I didn't see this 'article' posted anywhere on here, unless it got wiped out by the server problem last month. It's all pretty positive, from the POV of someone driving a Prius long term and learning all the quirks and tricks to acheiving high mpgs. Long-Term Test: 2004 Toyota Prius October 2005 What do you learn after two years and 30,000 miles with a long-term 2004 Toyota Prius? Actually, not much more than we knew after one year and 15,000 miles. Like most hybrids, it's still using much less fuel than the majority of cars on the road, but more fuel than the EPA estimates (in this case 60 city/51 highway). However, one of our editors read a document called "The Toyota Prius User-Guide" that he found online (it's available at multiple Web sites and easily located through Google). This guide is written by Toyota Prius owners and is not affiliated or sanctioned by Toyota in any way. It offers numerous suggestions about how to maximize your ownership experience, and one involved pumping the tires up to between 44 and 50 psi to improve fuel mileage. Article....
ehh... 44 psi is the max most, if not all owners will put. I'm not even in the 40s (I'm at 37/35). I guess a 4mpg improvement with tyre pressure is a good thing. I just wish they could drive a bit more conservatively and get that 50. It's probably unlikely given CA traffic.
Best Fuel Economy: 44.4 mpg Worst Fuel Economy: 44.1 mpg Average Fuel Economy (over the life of the vehicle): 40.8 mpg I wonder how are they driving the car. I drive my Prius normally every day for a 40 mile round trip to work, plus errands during the wekends, and my numbers are closer to Best Fuel Economy: 54 mpg Worst Fuel Economy: 45 mpg Average Fuel Economy (over the life of the vehicle): 50 mpg
What the heck is the writer talking about? When you do that search, only one owner written guide for the HSD is returned, available from a single location. There's only one for the Classic too. Then he continues on and states "the tires have a maximum rating of 50 psi". Ahh, no they don't. The OEMs are only rated at 44 max. Of course, his test of 40 all around wasn't exactly a sign of great intelligence. Not having a bias on the front tires, which he pointed out as the standard, will affect the way the car handles. But I'm still baffled anyway by their 40.8 MPG average. That's not typical. And their 44.4 MPG for best tank is really sad. How are they driving it to get the efficiency that low? He made no mention of any other guide suggestion, like checking the oil level.
This could just be an honest mistake. Perhaps the writer possesses note-taking skills on the same level as Judith Miller, so when it came time to write the actual article, the MPG and suggested tire pressure figures got garbled and transposed.
I wish there were a way to give them some feedback. What kind of a driver has their long-term Prius? The guy (it's gotta be a guy) is one lousy driver if he was consistently getting only 40 mpg. I wonder what kind of mileage he got in his previous car. We routinely get 45+ mpg and I know we could do better. Their Prius guy is clearly broken. Karl
I agree, all these retards road testing the Prius don't know how to use the gas pedal. Then again, I suppose that's more indicative of the "average" driver isn't it?
Weren't the Classic Prius Tires rated at 50 psi max? That's likely the source of the confusion. Still bad reporting skillzz though
OK, I read all of their posts from the car and at the beginning they got as low as 28 MPG and one guy who drove it across country got a tad over 50. There's like 7 posts, one every 3 months of their ownership of the car. It was MANY different drivers in the EDMUNDS.COM offices driving the car, all different styles of driving and I dont believe they changed their normal driving habits at all. If you reall all of the posts they really did use it like any normal car and really wrote glowing reviews of the car all around. At one point they actually had to find stuff to complain about because they said reviewing the car was turning into a love fest Great long term review, but I would LOVE to drive with them for 1 day. Thats all it would take to get the mileage up over 50. My first 2 tanks were 55.1 and this tank I am at 58.8. No reason for getting under 40 like they did consistently.... other than driving it like a teenager out with the folks car.
Originally I had only read the most recent article post, from October 2005; but later spent the rest of the afternoon reading the articles from the beginning and it sounded to me like the editors gave the Prius rave reviews all around, even after the fuel gauge problem. Sounds like maintenance isn't too costly either, something a lot of people may worry about when purchasing a vehicle like a hybrid that hasn't been around for a loooong time and may contain 'unproven' technology (IMO it has been proven-I'm just saying for the non-PCers out there that don't know as much info/data about the Prius as the wonder folk here do)...
