This One Really Pushed the Prius – A Four-Day Family Getaway!

This past week we took our 2010 Prius V out for a real tester: A long trip where we filled the car to the limit, drove it in some hilly terrain, went directly against heavy winds and through rain (on the way out), ran the A/C on Auto the entire time (temp in the 90s with high humidity), and used the cruise control to pace our speed at between 62 and 74. (When I say “filled†I mean we had more than 700 pounds of people and luggage, and the cargo space was pretty well jammed with stuff.)

This was the fourth time I’d taken my new 2010 out for a fairly long highway trip. The first two were on fairly flat land at speeds between 55 and 65, with mainly good weather. The third trip was in hillier terrain, against winds and at speeds mainly above 70. In those first three trips, I was on my own. Mileage? First two trips: 57.1 & 58.8 MPGs; third trip: 53.0 MPGs; this recent trip: 52.7 MPGs.

I was highly disappointed with the mileage on the outbound trip. Looking back on it, however, I suppose I only can be amazed at the car’s performance. I wasn’t going for high mileage, though I wasn’t completely ignoring the effects certain actions would have on MPGs. Even so, I ran the A/C on Auto the entire time. We drove at the highest speeds I was comfortable driving (no more than 5 to 8 mph above speed limit), and I used cruise control for comfort, even when driving in very hilly terrain. Because we were driving in the heat of the day and into very strong winds, I expected we’d lose out on mileage, but I was still a bit upset it turned out to be only 50.1.

When we left for our return trip, the mileage started out at either 50.1 or 50.0, and it didn’t start increasing for many miles. Still, things were markedly different on the return trip. We had some cross-winds at the outset, but no headwinds. We used mainly the same roads, but I avoided a 60-mile stretch of Interstate Highway, opting instead for a divided U.S. Highway. The only difference was the posted speeds of 70 on the Int. and 65 on the U.S. Hwy. It was just as hot on our return, but we had no rain. Also, we weren’t quite as pressed for time, and I drove at a more leisurely pace (usually right around 65). We stopped about ¼ of the way home to fill-up. The last 264 miles showed the FE at 58.7 MPG, and this was enough to bring the entire Round-Trip mileage up to 52.7 MPGs.

Isn’t it interesting how mileage numbers like these can seem so disappointing? I suppose this type of fuel economy for a fully packed car (exceeding 700 lbs, not including gasoline), given the weather conditions, is really pretty good. It exceeds the published numbers anyway!

My long-distance trips to date (in the 2010, that is) have been solo trips. This is what accounts for the better mileage, of course. Traveling with my whole family, though, gives an opportunity to have additional evaluations of the car. Aside from earlier comments I’ve made elsewhere, here are some more recent observations:

Plus: A/C is very effective throughout the car. The cargo space is enormous for the size of the car. Back seat legroom is great. Sound system is much improved over the 2007 (XM radio helps, too, as does the streaming audio under Bluetooth). Lumbar support is a nice addition. A/C doesn’t seem to be nearly as big a drag on FE as it was in the Gen2.

Minus: Though noise separation from the engine compartment is fabulous, the tire noise at 60+mph started to be bothersome (not so big a deal while alone, because the radio covers it). My wife found the passenger seat no more comfortable than the 2007 (once we got beyond about 200 miles or so). The Nav is much improved, and it found even really remote addresses, but it would announce that it couldn’t give voice commands in really rural areas – weird, really, because if we watched the screen, it showed us exactly we were going and all of the streets showed up.

 

Remember: I kept all of the luggage INSIDE the car. The drag of a bike rack would just kill the mileage. Getting 30MPGs under the conditions you described (including the bike rack) is pretty impressive.

Nope! Stayin' with those 17s. I like the look; I like the driving feel; and with the mileage I'm getting, I'll live with the 3MPG "drop" from using those wheels.

 

Thanks, folks! I'm glad these posts help. I need to remind Gen 3 for me that winter fuel economy in Illinois (at least where I live) is a whole other story. In the past couple of winters I've seen my mileage drop by as much as 20MPG to a tank.

Seasonally, my numbers for the past two years in the 2007 looked like this:
Summer 07. . . . 52.4
Fall 07. . . . . . . 51.0
Winter 07-08 . . 43.7
Spring 08. . . . . 54.4
Summer 08. . . . 57.6
Fall 08. . . . . . . 51.8
Winter 08-09 . . 46.0
Spring 09. . . . . 55.5

My driving did improve, and the car usually gets better mileage with age, but I also installed an electric engine block heater early in Winter 08-09 (well, FireEngineer installed it for me). That made a difference!

 

Congrats on the new BRM V!! To get into the 50s, you shouldn't baby everything. If you are just driving around town, then try to avoid stop signs and time stop lights. Don't brake unless necessary, so don't follow people closely. Always look ahead to see if the light is changing, there is no reason EVER to accelerate (meaning adding gasoline) toward a red light or a yellow light. Yes, my numbers are all based on the MID display. I don't feel I have enough tank fills to know the other data yet with any certainty. All the same, it looks as though the MID numbers are running 2-3 MPGs higher than the calculated numbers after tank fills.

I've been going counter to my own advice lately, because I've been using the cruise control and driving on Interstates. Those are not the places to see mileage go up. I prefer to drive U.S. Routes or State Highways -- both for the mileage and the scenery. The biggest thing in driving on highways is to gain speed on the downhills (not by coasting, but by accelerating) and bleeding it off (though not too slowly) on the rises. Another help is to get behind a big rig. I don't mean CLOSE behind -- you have to be certain the driver can see you, so if you can't see his side-view mirror (the whole thing), then he can't see you, and you are too close for safety's sake. You aren't getting much of a draft, but you are still getting the benefit of the air being "broken" for you.

The headwinds have been real killers for me. I know this is the case with every car, but I've just been able to observe it closely on the past two round-trips I've made.