2016 Prius
    Model:
    ----USA----
    IMG_0931.jpg IMG_0932.jpg

    I'm joking about the 900 mile tank. Did you mean the main odometer? Here is the main odometer, and the distance-to-empty. I will be lucky to get 600 miles total, from Trip A. (The Trip A mileage photo is posted above: 301 miles.)

    If there is a glitch, then hopefully the next tank fill-up will be normal and show the true mpg & mileage. In the meantime... I am enjoying the smooth V-Power Nitro. ;)
     
    #86 Starship16, Jul 16, 2018
    Last edited: Jul 16, 2018
    alanclarkeau likes this.
  7. Starship16

    Starship16 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jun 8, 2018
    1,348
    1,453
    0
    Location:
    Beach Christmas
    Vehicle:
    2016 Prius
    Model:
    ----USA----
    IMG_0938.jpg

    Not even down to 1/2 yet. The tank that never ends... And still driving like Mad Max. :cool:
     
    #87 Starship16, Jul 17, 2018
  8. kithmo

    kithmo Couch Potato

    Joined:
    Apr 25, 2010
    2,404
    2,773
    47
    Location:
    South Yorkshire, UK
    Vehicle:
    2016 Prius
    If the gauge was proportional, that would be looking like a 1000 mile tank :cool:
     
    #88 kithmo, Jul 17, 2018
    Starship16 and alanclarkeau like this.
  9. alanclarkeau

    alanclarkeau Senior Member

    Joined:
    Feb 24, 2016
    7,041
    7,580
    0
    Location:
    near Brisbane, Australia
    Vehicle:
    2016 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    I'd be filling up ASAP (particularly if you're really driving like MadMax) - something isn't computing properly here.
     
    #89 alanclarkeau, Jul 17, 2018
    Starship16 likes this.
  10. Starship16

    Starship16 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jun 8, 2018
    1,348
    1,453
    0
    Location:
    Beach Christmas
    Vehicle:
    2016 Prius
    Model:
    ----USA----
    I'm too curious now, Alan. This is all new for me. I should hit 500 miles tomorrow. I'm going to ride this horse 'till the end. Distance-to-empty is 364 last time I looked. I will enjoy this "glitch" while it lasts. :ROFLMAO:
     
    #90 Starship16, Jul 17, 2018
    HPrimeAdvanced likes this.
  11. alanclarkeau

    alanclarkeau Senior Member

    Joined:
    Feb 24, 2016
    7,041
    7,580
    0
    Location:
    near Brisbane, Australia
    Vehicle:
    2016 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Trouble is, if you run out, you could be walking - and paying for repairs.
     
    #91 alanclarkeau, Jul 17, 2018
    Starship16 likes this.
  12. Starship16

    Starship16 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jun 8, 2018
    1,348
    1,453
    0
    Location:
    Beach Christmas
    Vehicle:
    2016 Prius
    Model:
    ----USA----
    Understood. I'm not sure what to believe anymore. Can the gas guage even be trusted?

    I replied to a thread you started last year. My DTE number varies quite a bit after a refill. And my trip-A mpg number can be as much as 7 mpg less than what the display says. (more likely 3 or 4 less.) Error on the side of caution, I usually never let the gas tank go below 1/4 remaining.
     
    #92 Starship16, Jul 18, 2018
    Raytheeagle likes this.
  13. The Professor

    The Professor Senior Member

    Joined:
    Apr 5, 2018
    598
    809
    0
    Location:
    UK
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius
    Model:
    Excel
    Rather than running until empty, which may require you to get rescued and an expensive repair bill, just fill the tank up again until it stops. Make a note of how much fuel was required to fill the tank. Subtract that from the tank capacity, and you'll safely know how much fuel you had remaining in your tank. You might expect to get 500 miles out of a full tank, so also from the capacity and remaining fuel you can safely calculate the remaining distance you had left.

    Sure, if you find you only had a tablespoon of fuel left and your gauge was reading 50% then it's faulty.

    I suspect from skimming through the pictures above that the distance travelled on the tank is based on Trip A or Trip B. Perhaps it wasn't manually zeroed after filling, or we're looking at the wrong trip counter.

    The fuel guage isn't linear. It falls faster towards the end of the tank, and it only covers (roughly, I'm making these figures up) from the bottom 20% to 80%. That's why you don't see it start to go down immediately, as the guage's 100% is the tank's 80%, and why you can still travel 50 miles when it shows empty, as the guage's 0% is the tank's 20%.

    Pixel 2 ?
     
    #93 The Professor, Jul 18, 2018
    RCO and Starship16 like this.
  14. alanclarkeau

    alanclarkeau Senior Member

    Joined:
    Feb 24, 2016
    7,041
    7,580
    0
    Location:
    near Brisbane, Australia
    Vehicle:
    2016 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    A lot of old gauges readily went past "F" - we never took any notice of the extra - and often would go 100km before it got down to "F". Similarly they'd go below "E" for those game to try, but it often proved expensive.
    upload_2018-7-18_20-46-48.png upload_2018-7-18_20-47-33.png upload_2018-7-18_20-49-1.png upload_2018-7-18_20-51-30.png

    I think the consensus was that the digital l/100km readout was about 5-10% optimistic compared with calculated. A good guide, though.

    @Starship16 - I trust my fuel gauge. I suspect yours met with a glitch with your last refuel. If it does it again, I'd see TOYOTA for a warranty repair.
     
    #94 alanclarkeau, Jul 18, 2018
    Starship16 likes this.
  15. Starship16

    Starship16 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jun 8, 2018
    1,348
    1,453
    0
    Location:
    Beach Christmas
    Vehicle:
    2016 Prius
    Model:
    ----USA----
    Thanks Professor. I'm positive I zeroed out the trip A and trip B meter after refueling. I'm pretty good about that.
    I didn't want this Shell Premium experiment to turn into an issue about gas mileage, but it has. Now I'm very curious to see how far I can go on this tank. But, it still doesn't mean anything... the next tank refill with Premium gas could have very different results. It's just another Prius oddity. :)

    On the other hand,     and I'm only speaking about my Prius, the Shell high octane has definitely made the ICE in my car quieter and smoother. It seems to run much better. (All that for $4 a gallon! :ROFLMAO:)
     
    #95 Starship16, Jul 18, 2018
  16. kithmo

    kithmo Couch Potato

    Joined:
    Apr 25, 2010
    2,404
    2,773
    47
    Location:
    South Yorkshire, UK
    Vehicle:
    2016 Prius
    The gauge will probably drop quicker than a ho's knickers when it gets near the end.
     
    #96 kithmo, Jul 18, 2018
    Starship16 likes this.
  17. Raytheeagle

    Raytheeagle Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 1, 2016
    11,251
    15,476
    0
    Location:
    Bay Area, California
    Vehicle:
    2019 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Prime Plus
    Don’t think of it as a “gas gauge” but as a “guess gauge”:).

    Others above covered the reasons, but just be glad you don’t have a Gen2 ;).

    The gas tank bladder can be a bit finicky (y).
     
    #97 Raytheeagle, Jul 18, 2018
    Starship16 likes this.
  18. krmcg

    krmcg Lowered Blizzard Pearl Beauty

    Joined:
    May 15, 2008
    2,592
    2,389
    0
    Location:
    Whittier, CA
    Vehicle:
    2016 Prius
    Model:
    Four
    Great improvement not having that bladder anymore...
     
    #98 krmcg, Jul 18, 2018
    Raytheeagle likes this.
  19. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

    Joined:
    Oct 17, 2010
    54,726
    38,253
    80
    Location:
    Greater Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    Touring
    #99 Mendel Leisk, Jul 18, 2018
    HPrimeAdvanced, alanclarkeau and krmcg like this.
  20. Starship16

    Starship16 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jun 8, 2018
    1,348
    1,453
    0
    Location:
    Beach Christmas
    Vehicle:
    2016 Prius
    Model:
    ----USA----
    I only drove 30 miles today. Traffic was nuts because of some light rain and lightning. The distance-to-empty is dropping fairly fast. The gas gauge is still just a hair above 1/2 tank... teetering on the apocalypse. :LOL: I should reach 600 miles tomorrow, and still have 1/4 tank left? Nothing hard about this... Turn off that wimpy Eco mode and just drive it. ;)
     
    #100 Starship16, Jul 18, 2018
    Last edited: Jul 18, 2018
(You must log in or sign up to post here.)
Page 5 of 8