I'm getting low mpg on my 08 prius :(

VAS - dont worry about your mileage. just drive the car. there are plenty of good tips and advice here. i was in the same boat as you, worrying about mileage, etc. bottom line is that your car is new and you should just enjoy/drive it for now. pay particular attention to stealth (NO ARROWS) under 40 mph. you gotta move the throttle just a bit down from neutral to achieve this.

RANCHOGIRL - hey, my kid got her new prius! but it was from santa monica toyota. yes, MSRP and she got the exact color and package she wanted. we're happy! i'll post the photo of mine and my daughters.

TO ALL - i think that mature driving is the best solution for HIGH MPG's. when i say mature driving, i really mean at a slower (NOT DANGEROUSLY SLOW) rate. leave earlier, take your time, stop to smell the roses, etc. dont stab and steer. ****** roll, drive your prius like you ride a bike. accelerate downhill, lift on uphills, glide, use your peripherals to look at the yellow bar on the CONSUMPTION gauge, again, USE YOUR PERIPHERALS. i know how tough it is with traffic riding on your BUTTOCKS like white on rice.............gotta just move or let them move. i go 70mph on the THIRD lane.............but that's advice to start with. my 2 cents.

 

I got my Touring package 5 last week and am getting 46 mpg but I have a 23 mile drive both ways to work (hence the Prius) and most of that is highway. I know that there is an assumption that the Prius does better in stop and go city driving but mine does far better on the highway. Around here there are too many stop lights so in the city I have to stop and then accelerate back to speed too many times. The city is also hilly so in town you could have to come to a full stop then climb uphill. Take it on the highway!


I couldn't believe it - my husband thought 46 mpg wasn't that great! I asked him what he's been reading because 46 sounded pretty good to me.

 

You guys are lightweights, I drive about 200 miles per day. O5 with now 95k on it and even lead footing i get 48ish in the summer and 38-40 in the winter when it goes down to zero or below. (almost every day in the winter)

 

that sounds very low. May be your mfd is off and you are really getting better mpg. Do a few manual calculations. Ive got over 58mpg on my 08 for the last two tanks. a/c kills you.

 

when i hear this, i first cringe, then, i get a bit upset. how can a person LEADFOOT a prius and get 48-ish?????????????? come on, are you being serious or just trying to make a sarcastic point? maybe i got you wrong, but i've been trying to increase my mpg. i'm getting 46.8 really trying. forget leadfooting.

 

I use the cruise on all highway trips. This past weekend I ran from Akron Ohio to Cincinnati Ohio and back to Akron that night all on interstate 71, Filled up and reset everything first thing when I left the house. Total miles travelled was 420 miles. Speedo set at 70 entire way, arrival back at home 54.1 MPG for the round trip. Did I mention that the A/C was set at auto 75 because it was 90 degrees outside. Made good time too 3 hours and 15 minutes each way.

 

I am getting even less than that (46.8) with some effort. I really wonder if it's the highway that makes the difference. My mileage goes down as soon as I get off the highway.

Really, how do we know what gas mileage these folks are getting? Where's the proof? lol

 

Watch the MFD and adjust your driving habits. It is like a game with a goal of getting the yellow bar as high as you can. After a week of playing the MFD game you should unconsciously have better Prius driving habits resulting in higher MPGs.

With that being said.

Short trips kill MPGs on my Prius. I usually get 51-55 MPG with a 50 mile round trip on a daily basis. I took a week vacation and made many short trips within a 3 mile radius and saw my MPGs drop to the low 40's.

 

Well, clubford has a long commute, so as long as he/she's not going over 65 on the highway, that's certainly possible. (And winters aren't quite that bad around here, unless that's in celsius).

Big factors: length of commute, outside temperature, avoiding use of A/C, increased tire pressure, slowing down gently instead of speeding up gently.
After that, it's a matter of changing things a couple percent.

 

I have read something here before about acceleration. Could you explain? Are you supposed to get back to cruising speed quickly then let up on the gas?

With respect to slowing down gently - I assume you mean coasting up to a stop light as opposed to using the gas the whole way then braking?

Still learning.....:help:

 

Short commutes don't necessarily always mean low mpg's. For the first year or so that I owned my '07, I would take my wife to her work and regularly got into the 70's & 80's mpg. Also, by using a block heater for a few hours every morning, I always get over 50 mpg for the first 5-minute bar and often into the 60's. Higher speeds will kill your mpg so, if it's at all practical, try to find a route that replaces your highway portion with slower speed roads. Also, I will not make any specific recommendations but, you won't get decent mileage running tire pressures at factory recommended pressures. Your ride may be smoother but your mpg will suffer.

 

Ding ding ..... we have a winner!

... Brad

 

I use my '08 Prius to deliver papers. The route is 100 miles round trip. Here are my observations.
Normal driving before taking the route was 52 mpg with avg. 40 mile round trip daily.
Now with the route's constant stop and go driving, I get 45mpg but noticed one day that I was only getting 38 mpg??? Turns out that I got gas at a station that puts methanol mixed gas in it's pumps. I have tried going back to my old station and the mileage went back up, and then back to the methanol and the mileage went back down.
Don't know what anyone else is finding out about this "New" gas, but for me, I stay with the pump that uses the same old stuff.
BTW... The tires (Integrety's) are the worse I have ever had. Lost two the same week at about 18K miles. Researching now what tires I should switch to.
This paper route is a great retirement income. About 1K per month and a 37 cent per mile gas allowance. Making money going and coming..... except for the tires......jf

 

You pretty much got it. Initially, most people think they need to use only the battery when accelerating to make the most of the hybrid system, but that's not true. The battery is to help (along with the engine) when you really need it for acceleration, allowing a more efficient engine to be used in the Prius than in other cars its size.

Think of the energy to move the car this way, with each step losing some percentage of the energy:
Gas engine->wheels->regenerative brakes->battery->motor->wheels
(how the battery gets power to move the car) -or-
Gas engine->wheels

So you want to accelerate, ideally, in the energy screen, with arrows from the engine to the wheels, and avoiding anything from the battery to the wheels. But a reasonable acceleration is fine, following general traffic. Looking ahead and slowing down ahead of time allows the engine to turn off for long periods of time, and also possibly regen to occur (depending if it's a glide (no arrows) or a coast, respectively). Braking somewhat hard engages the friction (normal) brakes, and this is just throwing energy away as heat, so you definitely do not want to brake hard. That's why I say braking gently or slowing down gradually is more important than starting slowly for maximum fuel efficiency.

 

I am still considered a newby. My car was delivered in May. I drive 3 miles to work four times a week and 30 miles to my suburban facility once or twice a week. I have just over 2000 miles on the car, as of this message. I have always been a hypermiler..even with my gus sucking SUV. I remember my father drove the same way. Must be a genetic characteristic. What I found is the best help is to have a day or two where you take your Prius on the road for a relaxing drive between your short trips. Everything else has been stated and restated. BTW, I have been averaging 48 + mpg's. My short trips to work are at 5 am so I am lucky, no traffic, no stop and go. When my wife has the car the MPG's drop drastically...she loves jamming the gas and brake pedal. I didn't understand where she could have picked up these driving habits until I rode with her family members....yes, its all genetics!

 

Well I have 1k miles on my '08. First tank I averaged 48 mpg, second tank 53.6 mpg and 3rd tank is at 49.5. If I only did my 10 mile one way commute I could average 55 mpg easy. The key is I get on the highway for the first part with the cruise set at 53 mph. This gives the car a chance to charge the battery. The second half is in town driving. Now with a full battery I can really get the mpgs up. Maybe you could try to alter your route to something like this?

My latest tank I am at 49 mpg after driving the prius fully loaded down in 100 degree heat to go camping. On the way home I drove in the high 60's because the wife was anxious to get home. So it is totally doable.

 

Thanks Nerfer. What you said makes sense!

 

awesome...now where's my COOKIE

 

Just put first tank of gas at 380 mi put 8.21 gl gas 46.34 MPG not to bad for first tank half going back in forth to work other half just driving around, to work the wife did half and I did half me round trip 6 mi wife 16mi the other half was part hiway part reg. I'm happy with the 1st tank. Did I say the wife and I love the car................

 

Get an engine block heater, it will help your number a lot with your short commute.

Also, move to a house on the top of a little hill, going downhill during warmup helps a lot. :tongue1: