Help a Newbie...

There are approximately 4,378 posts on this forum addressing that.

Browse around. The standard hints are:

--inflate tires to sidewall pressure
--do NOT speed
--watch your MFD
--learn the "pulse and glide" technique
--no jack rabbit starts, time stop lights

You're doing fine. The car is your best teacher.

 

You've done well thus far at 50 mpg just driving it normally!

Do some searching on this board - you'll find endless techniques to try. Try searching for "pulse and glide" - it's one of the more used techniques to maximize fuel economy.

Good luck.

... Brad

 

From Baltimore:
If you've purchased a brand new Prius from the dealer and are getting that kind of milage, then I am truely impressed with your 50 mpg. What year is it? 2007, 2008 or 2009?
Some ideas I've found might be of interest to you:
If you travel in different states you may find that your m/g will most likely be less. I've found that gasoline in NC gives better m/g than MD blends. Also highway driving gives better milage than city driving. And using the cruise control when ever possible helps. Otherwise just plain old common sense: proper tire pressure (Guess Who?) and consistant regular accelerator & speed control are the true secrets.

Good Luck. I hope you enjoy yours as much as I do mine.

 

yeah your going to get a lot of messages on this one!

my opinion about inflating the tire pressure to the sidewall : yeah it seems it does improve gas mileage a lot, but it also reduces your "contact patch" to the width of
a bicycle tire. with the prius seeming to eat tires, i do not know why i would want to make
it eat more tires, and i do not think the accelerated wear dead center will look good when it comes to a tire warranty claim


what works for me

rule #1) do not drive anywhere that is only 5-6 minutes away, the prius has this warmup cycle where its #1 priority in life is to warm up the catalytic converter to operating temperature, and if you keep your trip at 5 minutes, you will probably never break 25 miles per gallon driving it

i dont have the feet needed to do the pulse and glide, so what i do in the city is to
stomp on the pedal up to 35-42, let my foot off, and then just lightly keep my big toe
on the pedal, enough to keep it at the current speed, it keeps the either in neutral or the engine off and battery mode on

too much battery can hurt mileage too

when going downhill keep foot off accelerator pedal and do not brake and let all that
energy go back to the batteries

set your automatic climate control to 72, the more warm the climate is set at, the more gas the car will burn

 

yeah your going to get a lot of messages on this one!

my opinion about inflating the tire pressure to the sidewall : yeah it seems it does improve gas mileage a lot, but it also reduces your "contact patch" to the width of
a bicycle tire. with the prius seeming to eat tires, i do not know why i would want to make
it eat more tires, and i do not think the accelerated wear dead center will look good when it comes to a tire warranty claim


what works for me

rule #1) do not drive anywhere that is only 5-6 minutes away, the prius has this warmup cycle where its #1 priority in life is to warm up the catalytic converter to operating temperature, and if you keep your trip at 5 minutes, you will probably never break 25 miles per gallon driving it

i dont have the feet needed to do the pulse and glide, so what i do in the city is to
stomp on the pedal up to 35-42, let my foot off, and then just lightly keep my big toe
on the pedal, enough to keep it at the current speed, it keeps the either in neutral or the engine off and battery mode on

too much battery can hurt mileage too

when going downhill keep foot off accelerator pedal and do not brake and let all that
energy go back to the batteries

set your automatic climate control to 72, the more warm the climate is set at, the more gas the car will burn

 

That isn't reflected in other owner's experiences from what I've gathered. Running 44 psig (max sidewall) on the front vs. 35 (sticker) is going to reduce the contact patch by about 20%--hardly to the point of a bicycle tire. Stiffer sidewall means stiffer ride but it also means less treadwear, not more. Owners running this pressure aren't reporting the center bulging wear you describe. It is theoretically possible but I wouldn't expect it anywhere within the max pressure spec.I'm not aware of the Prius eating tires. I am accustomed to cars I drove hard (and modified for performance) going through tread quickly (less than 25k), but I didn't run high pressures in them since I was trying to improve launch...and I was running sticky summer compound tires. I never have understood the pursuit of "50,000+" mile tires. They don't stick when you need it and if you run them that long the rubber is failing due to age. Plus one spell of bad alignment or debris damaging a tire and you face the possibility of replacing a pair anyway. For me 30k to 40k is about right.

 

My 2c: Block your grill. Buy a ScanGauge so you can see what's happening. Get as much of the car covered in VentureShield or 3M film. I set inside temp at 79F in "summer" & low 70's in "winter" which makes the car comfortable enough. I switched to Shell gas for the rebate but the formula may help.

Since June 8: 2441 miles 42.275 gallons 57.7mpg including two tanks 61mpg or better.

 

Here is an example of a Pulse and Glide :

http://priuschat.com/forums/prius-main-forum/52341-how-pulse-glide-pictures.html

here are some other things
1.Tire Pressure(I started with 42/40)
2. look ahead to avoid sudden stops
3. SLOW DOWN
4. Drive like you have no brakes
5. Glide and Coast learn the difference and when to use each..

That should keep you busy for awile...Have fun