I just thought I'd share this interesting tidbit. My wife had been driving a 2010 Honda Insight for over a year (they came out really early in 2009, even though they called it a 2010 model) I upgraded from my 2002 Prius to a used 2008 Prius about a month ago and she decided she liked my car way better than the Insight. She kept trying to get me to trade. I have nothing at all against the Insight, I thought it was a great car and it got great mileage. But I bought my 2008 Prius to convert to a Plug-in, so I wasn't willing to trade with her. Well, she complained enough and we finally sold the Insight and bought her a used 2008 Prius exactly like mine, only a different color. So she is driving it for a week and I noticed she was only getting about 36 mpg. In the Inisght, she regularly got 46 mpg. Now, I realize she is an aggressive driver, and I could often get 50 mpg when driving the Insight. But I didn't think it would make that much difference. So this weekend I checked everything imaginable on her Prius that has been discussed in this group to affect fuel economy. On Sunday, I gave up and reset the fuel-economy screen and took it on a long drive myself. Low and behold, I returned home after 20 miles with an average fuel economy of 57 mpg. (which is actually slightly better than I get in my Prius) So.. The lesson learned here is that her driving style seems to affect the fuel economy a lot more on the Prius than on the Insight. Not sure why. She likes to floor it when lights change to green, likes to pass people, drives 75 mph on the highway, stops abruptly too (so no regen) so I can see why she gets lower mileage. I guess I'm just surprised that it didn't affect the Honda.
This makes a certain backwards sense to me. You often read on Prius Chat ardent followers stating how superior Toyota's HSD is to the IMA used by Honda. If so, and you drove in a style that rendered both ineffective, the Toyota would take the bigger hit, as it lost the superior aid. Perhaps some one should study your wife's driving to see how to render HSD useless. Several car buff's have TRIED to make a Prius look bad, perhaps she could give them pointers.
interesting, because yossarian was just saying that he flogged his and the mileage was still in the 50's.
We just switched from a 2008 HCH to a 2010 Prius. My wife typically doesn't get the same mpg that I do but the Prius is superior to our HCH. We are getting 5-6 mpg better without really trying and just completed a 2 day trip that proved it better at high speeds. The HCH quit gaining mpg when pushed over 60 mph. The Prius continued to gain mpg even at 70-75 mph. Also, the HCH needed around 15,000 miles before settling into its best mpg. Does anyone know if this is true for a Prius?
I think the Prius is a much bigger & heavier car, so if you drive it without any gas saving techniques, it's mpg will be closer to other mid-sized cars. 36 mpg is still very good for a mid-sized car! As for the Insight, because it's electric motor is actually integrated with the gas engine, so whether you use hypermiling techniques or not, it's still helping constantly. It won't give you 60-70 mpg, but not 36 mpg neither, especially it's so much lighter. Looks like the Prius gives you the POTENTIAL to get really good mpg, but only if you take advantage of hypermiling techniques. For those who absolutely refuse to hypermile, they'd be better off driving the Insight. A lot of people here are posting that they get only 40...ish mpg on the Prius. I think it's the same reason. I also flog my Prius in PWR mode by default. I get up to speed very fast and cruise control it and neutral coast for a much longer distance to red lights. I win a lot of startup contests and other drivers on the road look at me like totally surprised, but they absolutely do not know I'm hypermiling after my car is up to speed. I still average 57 mpg all city. The main thing is you can step on it hard at acceleration, but you can't keep stepping on it and brake hard just before stopping.
Yossarian flogged his wife for getting poor mileage?! That's not legal here in NY... J/K - I couldn't resist...
How good/bad of MPG was she getting when the Insight was new? I am thinking she may have adjusted her driving (after a year) to the Insight.
There are fuel efficient vehicles that have a narrower range, minimum-maximum MPG. They tend to be less influenced by driving style and I suspect the Insight and TDI vehicles would be in that class. Of course this just re-enforced what Prius owners consider to be poor driving practices. Bob Wilson
At least you showed her what potential the Prius has. Since she's had it only for a week maybe she will make the "connection" with the car in time. Hopefully understanding what the gauges represent and how to utilize them.
Actually, I rode with her yesterday and noticed her average MPG was now at 42. So that is much better than before, but still not as good as I get.
Look at it this way, she has to put up with your backseat driving, You only have to put up with her's.
