Just got your Prius?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by TonyPSchaefer, Jan 5, 2006.

  1. TonyPSchaefer

    TonyPSchaefer Your Friendly Moderator
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    So, it's the start of 2006 and a lot of people are taking delivery of their new Prius. Then a bunch of them wonder why they are not seeing 55 - 60 MPG on their drive home or the next day. The answer is multi-facetted and very well documented by Evan Fusco in this document:
    http://priuschat.com/forums/knowled...ussion/37214-why-don-t-i-get-epa-mileage.html

    Additionally, I figured that throughout this thread experienced drivers can remember their break-in period and contrast with their ongoing experiences.

    For me personally, I pretty much drove like a maniac for the first few weeks and even took Priapus to Nebraska and So. IN within a couple months. The winter was a great opportunity to learn how to drive the car under difficult mileage conditions. But in the end, I think I'm the better driver for it. I think the mileage chart in the link in my signature tells the tale.
     
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  2. jfschultz

    jfschultz Active Member

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    Its almost like I have a new car after the SSC-50P ECU updates. I am still on the first tank after the service, but so far it is encouraging.

    On my drive to work there are two segments that I can always drive without the ICE in warm weather. Today was the first time I was able to do that with the temperature in the mid-30's (snowflake on). It did help to have some mail to drop off at the Post Office, which added warm up time getting to that no ICE first segment.
     
  3. efusco

    efusco Moderator Emeritus
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    good idea Tony, in fact, I'm going to "Pin" this topic for a while.

    There's definately a break in period for the car and for the driver and with so many people getting the car in winter I know we're going to see a ton of "disappointed with MPG" posts.

    Just hold out, try to learn what the car is doing, try your best to try various techniques to see how the car responds and don't sweat the mileage until April or May. If you're still in the mid or low 40s in May re-read the article Tony linked to above and let us know.

    It takes a solid 2-3k miles to break in the tires alone. The rest of the mechanical components seem to take around 6k miles or so.

    1)Buy a nice tire guage--the digitals are convenient and easy to read.
    2)Buy a rechargable/portable air pump combo jump starter and use it to maintain your tire pressures (see article above)
    3)Learn to check your oil level
    4)Just drive it...play with different techniques, for sure, but don't hold up traffic, don't be a traffic risk, just have fun and with time you'll start seen the kind of mileage you're hoping for (there are, of course, exceptions. But we'll address those in the Spring)
     
  4. Uncle GroOve

    Uncle GroOve New Member

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    I agree...
    After one month I'm definitely surprising myself with little tricks here and there. Hope they pay off in the spring / summer :)
     
  5. jacaufie

    jacaufie New Member

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    Okay, I'll bite - what's a SSC-50P ECU? Is this the car's firmware or something to that effect?
     
  6. MNPrius

    MNPrius New Member

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    Almost at the 5000 mark and consistently getting about 42 MPG - admittedly it hasn't been super cold in MN of late, but I do use A/C (heat) and have short trips (both MPG busters) in short I just drive it -- so I'm happy with the results so far! :D
     
  7. cgraham

    cgraham Member

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    Let's try again: what's a SSC-50P ECU ???????
    And why is it needed on a 2006?

    Thaks someone!

    C

     
  8. galaxee

    galaxee mostly benevolent

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    the SSC 50P campaign was a firmware upgrade for the ECUs on some 04s and 05s to correct the potential for the car to stall.

    it's not applicable to the 06s.
     
  9. cgraham

    cgraham Member

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    Thanks Galaxee: I guess that sentence was ambiguous:

    "Its almost like I have a new car after the SSC-50P ECU updates."
    C
     
  10. montelb@ada.k12.oh.us

    [email protected] New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(TonyPSchaefer @ Jan 5 2006, 10:39 PM) [snapback]184584[/snapback]</div>
    I'm not sure your link is still good. I'd love to read the article. If there is an updated link, please post!
    Thank you.
     
  11. ThomLP

    ThomLP New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE([email protected] @ Jan 22 2007, 12:13 PM) [snapback]379048[/snapback]</div>
    Let me add my request to the one above. Just got my Prius a month ago and would love to read the article.
     
  12. cgraham

    cgraham Member

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    I have PM'd Dr. Fusco to request a new link or re-post.


    My own experience with an '06 Prius is that I never saw an effciency increase (now at 20K).

    It has always averaged about 50 mpg under moderate driving conditions on the highway (65 mph), and ~46 when I drive 11 miles downhill to town (1000' elevation drop) and back a few times, driving as conservatively as possible.

    However, one has to be cautious about great milage claims. There is a bias to remembering the high milage tanks or trips and ignoring the poorer ones. Wind direction, gradient and speed appear to be the major factors affecting economy. Remember, wind is a significant adverse factor except when blowing within 45 degrees of the rear of the car (.e. it is an adverse factor 3/4 of the time!) When driving long distances, it is pretty easy to plot decreasing mpg against increasing mph on a flat road during a windless day. However, these conditons are seldom satisfied here (NM).

    After noticing startling differences in mpg as these 3 factor vary, I'm very cautious about making any claims about efficiency in the short term. Over the long term, an improvement in efficency might be documented, but be due to adopting more conservative driving habits, which the displays and experience certainly encourage.

    C
     
  13. LanceinOregon

    LanceinOregon New Member

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    The link to this article is broken.

    Will no one fix it????

    Lance
     
  14. efusco

    efusco Moderator Emeritus
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  15. jgills240

    jgills240 Member

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    I've had mine for just over 2 weeks now, and with a whole 8 mile round trip to work, I wasn't seeing much over 40 average (not too much over my old car). Then just last night I "got" to sit in traffic on the freeway for about 7 or 8 miles and got 75-80 mpg for those miles!! WEEHW! changes your perspective on traffic pretty quick! (as long as you're not late to work.) Anyway, I'm stoked enough on that to not be bothered by my loss in MPG due to short commute... B)

    ps: that's a cool symbol you have there Lance in Oregon...
     
  16. LanceinOregon

    LanceinOregon New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jgills240 @ Feb 21 2007, 03:18 PM) [snapback]394229[/snapback]</div>

    I'm now getting an average of 42 MPG with my new 2007 Prius. For some reason, my first tank of gas that came with my car only gave me 29 MPG.

    That symbol is actually the corporate logo of Beretta Corporation. They are the oldest maker of sporting firearms in the world. I am into bird hunting ( we have lots of ducks here in Oregon ), and I also do a lot of clay target shooting with my shotguns. All of my shotguns are made by Beretta, and are just as handsome as my Prius.

    Here are some photos of my Berettas:


    [​IMG]


    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
  17. JamieS

    JamieS New Member

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    Thanks! That was a really helpful article.
     
  18. jimgrames62

    jimgrames62 New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(efusco @ Jan 6 2006, 09:10 AM) [snapback]184728[/snapback]</div>
    any idea why some priuses get 55mpg and others 45mpg? i drive like a grandma or the speedlimit, always slowing early and acceling slow.
     
  19. 1fixitman

    1fixitman Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jimgrames62 @ Jun 6 2007, 04:34 PM) [snapback]456859[/snapback]</div>
    You should google the term hypermiling and check out a few of the sites and the driving techniques. Where I live at I can coast one mile from my house and coast all the way into my driveway. Do you draft 18 wheelers on the interstate? Have you pressurized the tires up to the max pressure on the side of the tires vs. keeping at the toyota specs? At least 42 front / 40 rear. If you have trimrings have you removed them to remove wind shear? Do you constantly run your AC or have you tried temps near 77 or 78? Have you tried a different route to work to see if it improves gas milage enough to run the alternate route? Do you run your errands to the location that is the longest distance first to give your ICE time to warm up or do you stop at the closest place first? Some of these techniques may be illegal in your state....like coasting in neutral. Check your local laws. Call the state patrol and find out. Who is going to pop thier head in your vehicle to tell you to put it back in drive? Read the hypermiling links for a solid week or two and you will have the knowlege I do. It is not driving slow but knowing when to do it and the techniques. Do you know what pulse and glide is? Do you look three lights ahead to determine wether you need to coast or push the gas a little more? Know what FAS and DFAS is because it is mentioned many times on the hypermiling sites. .....cleanmpg hypermiling greenhybrid add a dot com to these and you can start learning. Do you have the EV mod installed yet? Have you installed a block heater or designed a catalytic converter heater to work in your car? I think you get my sense of knowledge that is available on this subject solely on the internet. Now get to google and look it up:)
    D Rock B)
     
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  20. RicCorless

    RicCorless Junior Member

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    ...yes, a 2008. Just a minor question: how the heck do you remove the cover over the 12v battery? Specifically... that is, does it pull up on the cargo edge first, or pull directly toward the cargo area, or...???? The one in my Prius is sooo tight that I'm afraid of breaking something (it acts as if it's permanently mounted), and there will come a time when knowing this answer will be important!
     
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