Gen III, a step backward?

There's a thread about this with a hypermiler and his followers and someone else going back and forth on this very topic. If I could remember what to search on, I'd post a link.

 

These graphs of my real-world data speak for themselves...





So for in August, my average is 53.9 MPG.

The 2010 is clearly delivering higher SUMMER efficiency and I suspect WINTER will be quite a bit more pronounced of an improvement (due to heat-retention design upgrades).
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huh.. couldn't find it.

Here's the rundown from my 35 minutes in a Gen III.

1) Make sure to monitor tire pressure, I've seen dealers lower it to "cush" the ride, but not usually on new cars.
2) Check oil level. MANY of the factory Prius are past the Over-fill, although this issue may have been resolved in more recent shipments.
3) Batteries do break-in, give it about 30,000 miles for this to complete, most of it will be done in the first 10,000 miles though.

=== The above will make negligible improvements ===

=== These will make serious improvements ===
1) Be sure to put in in ECO-Mode. That's what the button is there for.
2) Drive less aggressively (slow steady acceleration, slow steady deceleration).
3) Put the AC "auto" mode with the temp at something a site less aggressive than 60 degrees.
4) Force S4 (every few minutes when your at a complete stop hold the brake (hard) and tap the gas until the engine comes on. Stay stopped for 10 seconds and see if the engine turns off. Practice this somewhere open and deserted so you don't rear-end the guy in front of you the first time you try it. Once the car is warm enough (should happen within 5 minutes for a Gen III) your in S4 and your in-city driving may be greatly improved.

I believe that the Gen III is as capable with less work than the Gen II, but unfortunately there are less tools for the Gen III for those who aren't afraid of the extra work.

Eco-Mode in a 10,000 mi + Gen III with a "just drive it" mindset should net better numbers (on a like terrain and commute) than a "just drive it" mindset in a Gen II. It was certainly my experience (all 30 minutes of it).

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As far as I could tell every Gen II trick worked in the Gen III. The big difference was RPM -vs- SPEED -vs- GAS-PEDAL-PRESSURE. ECO-Mode does some throttle adjustment that I wasn't expecting and it took me a while to figure out the "curve" so to speak.

If your serious enough to drop a few hundred, I'd recommend one of Danny's Scan Gauges. It will give you the RPM and that should get you on the right path for sure. Otherwise just be patient feel your way through.

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There have been several threads about Generation 3 and how people like it, or dislike it.

One thing I think everyone needs to keep in mind is that change was inevitable. Toyota had to update The Prius. So like the 3rd generation or not, it was coming.

Overall, I think it's seems to be a sucess. I think Toyota did an excellent job of improving some mechanical tangibles. No Gas Bladder, Thermos, New Beltless Engine, Heat exchange system. I personally think they did a great job freshning the external look, while maintaining a "Prius" benchmark.

I'm not going to comment on interior, because I haven't lived with either Generation 2 or Generation 3, and I think you judge an interior after you've lived with it for a while. First impressions? The 3rd generation seems more "normal" car like. People loved the 2nd generation, I loved the second generation, but Toyota couldn't continue to sell that car unchanged forever.

To the original poster, if you can get mid 60's MPG in your 3rd generation then I don't think there is much to complain about.

Step forward? Step Backwards? Neither...inevitable change.

 

Thanks John for the nice post. A question seems that your mileage dropped in July/August some, and just confirming, I suspect due to the A/C use? Did you use it often?? You have the ominous cold winters like Buffalo so I am hopeful as well, that the New thermal change with Exhaust Gas will cause better mileage as well.

Thanks for the post...

 

OP, 70+ mpg in a Prius requires gliding, so I'll rephrase your question as "how do I glide in my G3 Prius?"

It isn't obvious from the HSI I gather, so I guess you will need to hook up a scangauge or similar device and learn to correlate to the HSI. High MPG is doable, as Ken from Japan has demonstrated.

Have fun, and expect success.

 

Just weighing in to confirm that I definitely get lower fuel consumption in my Gen III. After three tanks, I am at an average (calculated) of 4.13 l/100 km. The third tank included some quite sinful driving at 120-130 km/h. My BEST single tank in the Gen II was 4.06 l/100 km.

I am not a hypermiler. I just put my cruise control at 96-98 km/h on the highway, and look ahead as far as possible to maximize glide opportunities. In city driving I try P & G, but I have no scangauge or any other add-on, so I am probably doing it all wrong. I drove my Gen II in exactly the same way.

 

I thought the glide was when you have no bar in the HSI (meaning: no regen bar to the left or propulsion bar to the right).

 

In addition to what others have pointed out about mileage, I'd say that the Gen III "concessions to the general public" were necessary. They fixed issues ranging from less-than-succesful emissions experiments (gas tank bladder, thermos) to poor handling and poor seating (both the seats themselves and rear seat headroom), etc.

If there were no Gen III, I probably would not have bought a Prius. I never drove a Gen II, but from everything I've read ,the Gen III moved the Prius from "quirky with great strengths" to "simply great".

 

I didn't own a Gen II, but I have agood friend who did, and I drove and rode in the car a lot. I always liked it....to me the Gen III is a way better car in look, feel, and all around experience. I live in hilly partso of So-Cal, so its hard for me to consistently get high MPG, but I'm still averaging over 50mpg in the 1000 miles I've owned the car.

 

The 3'rd gen is clearly a more efficient car due to upgrades in the power control electronics and gas engine. The highway improvement is easiest to see but in the city its still more efficient if driven AT THE SAME SPEEDS as a 2'nd gen. The bigger 1.8l engine make it harder to keep the driving as easy in the city for some because now there is more power available.

 

You are right about the GenII versus GenIII. If you are used to getting mega mileage out of a GenII, the Gen III won't achieve the same level. If you are a driver that gets near EPA average it will show some improvement.
Overall, I prefer the added "creature features" of the GenIII.

 

It was in this thread, but an admin purged the bubbling flame war. Notice the 4 day gap between posts #7 and #8.

A post in that thread contains a link to CMPG with extensive reviews from the hypermiling viewpoint.

 

How many miles and what type of roads did you get that over in the GenII? (Did you get to run a tank through it so you could do an actual calculation?) More importantly what was the weather like? Were you needing AC or heat? The Gen II is sensitive to outside temps. Mileage rises with temp, until about the point you seriously need some AC. AC use doesn't have much effect on the open road, but in town it can quickly dent your averages.

Good luck with the service dept. in Albany, they lied to me repeatedly, didn't properly repair my truck, and wouldn't honor their own warranty--worst experience I've ever had with a service dept. My advice is to take it to Tifton or anywhere else for service. Edit: Because of the local dealer I would never have bought another Toyota if I was living in Albany, and no, that is not an exaggeration.