POOR MPG IN THE RAIN

It takes a lot of energy to pump water off the road and spray it into the air.

Yes, it happens to every vehicle.

 

Yep. Also see Car and Driver: Mileage? No, it's Your Gallonage that Really Counts | PriusChat and run some gallonage calculations for yourself.

 

Try owning one here in Seattle.... Yes, rain definitely makes a difference.

 

At 8.34 lbs per gallon, it's gonna slow you down. Just be thankful it does not rain tapioca pudding....

 

noticed the same thing. Interesting how being aware of your MPG makes you so aware of all of the variables that affect it, which many of us never considered in our past driving lives...

 

Same here. It actually hasn't rained that much since I got my C, but the few times it did I noticed a marked decrease in my MPGs. Thank goodness I live in the desert!

 

try sleet and snow.. lol
i was avg 4.8l/100 on a tank (49mpg) in nice weather
now im avg about 5.7l/100 per tank(41.27)in winter

 

In my toyota matrix I averaged 8 less MPG in my 36.5 mile commute than normal, decent rain all the way home yesterday. Wind makes a big difference also I noticed when hypermiling

 

Try winter driving >.<

 

It rained pretty hard on my commute home on Wednesday. It took me 2 hours to get home which is only 16 miles away and normally takes 45 minutes to an hour. I noticed the mileage tanked from my standard 60's to 49. Here in Central West Florida we have nasty thunder boomer down pours in the Spring and Summer. I use to love driving in the rain, now I'm not too sure. However, Princess Pea held her own in the rain much better than what I thought she would. I was rather surprised because of the LRR tires and less grip than what I'm use to. But it did well. But then again, the tires have less than 2K miles on them. LOL

But yeah, mileage can tank in ran storms.

 

Try to drive with the hurricane, not against it. It isn't just the liquid water. The humidity also has an impact. In a Prius you'll notice EVERYTHING affects the fuel economy.

 

I know this is probably not what this particular thread is about, but this was the first post I see that mentioned about rain. For this car, whats the "safe" amount of water level can this car drive through before doing any harmful/expensive damage? I'm assuming a small puddle would be fine, but I would like to know the limit this car able to handle. Houston is known for the their floods every now and then when it starts raining so I just want to be prepared.

 

Expensive damage would depend on the persons income... but for me, it would be water above the door plates. Once it gets into the car you pretty much have to replace the carpet... next on the rise is above the exhaust manifold as you are now flooding the engine. (Please note: submerging the exhaust pipe will not allow exhaust gases to escape creating a back pressure situation that can hurt the motor as well. Just because the engine is out of the water doesn't mean you are safe.)

 

Yes that was what I meant by "harmful/expensive" damages lol BUT, my insurance should cover that. Overall, I will keep in mind any water level thats even near my door plates I will be extremely cautious. Thanks for the tip!

 

Insurance companies will try to fight flood damage. If they can prove in any way that you drove the car into the water knowing it was deep, they won't cover it. So you should always go with the safe approach. If you can't see how deep it is, go around.

 

Rain isn't really a big deal. My mpg was *barely* affected by rain when I did a few hours of highway or fast-backroad travel in the rain a few weeks back (and with my lights on):
57 mpg in the rain and 61 mpg on the backroads
- I basically get these same numbers when it isn't raining.
Rain isn't such a big deal to me as wind or winter travel.

 

Yeah, mine takes a hit of about 3 mpgs.

 

My drop is a bit higher - 5-10% of the mpgs I'd get otherwise. ~70 mpg to/from work when it's dry, ~65 mpg when it's wet. Flinging more water around means I can't glide as far.

 

5% of 70 is 3.5mpgs