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What is your MPG? I'm thinking mine is low

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Fuel Economy' started by Friendlyx, Jul 2, 2018.

  1. Friendlyx

    Friendlyx Member

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    Hey everyone! Recently got a 2015 (30k miles), before i had a 2006 (150k miles) and decided i wanted to upgrade. When i had my 2006 i was getting on average 48, minimum 46 (from what it said on the screen). However, with my 2015, i'm averaging 42.5 according to the tracking system. I live in central California, was hoping other people could pitch in, and let me know if it's good or what i'm doing wrong. I'll try to use "ECO" mode usually, and do run the A/C especially since it's so hot right now in California, but yet again i would use it in my 2006 too.
     
  2. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    congrats!
    what brand and model tyre, and pressure you're running?

    check the oil level and air and cabin filters.
     
  3. Friendlyx

    Friendlyx Member

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    Thank you! I'm loving it! The car has Yokohama Avid S33, which honestly look brand new. They have 40 PSI in the front and 38.5 PSI in the rear. When i first got the car (about a month and half ago, was sitting for a month) but started using it about a week ago, i changed the cabin filter, and looked at the air filter (which looked good) and the oil level is good too.
     
  4. JRMiami

    JRMiami New Member

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    This may not help as I live in West-Central Florida, which is fairly flat. I too bought a 2015 Prius Five in February and driving very conservatively I am consistently getting 55 mpg, which is about 4 mpg less than what the dash gauge says. I do the calculations by hand every time. I also had a 2010 Prius I bought used a year before this one and like it so much I upgraded to the 2015 Five. Loving it. I should also add that I use non-ethanol gas since I have owned it and that could be a reason for some of the improved mpg. The car is totally stock.
     
  5. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    check the 12v health, sitting is bad for it.
     
    Mendel Leisk likes this.
  6. Friendlyx

    Friendlyx Member

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    What are some ways to check it? I made sure to tell someone to turn on the car every weekend for at least 5 minutes.
     
  7. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    get a digital volt meter, pop the hood in the evening, and open it the next morning to check the voltage at the jump point in the fuse box under the hood. don't bring the fob near the car, or open any doors.
     
    Raytheeagle likes this.
  8. Grit

    Grit Senior Member

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    Describe your driving habits, environment and surroundings, that will determine if something needs to be looked at. When I race through highway traffic at 75mph, net 45mpgs for an hour drive so thats pretty bad obviously but going 60mph, I can get 58 mpgs. City traffic itself, maybe 62mpg-ish. Modes to me dont matter long as you get up to speed and EV it.

    Last OCI, I'm 1550 mi @ 60.1 mpg. Redline 0w-20
     
    Raytheeagle likes this.
  9. Friendlyx

    Friendlyx Member

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    I'm known as a "slow driver" I never drive past 73, and most of the times it's slower than that. I accelerate as slow as possible, sometimes even get honked on, because i'm accelerating slower (it's made easier with eco mode! YAY!) I'm not really in a hilly area, it's mostly just getting up the ramps that is in a slight slope up. Even then, i usually enter the freeway at 50-55 and then the last 10 mph are gained on the freeway.

    Basically, what i'm trying to say, is that i consider myself a slow driver. I would say i drive 40% freeway and 60% city. I'm going to try to check the 12v too, hopefully it's something like that.
     
  10. Friendlyx

    Friendlyx Member

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    That's weird! I traveled through Florida with my 2006 this summer and i constantly got 45mpg on my 2006, so that's that. I honestly don't know if i'm driving the new one, worse?
     
  11. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

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    5 minutes of operation per weekend won't keep the 12V battery adequately charged. The internal charging is quite slow. If it isn't used much, an external battery charger or tender will do much better.

    Check also for brake drag. The brakes and wheels should not be getting excessively hot during normal driving. Use your older Prius as a reference for comparison.

    In 'normal' driving, apart from expert hypermiling, the Gen3 should be getting 5-ish better MPG than the Gen2 when driven the same way in the same conditions. But under expert hypermiling, that difference could shrink or nearly vanish. Only in the most extreme cases should the Gen2 beat the Gen3.

    This questionnaire is meant for new first-time Prius drivers, not longer time owners who have changed Prius models. But it may still give you some ideas for what else to check:
    Fuel economy complaints/queries? Please copy, paste & answer these questions, esp. if you're new | PriusChat
     
    Mendel Leisk likes this.
  12. Friendlyx

    Friendlyx Member

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    Update: I haven't had time to check the 12v battery since i just bought the tool needed. However, after driving around a bit more, i'm getting 48.1 MPG now according to the computer in the car. Higher than ever! I'm still going to check the 12v battery though.
     
    Raytheeagle and Mendel Leisk like this.
  13. gabbycat

    gabbycat Junior Member

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    I live in Central Fl.,have 106,000 miles on my 2010 Prius,and get 52 mpg in mixed driving,50 mpg on the highway,and 57 mpg in city
    driving. Since I just bought tires with a 500 treadwear rating my mpg has dropped about 7-8%. The computer is off by about 3-4 mpg
    since I bought the car in Sept.2009. Great car,a little tough on tires,but very economical in hot weather.
     
  14. Judas Prius

    Judas Prius Junior Member

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    My mileage started to get pretty bad when my 12v was about to meet its end. I ran it until it died completely (not recommended...had to take an Uber to and from work, and an Uber to go get the battery).

    Under normal driving and temperature conditions (Ohio) I usually get 49-50. I don't do anything special except normal techniques used by Prius owners. I don't over inflate my tires any more. I have a Scan Gauge, but no longer use it.

    Side note... I was able to raise my MPG by 2.5gal at the 120-160 miles per tank mark. First time I tried that. Drove 55 both ways for 40-50 miles.
     
  15. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    We're gonna hold you to that... ;)

    You might also try a does of fuel injector cleaner (look for one with PolyEtherAmine), the kind you add to the tank at fill-up. Just follow the directions, if you need to measure it out, stick to the recommended amount. I found our spring pick-up in mpg kinda absent this year, so gave this a try, seems to help.

    Also: there's a couple of bugbears with the 3rd gen: the intake manifold tends to get really oil-socked by Positive Crankcase Ventilation system, and the (new for 3rd gen) Exhaust Gas Recirculation system is problematic, prone to inexorable clogging up. A couple of links regarding those:

    EGR & Intake Manifold Clean Results | PriusChat

    Oil Catch Can, Eliminate that knock! | PriusChat
     
    #15 Mendel Leisk, Jul 17, 2018
    Last edited: Jul 17, 2018
  16. DATALESS1

    DATALESS1 New Member

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    i get 50 to 53 mpg depending on the the number of hills in my stock 2010 with 225k miles... keep in mind Toyota's programming is severely limited(idiotic) ,the cruse control is very aggressive and the accelerator peddle way way too sensitive i am often only using it at 1% to 10%.
     
  17. Grit

    Grit Senior Member

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    Ive owned a camry and driven numerious family member other toyotas and rental, the cruise resume is actually efficient. When I try to accelerate back to cruising hwy speed, the resume gets better mpgs than numerous manual resume pedal acceleration.
     
  18. StevefromOhio

    StevefromOhio Member

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    2015 Prius Two. Averaging 56.3 MPG for the last reset of the trip odometer. There are some trips where I am getting 72MPG.
    I pay attention to my driving and travel the back roads where the speed is lower and I can run in electric mode.
    The Michelin Energy Saver (not AS) tires really helped with about a 4 MPG difference from the Goodyears that were from the factory.
     
  19. mysticeyes

    mysticeyes Junior Member

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    I've got a 2015 Prius Three with almost 60k miles and have driven it pretty conservatively since I bought it a year ago. I've just bought a new set of tires - Yokohama Touring-S in the stock size, which I believe is what it originally came with. I've averaged 56 mpg; the only change I've made is to raise tire air pressure to 49 and 47 psi, front and back, since I noticed that the sidewall says maximum psi can be 51 (!!). Don't know if I'll keep 'em that high or not, but we'll see......