Gas Tank Capacity 2006 Prius?

Where do you live?

 

WOW! What are the odds of that happening?

 

Yes, depending on which country you live in would determine how liquid measures are computed (e.g. U.S. Gal, Imp Gal, or Metric Liters). Since you choose to be a wise guy, figure it out yourself.

 

WikiAnswers - How does an Imperial gallon compare to the US gallon

1 Imperial gallon equals 1.201 US gallons.
9.9 X 1.201 = 11.8899.
So, both are correct. Pi are squared? No, pie are round.izza:

 

2006 Prius Gen 2 - 102k

I just recently drove (around 40F) until I ran out of gas completely. I'm not totally sure if I was completely out yet or not, but I was no longer able to maintain the 79 mph cruise control set speed and slowly was dropping down with the cruise engaged (and the accelerator lacked power to compensate either, engine was quiet) when I decided it was a good idea to take the exit.

I had gone a whopping 330miles since my last fillup, and the avg showed as 44mpg (complete fantasy number, I've heard the LYING/misrepresenting/mismeasuring isn't quite as bad on the gen III's).

When I filled up the tank, less than a minute later, I filled up to a max of 10.6 gallons. This is typical from what other owners with my generation Prius get. (far from the 11.9 advertised) However it does seem that on a really hot day, you are much more likely to get the 11.9 (or closer to it anyway), and vice versa on a cold day.

33mpg is pretty typical for me, though I have been able to get higher on longer highway trips where I didn't have to constantly slow down and accelerate back up to speed due to driver incompetence/inconsideration. The independent testing conclude that this is avg for the gen 2 prius, and the mpg avg it both displays in the console, and that was reported (and supposedly tested as well) to the epa are simply lies based on normal use. It is contrarily pretty clear that with feathering, etc, i.e. driving the car in a way that has no consideration for the people behind you; one can achieve the 60+ mpg promised by the "hybrid dream"

 

welcome!
i stay out of the left lane, do the speed limit and achieve 50 mpg. i see no reason to break the law

 

I have a couple of questions:

1. What are your driving conditions that are leading to the low 33 mpg? What tires do you have on it? Both fueleconomy.gov and fuelly.com are showing an average of around 43 mpg among 2006 Prii still reporting. My 2008 touring model's worst tanks have come when the car has spent 100% of the time here in town and those "worst tanks" have been around 35 mpg.

2. What "independent testing" are you referring to? Based on real-world reporting the EPA did overstate the mileage by 2-4 mpg but nowhere near the 10-15 mpg you are claiming.

As for the number of gallons the tank holds, it's well documented the flexible bladder that holds the fuel in the U.S. version of 2nd generation Prii gets less flexible over time so it holds less and less over time. They don't have a normal tank.

 

put 40 psi in your tires (what kind of tires you have, are they LRR?) check your 12v battery condition, clean out your HV battery fan, try to coast whenever possible, roll up the windows and use the climate control. you should be getting close to 50. I get 51 all summer long.
I usually fill up when the last pip starts flashing, but I've never put more than 9 gallons in mine, and usually it won't even take 8. I hate that stupid bladder...

 

Sounds like Jack needs to check a few things on his car or driving style. Rolling at 79 and complaining about mpg. I'll help break his heart a little more, lol. When I'm in the mood, sometimes I limit myself to 65mph when driving to work and home. 23 miles each way about 70% highway, 20% 40-45mph zones and 10% 35mph zones. The last complete tank I did that with got me just under 52mpg.

Yesterday (Wednesday) I gassed up and drove 110 miles to NC (220 round trip) to pick up a 30k mile 2015 HV battery from a wreck. I was rolling. Up interstate 77, interstate 20 and interstate 95 and was between 80 and 90mph the entire way. The last 20 miles were semi country roads 35-55 mph zones. Just over 44 mpg for the trip

 

Good suggestions but it is irresponsible to tell someone they "should be getting close to 50". The cars like yours delivering 50+ mpg are the anomaly, not the norm. Based on real-world reporting for every 50+ mpg 2nd generation Prius there are two getting 40 mpg or less. Not every car is capable of delivering 50+. The best we can do is help with suggestions in an attempt to get him closer to the 43 mpg average.

BTW, I have never seen my last pip start flashing. The fuel bladder is so inconsistent I always just fill it up at some point when it get down to two bars. At two bars I've had it take as little as 6.8 gallons and as much as 10.1 gallons. I don't like the fuel bladder either.

 

Mine is 2007 with 208k miles. Owned by me since 175k. Average since I took ownership is just shy of 45mpg. I drive it normally without any special technique. On highway I do 75 or more. Something is definitely wrong with the car if it gets 35mpg. It’s not normal. I’ve spoken to many gen 2 owners and 42-48 is normal.

 

There may not be anything wrong with the car. He has not responded at all to questions asking for more information. Driving style (jackrabbit starts and stops?), tires (lrr or not, tire pressure, when the last alignment was done, etc.) and driving conditions (is he turning the car off and on every couple of miles while using it for local deliveries for something like a pharmacy or pizza joint?) could all be contributing factors.. With a combination of those things the car could easily be as low as 33 mpg. We won't know unless he responds with more facts.

 

yeah, maybe he does a lot of in town short trips. I have gotten about the same mileage from all 3 of mine; I believe any of them should get close to 50mpg if the battery is healthy, LRR tires, etc. but then the wife gets low 40's cause she rarely drives more than a few miles at a time.

 

My 2005 was down to 33-35 mpg at 179,000 miles. I have LRR tires, a new traction battery and checked all the usual stuff. Even had a compression test done. No codes just much lower mpg than I was used to.
I finally changed out the air/fuel sensor ( pain to get to). The fuel maps immediately changed. I’m back into mid 40’s to high 40’s. I haven’t hit a 50 mpg tank in a long time but don’t drive to extend range either.
I can only guess that a 14 year old sensor had gotten sloppy.
My wife can get a mid 30 mpg tank but it’s the way she drives.

 

If it makes you feel any better, we are now only getting 5.99 gals into our 2006 from the flashing pip. I was wondering if it made sense to somehow put some pressure on the tank to re-inflate the darn thing. Also it would be fun to be able see the bladder to see if it collapsed or something.

 

pressurizing the tank might help; or it could lead to a > $1000 repair bill. someone needs to travel to japan and slap the ____ out of the engineer that designed this stupid tank.