New Prius owner. This is going to take some getting used to.

Someone on this site posted once about the gas gauge and the amount of gas each gas pip has. I can't find it but I think it was some thing like, first pip 1.38 gals. next 8 pips the same 1.o gals. and the last pip like .62 gals. My numbers probably are not right but you get the idea. Thats why first pip last long and last pip goes really quick. I may be wrong but thats what I remember.

 

Since I've owned a Prius- I've maintained that if the gas gulping SUV's had the big in-your-face MPG display like the Prius has- many people would drive them quite differently. Once they see that MPG figure going down to "0 MPG" while accelerating from 65 to 80mph while going up a hill- they may think twice about doing that.

 

Congrats on your "P"! It is a learning curve. I did not like the GPS at first but like it now. The SAT radio sucks because trees can block a signal.
Put your music on a USB stick. The radio can read it. I have 3,000 songs on one stick & another 2000 on another stick.
I just had the windows tinted. The G3 will work. Just got to figure it out. You should be able to get help here.
I just completed a 1100 mile round trip. I got 51 MPG doing 65-70 in heavy traffic at times. Should of taken 9 hours one way but took 12. Coming back I went 75 to 80 MPH. Did not even try to save gas. I just wanted to get home. 10 hours later, 4 people with luggage in the car, I got 47 MPG. Not bad. The back window does take some getting use to, BUT it blocks the other cars headlights. Tell us how much you end up saving in a month. I am spending about $26 a tank full of gas.

 

It should be, but that has nothing to do with the reading the fuel gauge displays. That's based on the float in the tank.

 

I'm not sure that I understand, but I think that you're saying that Prius drivers are actually interested in how many miles they can go on one bar of the fuel gauge?

 

No! I'm telling you: The fuel gauge display level (pip's) is based on the float inside the fuel tank.
The MPG numbers are based on fuel used and computed through the ECM. MPG calculations
don't control the fuel gauge reading.

 

Actually I have been in that situation.

I once owned a 1975 Chevy 3/4 ton pick with a 350CID engine, a Rochester 4 barrell carburetor and 4-speed granny gear manual transmission. It also had a unique feature, a vacuum gauge. It was surprising how often I would back off the gas when I saw the vacuum gauge go into the red zone. With the help of the vacuum gauge I could get up to 14 MPG. While compared to many other vehicles this would seem poor, at that time, with that vehicle it seemed good.

I also had a 1983 and a 1988 Thunderbirds, each with 5.0 liter V8 and trip computers. I could frequently 30 MPG with those two cars.

The last car I will mention is my 1996 4X4 with 5.7 liter and HD towing package. I originally bought my Scan Gauge II for the suburban for when I was towing my camper. I would often use the ignition timing and instantaneous MPG to help deter me from hot rodding it. I found when not towing I could get around 17 MPG. My real frustration was when coasting downhill with my foot off the gas the instantaneous MPG will never go above 40 MPG. Hense the frustration of vehicles that get poor MPG, even with techniques like hypermilling those vehicles have limitations which lead to frustration, which leads to giving up on trying to get good MPG.

Now when I see the instantaneous MPG on the Scangauge II go above 2000 MPG when connected the Prius, the frustration is gone and I feel like I finally found the car that is right for me.
Now if only I could Red Green and Tim Taylor to help me convert 2 hybrid Camarys into a 4X4 pickup so I can pull my 6000 lbs camper, lol.

 

They might back off a little, but when they take their foot off the gas at 65 MPH and the MPG only goes up 35 to 40 MPG they will soon realize there isn't much they can do to get better MPG, other than get a different vehicle.

 

Yes, you are reading too much into it. As in nearly all cars, the fuel gauging components are cheap, nonlinear, and variable, and must visually smooth out the considerable sloshing around in the tank.

On mine, the first bar takes the longest to drop, the second is the shortest. Then the next seven are somewhat reasonable approximations of a gallon each, but still not consistent enough for measuring MPG.

 

I'm asking about owners' behavior. Why would anyone care if the fuel level float hits a stop?

(And I did assert in an earlier post that the injector delivery determines MPG and you keep explaining this to me?)

 

Because, it explains the OP's question:

 

Oh, I'm not howehandles ..............

 

Oooopppppppppssssss!

 

For those of us who usually keep a car 10-20 years, long enough that the fuel bill of a non-hybrid exceeds its purchase price, this is a no-brainer.

 

The pay back is a lot sooner now. Plus it is a midsize car.

SCH-I535 ? 2

 

On the surface, it does look like a no-brainer. But mathematically, it depends on the total annual miles a person put on the car. There are people who live and work in the same small town. There are people who share rides so they may only use the car a couple of times per week. If I were in those situations, it would take me over 10 years before I actually start saving money. If gaso price drops, it will even take me longer. The U.S. is starting to produce their own oil and other energy sources. Natural gas may even compete with gaso as the energy source to power cars someday. If they do it right, NG car has a good chance to become more popular than EV's.

 

I know what you mean about adjusting to the Prius. I have driven nothing but Lincoln towncars for the last 25 years. The big car has been parked in the garage since I bought my Prius, almost one month ago. I find the Prius just so much more fun to drive. There is no comparison in the comfort but all said the Prius makes up for it with just the mpg, and all the features mine has. I have nav, solar roof, leather. I think the Prius is a wonderful vehicle. I've been to Colorado 13 times, all in Town Cars, but I can't wait to make one in just 5 more weeks in my Prius. I've filled up five times now just learning how to drive the Prius and my mileage is 48.1 calculated. My Lincoln looks like it going on the selling block, love my Prius. Like the commercial say, "there's a prius for everyone".

 

If the Prius is going less than 7 mph, the braking is all done by the pads. Regen braking only occur at 7 mph or above. I don't believe it has anything to do with the temperature of the engine.

The speed limit in my neighborhood is 25 mph, there are also a few stop signs, and I have to drive a about 5 minutes before getting on the main road. Because of this, I just warm up my car by driving slowly, even in the winter, I just drive off slowly. By the time I get to the main road, the car would be warmed up.