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warm up fuel consumption rate

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Technical Discussion' started by ualdriver, Nov 16, 2010.

  1. ualdriver

    ualdriver Member

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    Just out of curiosity, does anyone know what the fuel consumption of the Gen II Prius is when it is going through its warm-up cycle (i.e. car is first turned on during a cold day), sitting with the transmission in park?

    Thanks!
     
  2. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

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  3. ualdriver

    ualdriver Member

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    Yeah, I was figuring perhaps half a gallon per hour or so. Thanks for those numbers. Hopefully someone will have some Gen 2 numbers, but if not, that gives me a good idea.
     
  4. 2009Prius

    2009Prius A Wimpy DIYer

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    I measured my 2009 with ScanGauge: ~0.83 GPH during S1A. Good luck! :)
     
  5. ualdriver

    ualdriver Member

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    Man that's high. Thanks for the info. I gotta get a ScanGauge...
     
  6. David Beale

    David Beale Senior Member

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    I saw it start at 3 l/hr then immediately drop to 2.5 within a few seconds, continuing to drop to 2.2 over the next 15 seconds, then after about a minute, drop to 1.3 l/hr. Once "warm" (coolant over 43C) it uses 0.85 l/hr at idle. The engine would be off except the heater (A/C) is demanding heat so it runs until the coolant gets above 64C. Eventually this drops to about 50C for engine trigger.
     
  7. ualdriver

    ualdriver Member

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    OK for Canada, is it 3.8 liters per US gallon or 4.4 liters to a US gallon? Somebody uses imperial gallons and I think imperial gallons are bigger than US gallons and I forget who uses what.
     
  8. David Beale

    David Beale Senior Member

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  9. uart

    uart Senior Member

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  10. N3FOL

    N3FOL Member

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    I do not warm up my Prius on a cold day. I take my first mile out of the neighborhood nice and easy and just go do my normal driving. The engine warms up fast, IMO.
     
  11. ualdriver

    ualdriver Member

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    I did not mean to imply that I warm it up before I drive, either. I just turn it on and drive. I just figured that when I drive slowly through my subdivision that the engine is at idle RPM or close to it until the coolant temperature hits whatever temp it needs to hit to shut down the engine.
     
  12. 2009Prius

    2009Prius A Wimpy DIYer

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    According to Japanese hypermilers the reason for warming up the engine with the car still in park is that during S1A the engine provides zero power to the wheels and the fuel is completely wasted unless it is allowed to charge the HV battery with the car still in park. Hope this helps. :)
     
  13. uart

    uart Senior Member

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    Regardless of it's impact either way on fuel consumption I've found it's definitely worth giving it a short warm up if you're starting cold at the bottom of a sizable hill. This really seems to reduce the strain on the HV battery (and probably also the engine). I used to always drive straight away but changed my way of thinking after realizing just how hard you're pushing the HV battery when you take off up a hill from cold, since the engine does almost no work and the battery/electric motor does it all.

    If I can drive slow on flat terrain for the first 30 to 60 seconds then I'll definitely drive off immediately, but if I've got to drive hard or up hill straight away then I let it warm for a little while in park. I usually only wait until a bit after I first see the green arrows into the battery, about 10 to 20 seconds after that I drive off. This it seems to make a big difference on how well the battery maintains it's state of charge.

    BTW. You've got to be in "park" if you warm up like this, otherwise you don't get the idling engine charge the batteries. At least not that I've ever seen.
     
  14. giorgio

    giorgio New Member

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    my consumption of fuel during the S1 to external temperature
    +14 °C = 0.073 ml
    Outdoor temperature of +7 °C The consumption of fuel during s1 = 0.096 ml

    http://i.imgur.com/sjRWD.png
     
  15. ualdriver

    ualdriver Member

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    Interesting. That's barely anything.
     
  16. uart

    uart Senior Member

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    Yep the above poster used the wrong units. It should be L instead of mL (one thousand times more than shown).
     
  17. priusevo

    priusevo Junior Member

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    How long do these guys let it idle before engaging drive do they just wait till the motor turns off then go?
     
  18. 2009Prius

    2009Prius A Wimpy DIYer

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    If you have ScanGauge you can watch IGN change from -10 to some positive number, if not then just listen for the engine sound change when the car finishes S1A, then shift out of park and go. Hope this helps. Good luck! :)
     
  19. ken1784

    ken1784 SuperMID designer

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    And, the S1A lasts approx 1 minute from the initial start.

    Ken@Japan
     
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  20. 2009Prius

    2009Prius A Wimpy DIYer

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    Thanks! And with an engine block heater it can be shortened to ~ 20 seconds.