Where is sweet spot? How to get 60 MPG in city

That is interesting. I know CA has some strange driving laws, but VT I don't
know. I do know that NH drivers seem far better than MA ones.

But in MA drivers pay little attention to any laws, and a good percent speed.
There's still a good 20 percent at least that drive slower than I do.

As for tickets for impeding traffic? Everyone with a slow Prius should get one. It can't keep up with most cars around here, like BMW's and Volvos.
Not even close. Why does this bother people who chose to buy a slow
car like this?

Unless you get a fast car you are impeding traffic. But my only tickets
have been for speeding! Never heard of laws against impeding traffic.

I can tell you I have impeded traffic every single time I've had to merge
into traffic on 128 and rt 3 where there are not proper merging lanes, at
least at rush hour. And yes people get annoyed, and that was before I had a Prius.

But my diesel got rear ended many times and it wasn't ever because of
that. It was people falling asleep or trying to go through red lights, when
I felt I had to stop at one!

But I didn't go into this stuff to argue driving habits. this thread is about "How to get 60 mpg" and I'm just trying to say how.

Lot's of you don't like the answer, but that is your choice. Implied in
this thread is the implication that you all want a free lunch. Some magic
fix that will fix your mileage, with no downside. Or you want to be told the Prius is great
but yours is defective and if you just get xyz fixed your mileage will get
good. Reality seems to bother you a lot!

Everyone with a Prius can get well over 60 mpg with very few exceptions.
These include people in old cities with traffic jams, unsyncronized lights etc.
People in cold areas. And maybe people in some mountainous areas
where braking can't be avoided and the battery is too small.

For the rest I expect all except a tiny percent have cars that perform within 3 percent of each other. Your mileage is entirely your
responsibility. If you think driving faster is safer fine. But quit
complaining about your Prius not getting the EPA mileage it can get!

These threads almost made me cancel my order for a car. Now that
I have seen what the car can do, and that the bad mileage reported is
mostly the fault of drivers unwilling to change their driving style
I am quite glad I got my car.

 

The difference in MPG caused by cold weather is dramatic. I bought the vehicle in December, and so the difference I exprienced is only between -10F and 40F. And we're talking 42MPG - 48MPG. My commute is long - 70 miles in Northern Illinois, flat corn fields, otherwise I'm sure I'd see mileage in upper 30s at best.

So I don't sweat it for now, waiting for spring and summer. If the difference between 40F and 90F is going to be similar to the difference between -10F and 40F, then that is going to be one sweet summer!

 

this last week has been an excellent demostration of how temps affect gas mileage.

we have had temps ranging from 50-65º and my mileage has jumped to 52 mpg with IDENTICAL driving that got me 46 mpg last week.

part of it is the not running defrost as much (cabin temp has little to do with it since it is always set at 65º unless i have a cold-blooded passenger)

and i am still on winter gas. i was fortunate enough to get gas the day before the warm spell started so the mileage is an excellent reflection of usage. my mix is about 60/40 city/highway. most of the "city" driving is not downtown congestion type traffic though. i have lived here long enough to know better. sure some cant be avoided since i live just a few blocks from the busiest street in town (only 2 blocks from a major medical center and Saint Peter's hospital)

all in all, i would have been in the high 50's or low 60's if using summer formula gas which was my average last year. keep in mind that i only got those averages during the period before air conditioning was a daily requirement. but look at my signature... i can guarantee you that 60 mpg is very possible. i did 58 mpg on a mix of driving back when my car had less than 6000 miles on it.