How to achieve the best gas mileage??

Re: How to achieve the best gas milease??

First off, do you reset the trip computer after taking possession? The values might be skewed much lower if the dealer moved the car around, left it running, it went on test drives, etc.

Second, please answer the questions at http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii...-answer-these-questions-esp-if-youre-new.html.

 

Re: How to achieve the best gas milease??

Run your tire pressure at 42F and 40R, and then drive by trying to never touch your brakes, traffic permitting of course. ECO mode helps fuel economy a bit, especially when you are using A/C or cruise control.

 

To add to the above notes, short drives, esp. in city traffic in cold weather kills mileage. Better heater use can mitigate that.

Since the OP mentions 50, it sounds like their expectations are based upon EPA estimates. See http://priuschat.com/forums/other-c...uth-about-epa-city-highway-mpg-estimates.html for more info about the tests.

 

Congrats on your Prius and welcome to PRIUSchat.

Are you in the mountains where it's cold with extreme up/down terrain? Also, don't use "power mode", if you are and drive using the slightest gas pedal pressure possible, yet keeping up with traffic.

At this point, there are many variables to impact your MPG's, so either give more information, or be patient as the MPGs will certainly improve.

Enjoy your new car.

 

Just drive the car for a couple tankfuls then report back. Doubtful you will see 28mpg over a full tank.

Too many people drive off the dealer lot then come in here to post about poor MPG and they have not even driven the car for more than a few miles. Just drive the darn thing for a month or two before freaking out.

 

for when you are ready to learn some more advanced hypermiling techniques.

 

Unless you really want to p*** off the driver behind you, I wouldn't do P&G unless you are by yourselft on the highway...

 

Pulse and glide on the highway will piss off a few more people!

 

I wouldn't P&G on the highway in a Prius due to the >41 mph (on 2nd gen) and >45 (?) on the 3rd gen limit were the ICE must spin.

Super highway mode (SHM) is the way to go, but unfortunately, in practice for me, it lost too much speed at CA highway speeds and requires too much concentration for me. I can't safely do it unless there are few other cars around.

 

I find that P&G can produce excellent results in congested stop & go arterial traffic, when one gets the patterns right, without p-o-ing any more drivers than are already p-o-ed by the mere fact of congestion.

 

I used the term "highway" too broadly. I just really meant any kind of road..

 

Re: How to achieve the best gas milease??

what does 40r and 42 f mean

 

I like to do the speed limit or 5 miles over the speed limit. Does that mean I will never get the 50 miles to the the galleon that the window sticker said I would get. I had a 2008 honda civic hybred I got what the window sticker said I would get( w/out any special conditions are driving techniques) how about that.

 

Pulse and glide works fine in traffic. You just need to match it to the conditions around you. Hills are obvious, but also pulse when the light turns green, glide when you know you'll be coming up on stopped traffic.

I was telling a person at work about the benefits of P&G, so a few weeks later we took a couple cars out to a lunch. It happened that I took my car and he was following me. He was disappointed that I wasn't doing P&G to see what it was like, I had to tell him that I actually was doing that, but he couldn't tell!

I got over 60 mpg going to lunch that day (last fall in warmer weather obviously) on typical 4 lane suburban roads with lunchtime shoppers, speed limit 45mph for the most part, so it wasn't full glide in some cases, but wasn't burning gas either for half mile at a time.

 

Then you should do fine with the Prius as well. The EPA sticker number is what they think a typical driver in normal conditions will get. A lot of people don't match this scenario however.

It depends on large part how long your commute is, and if you need to run the heat or A/C extensively, or let your tires become under-inflated. If you want to add 5 or 10% (or more, depending on conditions and your level of devotion) to your MPG, then techniques like P&G, driving slower, over-inflating, etc. will produce results.

 

Re: How to achieve the best gas milease??

It's referring to tire pressures in psi for the rears and fronts.

 

learn to draft behind other cars. wax ur car. maintain optimum tire pressure. brake less. maintain more consistent throttle. if driving in a hurry keep rpm near peak torque as that is where the combustion engine gets the most power out of the fuel meaning more efficient use of fuel.

 

Drafting behind a car won't do much unless you're dangerously close, and I'd never recommend that. P**ing off other drivers and potentially getting into an accident or running over debris in the road and blowing a tire doesn't save money or resources in the long run. You can however benefit from drafting a truck by staying 1-2 seconds back, which is not an unusual distance and lets you see debris/potholes soon enough to avoid driving over them.

Waxing is probably inconsequential, IMO. Heating/cooling usage has a much bigger effect.

Tire pressure is important, I go with 10% over the placard in the door frame (well under the tire sidewall rating). You get diminishing returns as you increase the tire pressure above that.

The rest is correct, accelerate normally, brake lightly. Use the heating/cooling as little as possible. Combine short trips as much as possible. In general, avoid using battery power only to move the car.

Learn the stages of engine warmup, pulse and glide if you want more advanced techniques.