Test drove today

you mean left of the power line?

 

That is just an illusion ... the power button doesn't add any "power" !!!

Looks like you made up your mind already ... just want other to justify it for you (all other posts ... good luck

If you really like to test it rent one for one of your trip +1 or 2 days and drive it as you normally would drive. That would give you a better understanding.

 

I could be wrong, but I think he actually means to the left of the line in the middle of the ECO area. I think he's going to find it takes a lot of practice to come close to keeping it there and it's next to impossible in city traffic. I don't know where he lives, so it may be easier than I think. All I know is it's hard here unless you're willing to experience Phoenix road rage. I will say that I had my first real experience using PWR mode in July and it made all the difference dealing with Houston traffic. I had avoided it until then, but decided to give it a try and I'm sure glad I did. I might have paid a mileage penalty, no way of knowing. but if I did, it was worth it. I also used it later in Atlanta and my driving there was much more enjoyable too. Sometimes mileage isn't everything.

 

the line represents engine on/off. you will need to learn how to pulse and glide for best mpg's.

 

Yeah, it's basically speed up a bit over the line, then glide under the line. All that depends on terrain and traffic patterns and how hard it is to keep up with the traffic flow. It's not unlike how some truckers go fast downhill then slow going up. I find it to be too much trouble around here, so I just drive the car, though less aggressively than I used to.

 

I get average 50 or 50.1 MPG from a full tank to near empty and I dont pulse-glide. I drive reasonably. I fill the gauge bar when going up hills and stay around the 75% mark at other times. Don't need to drive eco or anything to get good MPGs.

 

Welcome to priuschat! Watch this video a few times to learn how to maximize mpg for the prius. Keep in mind though that short trips will affect mpg quite a bit due to the engine not having sufficient time to warm up to ideal operating temps.

 

If a city or town show on the left and you aren't sure where it is, just click it and a google maps window shows up. If you still don't know, zoom out till you recognize a landmark. (Neat feature that I found yesterday)

 

Looks like someone posted in the wrong thread, either that or I'm missing something.

At any rate, I had an interesting experience when I went to the library yesterday. I was driving along and decided to experiment a little. I got up to speed and then backed off until the EV indicator came on, something I've done that before, but never really paid attention to what I was doing. This time I noticed I was able to feather the accelerator quite a bit to keep the EV lit and still maintain my speed (40 mph) almost all the way. I guess this is the pulse & glide folks talk about. Unfortunately, it didn't work the same way going home. As anyone who's driven around Phoenix and paid attention knows, the seemingly flat roads "undulate" as part of the flood control plan. You can be driving along what looks like a perfectly flat road, but are actually on a very slight up/down incline. When going down, P&G is easy, not so much when going up. I still got almost 62 mpg for the 10-mile roundtrip, so I guess I can't complain.

 

Technically true, but it's a good "illusion" when you step on the pedal and the car actually goes somewhere right away.

 

In your earlier post you said "I don't know where he lives" and I realized that the info was in his signature to the left of his post. When I was looking yesterday, "Friendswood" didn't tell me much and I was about to google it when I tried clicking on Friendswood and found the answer. I then found that Peoria AZ was at the NW of Phoenix.

62mpg round trip is pretty darn good!

 

That is the funnest thing about starting to drive a Prius, learning all the little tricks to coax another 2-3 mpg from the little fella. Personally. I have never happened to place mine in ''power'', it usually stays in ''econ''. I guess I need to--just to see if any difference.

 

Not an illusion. Power mode remaps the throttle response so you'll get more acceleration with less pedal movement.

 

Well, that is a neat tip, I didn't know, never even thought to check, that I could click on the location. I looked up Friendswood separately in Google Maps after my first post, but it's nice to know I can do it just by clicking, so thanks.

 

I just used "illusion" because that's the term he used. Still, "illusion" is not all that inaccurate since a lot of folks "think" you do get more power in PWR mode and don't understand it's just quicker throttle response.

 

It really made a lot of difference getting on/off the freeway and changing lanes in heavy traffic in Houston and Atlanta where they have a lot of short ramps as well as a lot of interchanges that go off in multiple directs where it's easy to miss the one you need. I've driven the Prius in Houston 3 times now and using PWR mode at times certainly made the last time much more enjoyable. Of course, part of it could have also been that I'm gradually learning the city.