Welcome to the 800+ Mile Club! I thought it would be fun to start three new clubs. One for those who have reached 600 miles on a tank of gas, one for those nutty members who have reached the vaulted 700 mile ranks and an 800+ club for those truly skilled enough to go well beyond nutty and have the hypermiling skills to match. What makes makes these high mile tanks so remarkable is the fact the Prius is cursed with a rather small fuel tank of only 11.9ga. While some other high mpg vehicles like the VW TDi can easily achieve a 700-800mile tank, they have much more fuel capacity (Passat =18.5ga, Jetta = 14.5ga) such that you don't have to achieve very high mpg numbers to pull one off. I saw no reason to create the 800+ mile club because very few people have achieved such a feat and most are located in Japan or not members of this forum. Today markabele broke the 800 mile mark with an astounding 77.5mpg tank so here is his thread. Requirements: A picture of your HSI display with the required number of miles A description of your techniques (doesn't have to be exhaustive) and conditions Time of year How long you ran on the blinking low-fuel warning light 800+ Mile Club Members bennela (GenIII) 824.6 miles @ 66.3mpg markabele (GenIII) 818.7 miles @ 79.1mpg Kore971 (GenIII) 813.4 miles @ 75.6mpg (on 17s) Agent J (GenII) 808.7 miles @ 70.21 mpg vincent1449p (Prius c) 807.8 miles @ 87.7mpg Mark57 (GenIII) 805.2 miles @ 79.3mpg MattPersman (GenIII) 801.8 miles @ 73.2mpg walter lee (GenIII) 800.1 miles @ 73.4mpg
First, thanks Justin! Without you and David's (and many others) posts and great numbers I wouldn't have had the knowledge or motivation to do this. Hope that didn't sound too award show-ish. That being said I will show all my numbers first and then talk about some of my methods and madness. 23 days from fill up to empty (34.8 miles/day) all in August with average highs of about 98 800.9 miles 10.744 gallons 24 mph average 77.5 mpg display 74.5 mpg calculated did about an additional 60 miles after DTE hit 0 Methods: This was done on my normal driving around town and my commute. I have a pretty equal mix of slow and go, stop and go, and even some highway stretches where the speed limit is 65. P&G is obviously done as much as possible. The tires are original OEM's and they have just under 8k miles on them. I keep them inflated to about 42/40 or so. I did run A/C every once in a while but obviously not much. Not sure what other details people want to hear but I would be glad to answer any questions about methods or my routes that I take a lot. Mark
Is the terrain for your commute generally flat? What are the prevailing winds like in the morning and evening (i.e. still in the morning, 20 mph tailwind in the afternoon?) How do you accelerate from a stop? Electric only band until X miles per hour? Second big band? Power section?
The terrain in Lincoln is generally fairly flat but there is definitely a mix of rolling hills and a few bigger hills here and there with a pretty decent grade, but they are never very long/big. Ya pretty still in the morning but usually a slight headwind/sidewind in the afternoon. I usually go on electric only to about 12-18 mph depending on if any traffic is behind me. Then I head up to about 7/8 of the ICE band and virtually never hit the power section.
Congratulations! That's a pretty good average speed too! I'm inspired! Are you using 100% gas or 10% ethanol? Did you have to drive in the rain at any time? what is the make/model of the OE tires for your 2012?
Thanks Walter! Using good ol' 100% gas! And no rain. Not totally sure on the tires but I think Assurance Fuel Max. I will have to check in a bit.
excellent job markabele. the terrain here is killing me. I bet if I pushed it I could pull a 500 mile tank. Terrain by bendertj, on Flickr
Mark, that is quite a feat! Checking your Fuelly page, you seem to have jumped over the 600 miles and 700 miles marks altogether! (There is a 599 mile tank however.) I was beginning to wonder if the 2010 - 2012's really had the "stuff". Kudos
VERY impressive result. I know from close on to eight years of pushing hybrids for fuel economy that every mpg over 70 for a full tank is increasingly difficult in regular driving. Once, and only once, did I ever hit 80 mpg on a round-trip. Hitting 75 mpg for an entire tank is just so cool. As for driving in such hot weather with minimal AC, I think all us wannabees should chip in to get you some tint
I agree. It is very easy to lose +70 mpg trip with one error or just some bad luck. To get a +70 mpg from a full tank - I also have to work extra hard to get in a few +80 mpg trips in to offset some -70 mpg trips. - By the end of August - I am expecting that my next tank's range will match Sir Drive-alot's (but I doubt I'll be able to match mark's stellar MPGs and my average speed will be rather pokey 17 mph )
I should add that after 600 miles every 10th of a mpg is tough to come by and every 1mpg is agony. If I do something stupid that drops me from 70mpg to 69.8mpg I sorta feel like McKayla Maroney.
LOL Other people drive as much as Justin, but they do not post pictures of every tank. j/k, Justin achieves amazing fuel economy considering his highway driving and occasional capitulation to the boss.
He's talking about Mark. HE is Sir-Drives-Alot. But thank you. For the record I am already at 18K and I purchased the car March 4th. Ouch!
We drive similar amounts. I can imagine keeping this up for another two years or so, and then I may never drive again LOL. My joking aside, I think it is *great* that you, Mark, and others are enjoying and sharing your hypermiling. I can only hope it is contagious.
Me too, my friend. It would be nice for the general public to realize that driving for efficiency can be every bit as fun as driving fast.
