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The great Prius mileage challenge. 818 mile tank!

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Fuel Economy' started by Ray Moore, Jun 29, 2005.

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  1. Ray Moore

    Ray Moore Active Member

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    I finally stopped for gas. I went 818 miles at 65.1 MPG. Squeezed in 12.7 gallons for a calculated mileage of 64.4 MPG. The first bar started blinking at 230 miles. The last bar started blinking at 677 miles. I went another 141 miles on the blinking bar and I figure that I could have gone another 25 miles but I didn't want to chance running out of gas.

    I'm including a screen shot suitable for framing and sending to GM and the EPA. I'm also including a spreadsheet in excel that shows each individual trip and their stats. The spreadsheet just needs the date and the two readings off the consumption screen and the math is automatic after that. The notes were added as I went along.

    The second half of the tank was without AC in the afternoon. I rolled the driver's window down halfway instead. As you can see, the theory that AC and the windows rolled up is better for mileage has been disspelled. The mileage hit for AC set at 78-80 degrees versus no AC is about 6 MPG or 10% on my afternoon commutes home in the mid 90s.

    I am in no way suggesting that anyone should drive without AC but if you do, The mileage will rise. Just driving conservatively but without any special effort, I only get 650 mile tanks at 58 MPG. That is plenty for me but I've been wanting an 800 mile tank for over a year, so I went out and got one.

    My commute is 32 miles in the morning. If I take my son to the gym it is 36 miles in the morning. It is 30 miles home in the afternoon. I live 600 feet higher than my jobsite. The temps in the morning were mid 70s and in the afternoon were mid 90s. I limited my short trips to three in which the car was not fully cooled down. My commute is a third country back roads, a third highway, and a third city miles. I drive the speed limit and never use cruise control when I want great mileage. I coast in neutral about 12 miles on the average round trip, mostly a half mile at a time.

    I really hope that others will beat these numbers. I love my car and when I see someone post great mileage results, i know that they have a special relationship with their car too.
     
    #1 Ray Moore, Jun 29, 2005
  2. Kev1000000

    Kev1000000 New Member

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    holy ****!

    Nice job dude!
     
    #2 Kev1000000, Jun 29, 2005
  3. Brian

    Brian Member

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    AWESOME JOB!!!!!
    Im still pushing 500 miles on a tank! ;)
     
    #3 Brian, Jun 30, 2005
  4. micheal

    micheal I feel pretty, oh so pretty.

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    Geez Louise Ray! Awesome tank!

    I don't think I will ever make an 800 mile tank, but I look forward to hearing someone make 850 or 900!

    Maybe you should make a commerical like Ford that talks about the Focus getting 500 miles a tank!

    BTW, have you described your technique for driving in neutral before?
     
    #4 micheal, Jun 30, 2005
  5. Mirza

    Mirza New Member

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    967 miles on a tank (85.7 mpg). Done by EMAXX of the yahoo groups prius club... he drove with windows up in I think something like 80 degrees F at around 35-45 mph on a backroads trip from PA to LA or something like that. There's a thread on about it. It is not a fake; it's been discussed quite a bit in the past. The guy has met with other Prius fans in real life. In the picture you'll see that he ran out of gas at that time.
     
    #5 Mirza, Jun 30, 2005
  6. alsgameroom

    alsgameroom Member

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    yeah I'd be interested to hear about this 'neutral' driving mode
     
    #6 alsgameroom, Jun 30, 2005
  7. Ray Moore

    Ray Moore Active Member

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    Here is the link for a thread that discusses coasting in neutral. http://priuschat.com/forums/1-vt1635.html?...er=asc&&start=0

    The best description of how I use neutral is further down the thread. My use of neutral has evolved over time and this thread is over a year old. I think I will bump it as well.
     
    #7 Ray Moore, Jun 30, 2005
  8. galaxee

    galaxee mostly benevolent

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    :applause:

    nice job Ray! and thank you for justifying my use of the open window over AC unless it's ridiculously hot out. :)
     
    #8 galaxee, Jun 30, 2005
  9. DaveinOlyWA

    DaveinOlyWA 3rd Time was Solariffic!!

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    great numbers!!

    with E10 gas here, i probably wont make that. i was happy with 600 miles.
     
    #9 DaveinOlyWA, Jun 30, 2005
  10. efusco

    efusco Moderator Emeritus
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    I'm still looking for my first 600 mile tank. But the very same EMAXX is discussing a possible attempt at a 1200 mile tank over a 2 day period and he's pretty confident he can get close. (BTW, that's an unmodified US Prius with the Bladder)
     
    #10 efusco, Jul 1, 2005
  11. Ray Moore

    Ray Moore Active Member

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    I hope he crams in the gas this time. Last time he could have gone to almost 1100 with the average he was running.
     
    #11 Ray Moore, Jul 1, 2005
  12. rflagg

    rflagg Member

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    Simply Amazing, Ray!!!

    This weekend, barring any unforseen major catastrophes, I'll break 700 miles for the first time. Right now I'm at 630 miles, 60.4 mpg, and it just now went from two bars down to one bar (was able to squeeze in 12.004 gallons on the last fillup). At this height, it's really tough to get those mileage numbers to move! But rest assured, I'd have to drive the car pretty hard to not hit that 700 mark this time around - I'm going to most likely fill up close to 720 or so, and I'll put a screenshot of it up this weekend or early next week depending on my driving. I've never used the neutral driving technique you speak of - never switch it out of drive - but this next tank I just might have to try it and see if I can beat you yet. Keep raising that bar for us here Ray, I eagerly await your next tank! :)

    -m.
     
    #12 rflagg, Jul 1, 2005
  13. Danny

    Danny Admin/Founder
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    Holy crap! Very nice job, Ray!
     
    #13 Danny, Jul 1, 2005
  14. DanMan32

    DanMan32 Senior Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(galaxee\";p=\"103000)</div>
    It's ridiculously hot out over here!
     
    #14 DanMan32, Jul 1, 2005
  15. rflagg

    rflagg Member

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    Well, today was time for a fillup - only because I didn't want my mileage going down any lower on this tank since I had a bunch of short trip errands to run today. Ended up at *drumroll*...

    59.6MPG, 703 miles!

    My previous fillup was 12.004 gallons - today I fit in 12.21! Watch out Ray, I'm stretching my bladder out as well, I might still catch you (and that elusive 60+ mpg tank!) :)

    Happy 4th, everyone.

    -m.
     
    #15 rflagg, Jul 2, 2005
  16. AfonsoSilva

    AfonsoSilva New Member

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    And over here too, but if it get's me another 300 miles, I'll be happy to sweat for that :)

    Ray, I only have one word for you: Unbelieavable!!!

    Congrats, man!
     
    #16 AfonsoSilva, Jul 2, 2005
  17. krousdb

    krousdb NX-74205

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    Ray, Great Tank! One question though... How'd ya stuff so much into it? 12.7 gallons? :eek:

    The most I have ever gotten was 11 gallons and change on my 967 mile tank. It seems that I need to learn to master the nozzle as you have!

    Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated!

    Dan
     
    #17 krousdb, Jul 16, 2005
  18. Ray Moore

    Ray Moore Active Member

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    Hey Dan- welcome to Priuschat! I'm glad to see you over here. So you're the 35 mph on the back roads with no AC and the windows rolled up in your underwear guy? You inspire me. OK I know that the underwear part is embellishment. I really groaned when you ran out of gas before you hit 1000 miles. I was just short of tears. hehe I hear you're going for another record. Good luck.

    I put in at least a gallon after the pump clicks off. I nurse it in a little at a time. I usually fill up in the afternoon but I'm not sure it matters. I slowly fill it until I can see fuel in the neck. This doesn't mean that there is actually fuel all the way to the top. There is a flap that holds the fuel from running into the tank when there is no nozzle installed. As you get very close to full, this little bit of fuel that runs out of the nozzle when you withdraw it from the car collects on top of the flap and slowly seeps past this flap. Before you get close to full, this doesn't happen.

    Of course beware of spit back. I check it by pulling the nozzle out and putting it back in as I get close. If the fuel starts to collect on the flap, I nudge the flap to let this fuel run in and I'm done.
     
    #18 Ray Moore, Jul 16, 2005
  19. krousdb

    krousdb NX-74205

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    Yea, I do the same thing now. When I took that long drive last year I didn't know to do that. Now I am consistently able to get 1.2 gallons in after the auto shutoff by resting thr nozzle on the filler tube and slowly dispensing fuel until I can see it.

    I guess I don't really know how much I can really put in because I haven't run out of gas since. I probably fill too soon. As a point of reference I got 112 miles between the add fuel message and when I ran out of gas. That comes out to 1.2 gallons, but perhaps more because when I ran out of gas I was climbing a steep hill and the gas may have moved away from the fuel intake.

    Anyway, lately I have been able to average 85 MPG on my daily commute using a new route and some techniques that I have developed. Just this morning I had to drive to work to pick up some paperwork that I forgot. Because I didn't have that second cold start (I left the car on when I ran in) I didn't take the normal MPG hit from the second startup and coasted home showing 88.4 MPG with ~51 miles on the trip OD. Since I reset my MFD for every trip for testing purposes (I record these segments so I can cross reference the data and compare at a later date) I am not able to take a picture of this tank. I just punch in the numbers into my spreadsheet and thats how I get an idea on what to expect when I fill up the tank.

    So far this tank 727 miles and my spreadsheet says 84.5 MPG. Lets see if if that holds up.

    Keep up the good work Ray!

    Dan

    P.S. I forgot to say... yes, some friends and I are going to take a shot at a 1200 mile tank next month. It should be great fun.
     
    #19 krousdb, Jul 16, 2005
  20. tomdeimos

    tomdeimos New Member

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    Ray,

    I can't come close to your tanks, and don't expect to around all the traffic here, and driving too often at 65 mph where I get maybe 52 mpg steady state. But my acceleration with green to battery mod based on your no arrows technique but easier for me to do here is definitely helping my mileage. I've now had about 3 tanks of over 55 mpg.

    And last fill up I got 11.7 gallons in. This is significant because I was only 12 miles past the flashing bar, so my tank capacity must have finally exceeded the 11.9 spec!

    Back in Dec I ran it dry and was only able to pump 11.5 gallons in for comparison.
     
    #20 tomdeimos, Jul 16, 2005
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