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Seattle to San Fran Road Trip

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Main Forum' started by warev, May 3, 2010.

  1. warev

    warev New Member

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    2010 Prius
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    III
    just finished a great trip to San Fran and back to Seattle this week. Loved my prius and it only cost about $118.00 in gas! This is great considering my other car is a 2008 Suburban that would have set me back over $300.00

    My only complaint, the gas gauge is for crap! The guage is no way accurate - if you take the consumption rate and multiply by the gas tank it could easily go another 125 miles minimum.

    Other than the guage - great trip, great mileage!
     
    #1 warev, May 3, 2010
  2. hsiaolc

    hsiaolc New Member

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    Well not really crap. There are still about 6 liters (close to 1 gallon) left in the tank before the fuel starts to blink.
     
    #2 hsiaolc, May 3, 2010
  3. qbee42

    qbee42 My other car is a boat

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    If you think the Gen III gas gauge is bad, you should own a Gen II with the gas tank bladder. That adds another level of uncertainty.

    Tom
     
    #3 qbee42, May 3, 2010
  4. Codyroo

    Codyroo Senior Member

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    IV
    Which part of the gas gauge did you not like? Was it that it was blinking with ~2 gallons of fuel left in the car? Or that it seems to drop more quickly as you get closer to the bottom? Or that your "displayed MPG's" don't align with the "calculated" MPG's?

    1. A few people (BobWilsonforWeb is one) have done the experiment to show that there is about 2 gallons of fuel available when the last PIP starts flashing (Bob runs his car out of fuel on purpose to see how much fuel he does have when the pip flashes). This may vary from car to car, but it will give you a ballpark number.

    2. Almost all drivers have noted (in Fuel MPG forum) that the displayed MPG's are overestimated compared to the calculated MPG's. (Ball park number would be by 2 - 3 mile per gallon). So don't assume that if you have an 11.9 gallon tank and are showing 55 mpg on the display, that you can go (55 mpg * 11.9 gallons) before running out of gas.

    3. Realize the flashing PIP is to help most drivers AVOID running out of gas. Happily blazing along in their car, oblivious to the amount of gasoline in their tank. Now the get an audible beep and a flashing PIP, which should trigger them to start looking for gas. At least with a Prius and 2 gallons of gas, you should be able to find a gas station with plenty of mileage to spare.

    Glad you had a good roadtrip!
     
    #4 Codyroo, May 3, 2010
  5. Kimber

    Kimber New Member

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    Glad you had a good trip!

    I've road-tripped from Anchorage, AK to Colorado Springs and back before. SF was a great place to stop and visit.
     
    #5 Kimber, May 3, 2010
  6. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

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    This is about normal compared to my pre-hybrids. As a percentage of range, it is much less inaccurate than its immediate predecessor.

    My car with the least gauge error was my very first. Unfortunately its smaller error was in the wrong direction, running dry -- just once -- with the needle above 'E'.

    Bob Wilson has intentionally run his Prius tanks dry for our educational benefit.
     
    #6 fuzzy1, May 4, 2010
  7. kgall

    kgall Active Member

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    Kimber,
    What's the state of the AlCan Highway? Good for a Prius?
     
    #7 kgall, May 4, 2010
  8. F512M

    F512M Member

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    Vehicle:
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    If you don't mine:
    MPG?
    Distance?
    MPH?

    Thanks,
     
    #8 F512M, May 4, 2010
  9. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
    Staff Member

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    Sweet!!


    No car has a tank that goes empty when the low fuel light comes on. That's just asking for a lawsuit.
     
    #9 Tideland Prius, May 4, 2010
  10. warev

    warev New Member

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    2010 Prius
    Model:
    III
    I will get this information when I get to my office tomorrow. I was really impressed with mileage, but was a little mad that I could have gone farther. I have only had the car for five weeks, so still learning the ins and outs!

    Off topic, I think my heater has a mind of it's own.
     
    #10 warev, May 6, 2010
  11. Crazy Canuck

    Crazy Canuck New Member

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    Calgary, AB
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    2010 Prius
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    N/A
    Gotta love the automatic climate control :cheer2:

    Also... How was the trip? The wife and I are planning a trip from Calgary -> Vancouver -> Seattle -> San Fransisco and back. Would be great to get some insight on must-sees and such :)
     
    #11 Crazy Canuck, May 6, 2010
  12. warev

    warev New Member

    Joined:
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    Location:
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    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    III
    1st Tank - 52.6 mpg, 505 miles displayed, filled tank with 9.5
    2nd Tank - 47.6 mpg, 425 miles displayed, filled tank with 8.5
    3rd Tank - 52.4 mpg, 480 miles displayed, filled tank with 9.7
    4th Tank - currently 52.1 mpg, still at 3/4 tank,
     
    #12 warev, May 7, 2010
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