New Prius - only 39mpg?

wow.. i thought sopmething is wrong with my prius. thanks to all, i realize what,s wrong with mine..lol i live in bay area and the route i take has lots of hills.

 

This is the best "tip" I have seen.

http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii...y/79086-new-max-mpg-driving-tips-video-1.html

 

As I understand it, you have yet to fill the tank and use a tank you filled up. Do not be surprised when you get better mileage. I try to convince folks not to stress mileage until the third tank, but it is hard to listen.

 

Google says the E350 is rated 18 mpg, and you report 300/18 or 92% of rated. 92% of Prius rated city MPG is 44, so you are about 10% off expected so far.

 

i think you will come back to report >45mpg after few more thousand miles, keep us updated!

 

Very true
My two worst tanks were my first two.

 

I've had my 2010 Prius for about 8 months now. I routinely get about 45.2 mpg (indicated). It's the same in town or on a trip. I am an easy driver and don't do jack rabbit starts, etc. The car is a V model with nav. Normally I am the only one the in the car and tire pressures are set to factory specs. The odometer is at 5000 miles now. I've about resigned myself to the fact that this mileage is as good as it gets on this car. There are no hills here. I tried the over inflation of tires with a small increase in mpg and a dramatic reduction in ride comfort. I've tried all the modes. I leave it in normal now. So, 45 mpg isn't bad at all. It's nowhere near the 50's I hear people report, but it's good enough.

 

BY FAR, the #1 cause of poor fuel economy is the length of your drives.

If you're making mostly short trips - your FE will not improve. That's the nature of ALL automobiles - they don't get optimal FE until they are warmed up which generally takes about 5 minutes in most climates.

-Brad

 

I knew there had to be a down side to my office relocating closer to my home next month!

 

The 17" wheels don't help either. That's why I rarely have them on my car.I get sick of the mpg drop and put the 15s back on.

Curious about your speed on longer trips. Have you taken a trip longer than 50 miles and measured FE just on that trip? If so what was the mpg and what average speed did you maintain?

 

Remember, the real goal is to use less gasoline, NOT to rack up the largest MPG. Driving more to increase MPG is misguided.

 

That is your first tank MPG, the car probably sat overnight at the dealership while turned on, others who test drove it most likely hammered down on the accel to "test it out". I test drove 3 prii before I bought mine, every dealer just walked away and did not turn the cars off. When I bought my car the display read 27 mpg by the time I filled my first tank at 483 miles it read 55 mpg. I don't have hills where I live. I'm looking to break my 60.4 mpg record this summer. My all time FE average is 54.4 mpg.

 

Trust me, I wouldn't trade it. My office is moving from 12 miles away (already a pretty close commute for me) to about 6 miles away.

 

This is true. And cold weather and hilly terrain are both also bad for FE. But one car modification that actually pays for itself within a year or two is an engine block heater. Also block your grill when the daytime temperatures are consistently below fifty degrees F.

The week before I installed my engine block heater I got 36mpg in my 2006 Prius. The week after I installed it I got over 42 mpg. Over my trip from MO to pennsylvania last thanksgiving before getting the EBH, I got about 44mpg. My commute is only ten minutes each way over hilly terrain, so even in the summer the engine barely has time to get warm before I reach my destination. (optimal operating temperature is about 154 degrees Farenheit, until it reaches that it is less efficient.) Over my past tank of gas my average is 46 mpg now that it's mostly above freezing in the day. I have the EBH on a timer so it preheats for three hours before I leave in the morning. It may seem silly to install an EBH after the winter is over, but even in a mild climate it will help your gas mileage to use one. There is a thread on how to install one stickied in one of the priuschat forums, i think either fuel economy or modifications.

 

You could just drive it further (like go to your old office, then back to the new one). At 18 miles, your MPG will go up up up!

 

I have had my 2011 prius for 3 weeks now and it has 945 miles on it. The first tank i got 47.6 mpg and right now I'm at 49.4 mpg. Real happy so far.

 

Hills are a bear for sure. I live in a hilly area and I'm constantly dipping into the power end of the HSI just to get around and keep up with traffic.

When I am in southern NH or southern ME where the roads are flat my MPG shoots up because I can keep it in the low end of the HSI quite easily.