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Toyota Prius MPG-Real World Numbers

984 messages,  Last post on May 25, 2013 at 1:18 PM

You are in the Toyota Prius Forum.

What is this discussion about? Toyota Prius, Hybrid Cars, Fuel Efficiency (MPG), Sedan

Messages Page 98 of 100

#962 of 984 2009 Prius II traded for 2012 Prius III by gt50mpg

May 05, 2012 (7:27 pm)

Just traded my 2009 Prius II with 36000 miles for a 2012 Prius III. I have a vanity license plate GT50MPG and I hate to lie. Over the 36000 miles I averaged 52.2 MPG hand calculated. Was very happy with the 2009. Only bitch was the "bladder gas tank". I Drive to Columbia Maryland every year and have been averaging 54.1 MPG until this year when I got 55.1 MPG and that is through the mountains, all hand calculations not Toyota computer. I get this because I have discovered the great benefits of drafting on the vehicle ahead. My favorites are Semi's but any vehicle with a slightly higher profile will work, and contrary to popular belief, you get the benefit of the draft (5 to 10 MPG) up to 5 car lengths behind the lead vehicle. I live in Michigan and another trick I learned is when the weather turns cold, consistently less than 50 F, block off about 3/4 of the front grille air intake to help the engine warm up faster and stay warmer during your trip. My results were 47.5 MPG without blocking the grille air intake and 49.2 blocking the grille air intake, again hand calculations. I also increased my tire pressure by 3 PSI which did not seem to effect handling or tire wear. I anticipate that my new 2012 Prius will be everything and more than my 2009 Prius.
Any Comments or new tricks appreciated.

#963 of 984 Re: 2009 Prius II traded for 2012 Prius III [gt50mpg] by time4summer

May 06, 2012 (9:21 am)

Replying to: gt50mpg (May 05, 2012 7:27 pm)
Help!!! I took my car to the dealer thinking it was a bad wheel bearing. I had just purchased the car 2 weeks beforehand so they offered to repair free of charge. It ended up being just 2 tires unevenly worn so they gave me two new tires. Yesterday I noticed my gas mileage creeping down from 58 to 56mpg. On the freeway, I normally get 60-70 mpg and last night was barely 50. I inflated all tires to 40psi like I had previously. The 2 new tires say a max psi of 50 unlike the old ones (and current other 2) that say 44. Any thoughts?!!

#964 of 984 Re: 100 + mpg is easily possbile! [xcel] by skycaptain

Oct 14, 2012 (9:08 am)

Replying to: xcel (Jul 14, 2005 3:02 pm)
XCEL,
Another great techique is what I call "Fuzzy Cruise Technique." First never use cruise control on the highway. Cruise T your chosen speed and do not maintain your target speed. For example say you are on a 65 mph freeway. On the flat you maintain 65 MPH or use the Pulse and Glide technique. As you approach a hill do not press down on the accelerator to maiintain 65 mph. Try and hold a fixed throttle position and allow the speed to slowly decay as you climb the hill. Usually you will lose 5 to 8 moh depending on the size of the hill. Once at the apex of the hill keep the steady throttle position and the vehicle will accelerate back to 65 mph or higher. Bank the speed. Also if the downhill is steep enough on the backside you can glide downhill and charge the battery.
  I have gotten 13 mpg over the rated Highway mileage using this technique on a 65 moh highway. (60.8 mpg on a 200 mile leg)Of course, this technique should only be used in the slow lane(right lane) of the highway and don't do it if you have tailgating traffic behind you in a 2 lane road.
 I wish Toyota would give us a a two stage cruise control with a choice of a Hard or Soft cruise setting. The Soft setting would allow the speed setting to be fuzzy and allow a decay of speed down to a certain limit. Instead of soft cruise they could call it maybe, Eco Cruise. The problem with Hard Cruise is as soon a the speed drops the engines revs up high trying to maintain set speed. A waste of gas in my mind. That is why you should never use cruise control on hilly terrain.

#965 of 984 Re: 2009 Prius II traded for 2012 Prius III [time4summer] by bobw3

Oct 15, 2012 (7:15 am)

Replying to: time4summer (May 06, 2012 9:21 am)
So now you have two different sets of tires on your car, plus the new ones have more tread/traction, hence more friction and worse MPG. Maybe those two things combined accounts for your worse MPG. Plus it's getting colder out and maybe in your area they've started using the winter blend of gas, and in general colder weather increases the need for the gas engine to run more often.

#966 of 984 MPG 2012 Prius III by gilvkona

Oct 25, 2012 (6:45 pm)

I just filled up my new car for the second time. I discount the first time since it was filled by the dealer and a hand calculation was in the low 50s. This time, I got about 8 gallons in the car. Hand calculation showed 49mpg. The computer read 51.6. That all seems consistent with what I have read here.
 
This is a great car. The ride is great. I have to learn how to ignore the displays. I tend to use the one that shows EV, ECO, and PWR modes. I try to keep it near the middle if possible. To get where I live, I have to drive up 1000' for about 5 miles. I get in the 20s when I do that. On the way back down, I get close to 100mpg. I note the car seems at its best when you are going in the mid 40-50mph on fairly level surface. Most of my driving is "open road" at about 60 or so. It appears I will get near 50 on the type of driving I do. I think that is great.

#967 of 984 Re: pure-gas.org [litesong2] by docadam71

Oct 31, 2012 (4:21 am)

Replying to: litesong2 (May 01, 2012 9:55 am)
Awesome its is so nice to see others who are knowledgeable about ethanol. Plus I might add. Scientists knew that adding ethanol will decrease the shelf life of gasoline and cause massive damage to older cars if left sitting longer than 6 to 8 months without flushing the gas lines & tank.. Ethanol is one big lie and people are starting to realize this.. Ethanol causes billions a year in damages. Yet they say its good for us.. yeah driving food prices through the roof.... Everyone needs to boycott Ethanol. And yes I see a 10% increase in mileage in my 93 civic vx "45 mpg" but soon will be adding a 2010 Prius to my collection. I love that car.

#968 of 984 Re: MPG 2012 Prius III [gilvkona] by dmathews3

Nov 03, 2012 (6:18 pm)

Replying to: gilvkona (Oct 25, 2012 6:45 pm)
I like you just filled mine for the first time. Except I put 4010 miles on it and only added 4.9 gal of gas. Oh ya, I own a Chevy Volt.

#969 of 984 Re: MPG 2012 Prius III [dmathews3] by bobw3

Nov 04, 2012 (9:57 am)

Replying to: dmathews3 (Nov 03, 2012 6:18 pm)
Have you been able to accurately calculate the electricity cost for the home charging for the 4010 miles? It would be about $300 to gas a Prius for 4000 miles at 50mpg & $3.80/gal.

#970 of 984 2006 by bobw3

Nov 14, 2012 (7:02 am)

I just finished a round trip between Ohio and South Carolina and averaged about 47-48mpg in my '06 Prius averaging 65-70mph going up and down the appalachian mountains. I pretty much used the cruise control all the time, even in the mountains because there was little traffic and it made the long drive easier. I thought it would be better not to use the cruise control in the mountains, but manually speeding up and slowing down while going downhill and uphill didn't seem to help much with mpg. What I would do occasionally is on long and steep uphills is tap down the cruise a little bit at a time if it seemed like it was revving too much, but only to drop the speed from the low 70s mph down to 65mph. But then I wasn't driving for max mpg but more to balance mpg with getting to my destination in a timely manner. At some point I'll get a newer Prius, but I don't like the interior style of the Gen3, plus the interior feels cheaper than my '06.

#971 of 984 Re: MPG 2012 Prius III [dmathews3] by rinima

Mar 04, 2013 (1:46 pm)

Replying to: dmathews3 (Nov 03, 2012 6:18 pm)
Great, so you prepaid over $10k on gas.

Messages Page 98 of 100

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