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Now that its 60's its back to 60 mpg

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Fuel Economy' started by tedjohnson, Apr 10, 2011.

  1. tedjohnson

    tedjohnson Member

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    finally - I have been waiting since October to get my mpg's back to the 60's and now that New England hits the 60's (degrees F that is) my mpg 's finally came back. Welcome springtime. :cheer2:
     
  2. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    ain't it saweeet?
     
  3. mainerinexile

    mainerinexile No longer in exile!

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    Amen. I had a 73 mpg half-tank on the MFD this week, and it was only in the 50s here in NH, way up north of you southerners in Mass! :)

    We are at the first year anniversary of our Prius (23,000 miles), and I am convinced that the break-in period for best gas mileage is something like 10,000 or 15,000 miles.
     
  4. Mark57

    Mark57 2021 Tesla Model 3 LR AWD

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    It's always a nice welcome in addition to Spring. So we'll expect to see some 70's from you when your temps hit 70 right? ;)
     
  5. mad-dog-one

    mad-dog-one Prius Enthusiast

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    Regardless of the driving conditions, we rarely get above 60 MPG in either of our Gen 3 Prii (package V and II) in So California where our winters are mild. How much of the difference between our more conservative FE and the mileage that East Coast folks are reporting is due to differences in our gas? We have 87 octane regular gas with 10% ethanol in California.
     
  6. mainerinexile

    mainerinexile No longer in exile!

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    We have the same gas here in New England.
     
  7. F8L

    F8L Protecting Habitat & AG Lands

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    Congrats! I'm jealous of you Geniii guys. Even with a 6% high reading you are still rockin' awesome numbers!
     
  8. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    yo can't say 'regardless of driving conditions', they can have a huge effect on fe. and driving style.
     
  9. mad-dog-one

    mad-dog-one Prius Enthusiast

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    Of course driving conditions are important; that was the point. Regardless of our best efforts, we seldom get better than the 60 MPG reported by others. Although we are delighted with the mileage that our Prii deliver (usually between 48 and 52 MPG without trying), I was wondering whether part of the reason for the better mileage reported by some in this thread might be due to differences in East Coast region vs. California gas. It seems that at least some and perhaps all of the New England gas is like we have in California (10% ethanol 87 octane), so this won't explain the difference. Does anyone have experience comparing FE differences for 89 vs. 87 (10% ethanol) octane regular?
     
  10. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    Nice! Still hovering around 53mpg on the MFD (which probably means 50mpg or less calculated).
     
  11. mikewithaprius

    mikewithaprius New Member

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    Mad dog,

    I think it's just that people who are very into hypermiling are the ones most excited about their mileage, and post it more, so you see what looks like a representative sample, but which is in fact the abnormal folks :). I don't think it's representative of East Coast gas or anything (do we have gas?).

    A woman at my church had 48 mpg on her display over the tank, and we went out for a little Prius driving lesson afterwards today. She learned how to glide, warp stealth, etc., and when we got back to the parking lot a half hour later we were at 63 true mpg from Scangauge. I think it's just driving style.

    fyi, I'm all about the cheapest 87 I can find!
     
  12. Corwyn

    Corwyn Energy Curmudgeon

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    Why don't you drive your next tank's worth, 'with trying'? Tell us what you get.
     
  13. San-Francisco

    San-Francisco Junior Member

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    Hi Mainerinexile,

    I`m quite new here, and I`m wondering from what mileage you can notice the engine starts to break-in.
    From what mileage did you notice the first effects?
    My car is a Toyota Auris Hybride, a new model that is available in Europe only.
    It has the same drive-train as the Toyota Prius III, so I`m looking forward to see the first effects of the engine`s breaking-in.
    I have the car since Oct. 28 and so far I have driven 3100 miles.
    Thanks and greetings from Almere, the Netherlands.
     
  14. jayrider

    jayrider Member

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    Traffic jam saturday --- 5 minutes pegged at 100 mpg and 5 minutes at 75 mpg. Almost made the aggravation worth it.
     
  15. mad-dog-one

    mad-dog-one Prius Enthusiast

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    I routinely drive to maximize mileage and have experienced trips where mileage was as high as the low to middle 60s. Hypermileing would be easy if I could drive an artificial course that maximized mileage, but that would defeat the purpose of my car that I got to meet my daily transportation needs that are more varied. My daily routine involves too many short trips on hilly terrain with a cold ICE to average 60 MPG on a whole tank. My question was about the impact of regional differences in fuel (e.g. 87 vs. 89 octane regular and others that may exist) on FE, not about whether we can hypermile in our Gen 3 Prii when conditions allow.
     
  16. alfon

    alfon Senior Member

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    Here in the northwest we have not seen 60 degrees since Oct. 2010.

    It rains usually at least 25 days out of 30. Temps are in the 40's to sometimes the low 50's.

    Also, gas here in Oregon is mandated by law to be
    at least 10% Ethanol all year long, isn't that nice....

    Are last tank was calculated at 47.9 mpg. This is mostly with
    my wife driving who does not drive with fuel economy in mind.

    With temps in the 50's and dry roads highway mpg's is normally
    in the low 50's mpg, calculated. In summer with temps 65-75, hwy mpg's are almost alway in the upper 50's. Even with my wife driving we almost always get at least 50 mpg, calculated.

    Our family is looking forward to summer. This has been the most
    rain soaked winter and spring in the last 20 years I have been living here.

    al
     
  17. F8L

    F8L Protecting Habitat & AG Lands

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    Some areas of the country do have different blends of fuel and some are lucky enough to have a choice between ethanol treated and non-treated. So that can play a part in there difference in fuel economy some people post. I think the main difference is in the daily driving conditions and style than in the fuel.

    No reports of mpg gain from using higher octane have been reported. Bob did a few tests with higher octane but there was no evidence of greater fuel economy with the higher octane. The test did show that in high load situations (up hill driving) there was a benefit with regards to timing but I'd have to review the tests again before I can say more.
     
  18. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    ouch, that's depressing. i thought the northeast was bad!:p
     
  19. mad-dog-one

    mad-dog-one Prius Enthusiast

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    Some people have described mileage improvement after break-in, although we have 12k and 18k on our Gen 3 Prii and have not noticed a change. Welcome to the group. How do you like your Auris? :welcome:
     
  20. San-Francisco

    San-Francisco Junior Member

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    The Auris is a very good car!
    And so far with 3000 miles on it, I expect it to get more FE even.
    I have tried to put a picture as an avator, but I dit not succeed to do so, I get every time the message: opload failed.
    I managed to reduce the size of the pivture to 100X86 pixels, but no succes so far.
    But if you google a bit, you can find loads of pistures of this type of car.
    I still have the lower grill blocked, I have no scangauge, but this car indicates the temperature of the ICE with a number of horizontal lines, and it never gets more than 6 lines on it.
    The upper grill is unblocked at temperatures above 52 degrees, I don`t want my inverter to overheat, and the lower grill,I keep it closed untill about 60 degrees.
    On highways I drive at speeds of 60 mph.
    Greetings,

    Arnold