I averaged 30.3 mpg after a 650 miles ski trip in the Prius...

Considering what you were packing, I say you did OK. As long as it was comfortable drive... it will average out of the life of the car.

 

Can you imagine what the MPG would be on a "normal" car if you did all this?

 

+1

It's like noticing bad MPG in cold weather and saying the Prius isn't good in cold. Still FAR better than the other choices. It's just that damn MPG display making us more sensitive to it all the time.

- D

 

i think you're absolutely right. but the point is, what mileage would you get with a 'normal' car?

 

i like your answer just fine, but when you don't go to mammouth in your accord and the weather warms up, you were still getting 25 mpg while i was getting 60.

 

Took a trip from Texas to Florida several years ago in a Nissan Quest. With so much highway driving I was expecting to see a jump in mpg, but with rooftop luggage carrier we saw a dramatic drop in mpg. Don't recall the numbers, but the drop was dramatic, very noticeable.

 

definately. the prius is optimized for mpg's when it leaves the factory. most changes/alterations will have a modest to major hit.

 

Mammoth is at what? 7,900 feet, and you schlepped a full load up there? Where'd you start from?

 

low 40's are what I get when crusing at 10,000ft over the Rocky Mountains (no case uptop, my 180cm skis fit perfectly with the back seat folded down). (Usually high 40's low 50's)

Honda Civic hybrid gets mid 20's with the same trip. Skis have to be put in diagonally in the back since the trunk doesnt fold down... (Usually low 40's)

Lexus RX gets high teens on the same trip. (Usually low to mid twenties).

So for all the weight and the added air-killer, I would say not bad.

 

My "cruising" is going up and down a few thousand vertical feet many many times over. I am not sure what other factors would play into FE at our altitudes. There is less air for ICE compression though...

 

It ain't the altitude, it's getting there.

And you won't recover everything you lost going back down (Especially if you've buggered the aerodynamics.) It's the second law of thermodynamics.

 

My non-hybrids always produced better mpg at higher altitude, noticeable even at 3k-4k feet. A week spent in and around Yellowstone Park and Beartooth Pass, at elevations of 6k-11k feet and typical speed of 35 mph, produced spectacular results. If only I knew about hypermiling back then.

Non-hybrids gain two advantages in thin air -- less air drag and less part-throttle engine pumping loss. Atkinson cycle hybrids do not get the latter. Or more correctly, they get that advantage all the time, even at sea level, so the elevation change makes less difference.

 

I also speak from experience, from a Thule rack originally an Accord hatchback, now on a Subaru Legacy wagon. As older models than yours, and not stationed in CA, they had better baseline mpg.

While weather and road conditions made direct comparison difficult, I'd have been very happy if the ski rack penalty for either could have been reduced to just 5%.

I also question your 4-person cargo load of just 700 pounds. Children? Anorexics? Spring bikini skiers with no change of clothing?

 

Actually better. I returned last week from Skiing hollidays in Italian Dolomiti. My Renault Scenic Diesel 1.9 achieved 33 MPG. Fully loaded with four people plus all ski gear and roof box. Not to mention that speed limit on EU Highways is 130 kph / 83 mph. 80% of my trip was @83 mph on the highway.

 

You have some very small people if you each average 125 #. As your going into a ski area, there had to be a lot of hills (mountains) to ascend. With your afomentioned drag and the hills I would be praising 30 mpg.