Hi. I bought my 1st 2008 Prius in Feb 2012. The first thing I really noticed was the "drag" (for lack of a better word) when coasting up to a light... no brake applied... no gas applied.... just... rolling. I noticed my 2008 would not roll as far as I was used to on a standard car. I assumed that was because of some sort of regeneration. Now... last week I bought another used Prius... a 2006. To my surprise, the 2006 seems to roll much further than the 2008!!! Almost like a regular car! So... what am I looking at here?
Are the tyres the same make, type, and size as well as pressures. The other big difference to rolling resistance is wheel alignment front and rear. If tyres are different types please list tyers fitted. Brake binding will also cause the effect. Jack up the car and see if there is drag on any of the wheels. If the drag is that noticeable I would expect the 2006 to get better MPG's than the 2008.
Not sure about the tire types... I'll check it out and post back later... I will say the 2006 is showing 55.3MPG on the display while the 2008 with more drag is getting only 51.5MPG
Typically that's how my Prius feels in "B" mode. Any chance that there's some issue with the 2008 shifter and you're running it in "B" mode instead of "D". I'm sure you would have noticed so if this was the case. Just for comparison though, try running your 2006 in "B" mode and see how the feel compares.
It is possible the 2008 has a different no-gas regeneration rate than the 2006. Try both with a tiny bit of gas pedal (to produce no arrows on the 'energy' screen), and see if they are the same under those circumstances.
i didn't notice any difference in feel between my 04 and 08, but the 08 did seem to get slightly better mileage? now the pip has noticeably more drag.
No doubt! My 2005 used to be able to glide/warp stealth for a full mile is started at 55mph. The 2012 is a joke in comparison. It can barely cover 1/4 of the distance. The 2012 gets significantly better mpg though.