Poor gas mileage/tranny not going to high gear?

The "variation" of the eCVT depends on MG1 to determine the ratio of torque the ICE produces compared to MG2. I've discovered the Achilles tendon of the Prius... Sustained steep hill climbing. If Mg1 cannot spin to control the ratio between MG2 and the ICE, the engine will appear to be in the "lowest gear" in a conventional car. IE, the ICE is running fast and the car is moving slowly. So when your climbing a steep hill, the battery will be drained quickly and once it is drained, the ICE has to do double duty of charging the battery AND moving the car,(at a very high rpm) and there is no way around very poor gas mileage when this happens. I experience this when I visit Tilden Park in Berkeley, driving up the steep hills. Prius does not like hills.
As for your gas mileage, check your tire pressures.

 

Since you didn't answer the questionnaire and don't think you provided results of your 12 volt after it's sat overnight, here are some other possibilities:
- commute changed to one that's unfavorable to mileage (esp. short ones in city driving)
- your above tires since they're larger, might be (likely are) of higher rolling resistance and might be introducing odometer error
- alignment
- tire pressures

 

The 17s always drop mpg in a genii by approximately 4-6 mpg.

 

Surely you don't miss the high cost of maintenance and repairs? My impression of Audi is that they are status symbol cars with an expected lifetime of the 5 year trade-in cycle.

 

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3FDthcLieE]The Science of Wheel Performance: Rotational Inertia - YouTube[/ame]
Moment of Inertia Demonstration with Rulers - YouTube
Auto Racing
The Effects of Rotational Inertia on Automotive Acceleration

 

i'd blame your tires and call it all normal....

how long have you been running 17's... and what brand is the rim? if it's any heavier than a scion tc rim.. i'd still call it all normal...

my first thought was ignition coil.. but you said it runs smooth and has power (which contradicts your initial report)

 

btw.. i would take your battery down to a place and have it load tested.. everyone loves to read the voltage but the majority of times it's not really giving out that good of numbers... or the car is feeding it... or.. well.. there is no real load when you test.. many things.. it's cheap to have o'reilly or auto-zone or whichever place is near you test the battery.

 

You may have incurred mileage changes as a result of wheel and tire changes on the A4 but dismissed them as being "small". See http://priuschat.com/forums/other-c...eage-no-its-your-gallonage-really-counts.html.

Besides the rotational intertia, heavier tires and wheels, most likely higher rolling resistance, odometer error, there's also the larger contact patch.

You might find Tire Tech Information - Tire Rolling Resistance Part 3: Changes to Expect When Switching from Worn-Out to New Tires, When Round and Black Becomes Lean and Green and When Round and Black Becomes Lean and Green interesting.

Without more details, such as by answering the questionnaire, we can only guess and point to some of the known causes in your case.

If you want to monitor what's going on, you should buy something like ScanGaugeII : Linear Logic - Home of the ScanGauge or use other similar tools that plug into the OBD2 port.