I raised the tire pressure to 44 lbs. on all 4 tires and gained about 2 MPG on my 2008 Prius. Before that I was struggling to get 48 MPG. I notice no difference in handling or the ride so I will keep this tire pressure.
Pulse and glide is magnified by the increased tire pressure as it allows you to coast further with higher psi tires. If you haven't been doing P&G give it a try and watch the mpg continue to climb!
44 sounds kind of high, that's 10 more psi than what I use. But if your tires aren't blowing up, I supposed I could go up a little more.
If you search the forum you will find some people use much higher pressure than 44 psi. I won't risk that myself though.
Upped the tire pressure on my 2009 Touring to 42/40 to see if I could improve mpg, but can't tell yet (only 100 miles into the tank). Since the suspension on the Touring is already stiff, I am now noticing every pothole left by a nasty upstate NY winter I'll try it for a few tanks, but I may have to lower it a bit to preserve some costly dental work.
Tire pressure definitely raises MPG if you're even a novice driver (i.e. don't accelerate at a good rate, don't gain extra momentum before hills, don't P&G at all). I get in the low 50's doing all the right things with stock pressure and I gain about 3-4mpg by hopping up to 42/40. This also depends on terrain, so your gains may be lower or higher than that.
Keep me posted. I too feel these ultra low profile tires are not designed for very high pressure. With 44 PSI on all 4 and getting around 56-57 MPG with good gas. Gas makes a big difference as I got a tank of gas that had too much ethanol in it and it went down to 54MPG. Whoever thought up making gas out of our corn should be %^^&&*^%^%$$. We need electric cars not cars that use fuel that hoses the mileage. Pile of idiots eh! These views do not reflect the views of the management
You are getting terrific mileage, though. I have not been so fortunate. Last tank was 43 mpg (on the MFD and by calculation). I forgot to reset the MFD when I filled up this time (first time on higher tire pressure). I am now at 44 mpg, so I figure I've probably upped my mpg by about 2. I'll find out when I refill later this week.
That rarely is accurate with this car because of the fuel bladder, though it could give you a decent ballpark figure.
I don't think my 2006 has a bladder problem because I get down to the last pip before it blinks and I have added 11.611 and 11.625 on the last 2 tanks. I figure that I can do the math gals into miles a get a spot on MPG reading.
I feel for you people in other areas when it comes to fuel economy. In the phoenix metro area not only do we not have cold temperatures but all the stop lights are timed pretty good, the majority of our area is in a grid, and the stop lights are about a mile apart. I really have to purposely drive bad to get under 50mpg year round here... unless I have a super prius for some reason. My pressures at 42f/40r and it's a non-touring. In the summer I'll usually go between 500-550 miles on a tank before filling up. My normal commute consists of 63% on a freeway with a 65mph speed limit. I normally drive about 72-75.
The Touring takes a hit on mileage, but I knew that going in. It has been relatively mild, though the early mornings are chilly, since I bought my Prius, which is garaged and not subject to extremes anyway. There is no such thing as flat ground and few straightaways around here, though, so I don't expect to get some of the amazing mph's I've seen around the board.
I am moving back to Owego to take care on my mom, will be putting my prius in the garage in the winter - just can't deal with the salt. I see your from the tier.
Yup. I'm in Horseheads and travel to Corning for work every day. My Prius will be going through the salty winter - we've never gotten into the "winter pig" habit. Hoping the finish can take it. Our 7 year old CRV looks pretty good, and we didn't have a garage for the first few years of its life.
