Prius Gen2, How to get better MPG, Summarized

I welcome any ideas on how to improve MPG in a Gen2 Prius. I will add good ideas to the first three posts as a summary. Please qualify improvements, as some only work if you are using a plug-in Prius, others only if you drive short distances/long distances.

This summary is intended as a springboard to other threads, while keeping tips short and concise for the beginner to get started right away. There are so many good articles here on how to get better MPG for a unmodified Gen2 Prius. I am on day 7 of my search, with many failed attempts to find what I am looking after paging through many posts and threads.

Guess I want to have them listed out for me in the order of easiest (and biggest gain) in MPG.

I now have a ScanGauge ii, and for the first time, have increased my MPG by 20% over my life of 2004 Prius average. (40.8 to 51 mpg). (Based on Tire pressure, and Engine temperature, and then minimizing accelerating time, maximizing over 50mpg time.)

I had some problem finding a good link to Efusco's file, and almost impossible to get the link to work, so here it is as an attachment. Thanks Efusco.

 

Beginner​

Tips: This will be updated with MPG improving ideas, an ever changing summary of what works.

1. Tire pressure. (all Prius, all distances) Higher pressures means better MPG. For a tire with max. PSI of 44, try 44f42r, 42f,40r, or 40f,38r. My tires have a max. PSI of 51, so I am now trying 46f,44r.

2. ICE (Engine) temperature. (All Prius, not short distances) When the temperature is below 21C(70F), I block the passenger side of the radiator. Fully blocked if the temperature is consistently below 10C(50F). I do this with 2 peices of dollartree foam board placed between radiator and vertical center support, though I don't block the bottom 15%, which is the Inverter cooling. My best investment was this Scangauge ii, specifically monitoring the Engine temperature, in degrees celcius, operating temp of 88C works great. For now I also monitor SOC (State of Charge) of HV battery read as percentage, and BTa ((HV battery amps -in/+out), Before this mod, I found, on cold days, the engine would not come up to temperature most of the time, and my MPG would suffer as a result.

3. Pulse and Glide (P&G) technics. Minimize time spent accelerating, maximize time spent over 50 MPG. I am monitoring HPR on Scangauge ii, and see 20HPR provides fair acceleration, with much more available, but drains the SOC rapidly if used. I floored my accelerator once to be first out of the freeway on ramp, and paid dearly in loss of my SOC reading. (62% to 25%), so I don't like doing that often. Cruise control is nice, but tends to over-react when reponding to hills. Try manual throttle, allowing speed to drop a bit starting up a small hill, and allow speed to recover a bit down the other side.

4. Minimize cargo weight. This will be my next improvement. I have about 500Lbs excess "Junk in the trunk".

5. (Still looking, more to come) Ideas welcome

Read more: http://priuschat.com/threads/prius-gen2-how-to-get-better-mpg-summarized.124750/#ixzz2PiDoH54W

 

This is my first tank with tire pressure and Engine Temperature adjusted. I am thrilled to see this initial improvement, and looking forward to a more consistent high MPG. This car has 233,000+ miles and still going strong, with annual 30K+ miles. I will probably give up towing large loads in the future now that Priuschat has taught me how to save money.

 

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