FuelEconomy.gov official ratings posted - 58 City/53 Hwy Prius Eco - 54 City / 50 Hwy for Prius

Thanks for the reply! I hear you for sure, but in states like Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma and Utah to name a few, 55-60 mph borders on scary when you're out on the long straight roads where you can see for miles, and the speed limit is 70-75 mph. It's weird but 70-75 mph feels safe and sane (and sometimes it feels like you're barely moving) when many are cruising 85+ mph.
That's why I'm wondering what kind of penalty we'll get at 70-75 mph.

 

No break in period is required for modern cars, especially hybrids where the gas engine "rests" even on the highway when you are on a mild downhill. I bought my 2010 Prius in Oregon (long story) and immediately drove home to Colorado. It is still running great after 8 years.

 

Don't know about that. My 2017 felt like it came alive and became a different car when the odometer turned over 1200 miles.

But yeah, how fast you go determines how your mpgs are. Don't expect too much going 70-75. On my daily commute, going 55 max, I get 70-72 mpg.

 

It may indeed perform better after a while. My point was that you won't hurt it to take it on a long trip right away.

 

Just FYI - Per the 2017 Prius owners manual (Page 210 of the official Toyota online manual)
■Breaking in your new Toyota
To extend the life of the vehicle, observing the following precautions is recommended:
●For the first 200 miles (300 km):
Avoid sudden stops.
●For the first 1000 miles (1600 km):
• Do not drive at extremely high speeds.
• Avoid sudden acceleration.
• Do not drive at a constant speed for extended periods
That last one would apply to a cross country interstate drive.
Peace

 

In my experience ambient temperature, wind direction and speed, road surface, and most important grade up or down all contribute to highway cruising mileage. Relatively speaking (discarding long downhill or uphill terrain) I've noticed highs of 70 mpg and frustrated at lows of 44 mpg over sections of freeway. And I drive 75 mph.

 

Hi tucatz,
Thank you for that first hand info! Very good info when estimating my fuel bill. I had to grin at being unhappy with 44 mpg at 75 mph. I've never had anything that could get near 44 mpg at any speed!
Peace

 

Peace. Glad to help. We used to say "peace, love, and bicycle grease". Now it's peace love and mpgs...

 

Love road trips! I've had my 4 touring for 7 months and 13,600 wonderful miles. Lifetime mpg of 49.9 mpg is the best I have ever enjoyed in a 4 wheel mobile.

 

The mpg for my car is pretty much exactly what the official gov ratings say it will be. I can't argue with that. Very happy with the gas mileage... So satisfied that I rarely track it anymore. I turned off the hybrid displays and info so as not to be distracted. Now all I see is the radio station screen, a compass, the odometer and the gas gauge. My Prius has gone back to the 1970s.

 

Just like you never left at all!!!!

IMHO CoastRider = CoastCruiser2

 

Yeah it's like that here too. Rolling down a long hill here last night with my wife (west side approach to the Barnet Highway), in the tail end of rush hour, it starts with a 50 kmh limit, then goes to 60, then just pass the bottom of the hill goes to 80. You can pretty much use momentum, with an occasional tap on the gas, to keep yourself just around the limit.

And doing that, we're virtually being swarmed, by hyperthyroid speeders. They all end up in a "clot", just a ways ahead of us. But they're compelled to behave like this, everyone doing their level best to get ahead of everyone, lol.

 

When I'm traveling at 73 mph (the highest speed at which I've observed the engine shutting down going downhill), I've observed low 50s for MPG typically.

 

Duh! You still have 7 lives. Next time how about "ghost rider" or " the wonderful wizard of Oz". You need to go on a long road trip and report back to us with mileage and other useful data.

 

I drove 20 miles to work today at 77mph average speed and still achieved 55mpg. In my 2015 the same road the same speed I would have achieved 42mpg.

 

30% increase in efficiency? toyota rules! why is epa test so negative?

 

It was a very very rare day when I could achieve EPA numbers in my gen 3, but I can regular reach and exceed it in my gen 4 on the same roads.

I suspect the gen 4 just performs much better than the gen 3 in hot and hilly environments. There literally is not a single second whatsoever when I am not either going up or down a hill.

 

That could be what helps my fuel consumption on local trips through Cornwall and Devonshire UK, but I suspect predominantly defensive driving, ie, non-aggressive is an important factor

 

Just brought a used 2016 Gen4 Prius 3 with 36k miles. I commute 105 miles per day round trip into DC 5 days per week. I’m getting 75mpg on the Prius screen and actual gas pump calculations are 70mpg. I fill up once per week, rarely go above 70mph on my commute, and I keep the AC running. This calculation is for the month of July. This mpg far exceededs my expectations! I love my Prius!

 

Except for I95 HOT Lanes which may have nixed your free HOV for hybrids, you'd really be cookin'
We gotta decide our next vehcile soon. Maybe used v like you did.