Hi All, Am I correct in stating that the warmer weather here in Malaysia is having a positive effect on my mpg? I am on my 2nd tank in my UK spec 2007 T-Spirit and am getting an indicated 56.5 mpg (47 mpg US) (lst tank was an indicated 55.8 calculated 55.38). I am guessing that the main advantage is less warm up time in the morning (ambient temperature is around 25 centigrade) Regards, Phil
You are correct. The warmer weather helps with battery efficiency, faster warm up times, less dense air which translates into less wind resistance, etc.. Our cars were originally rated at 60mpg in the U.S. But in 2008 the EPA changed their testing procedures so they reduced the average mpg to 46mpg. That being said many of us average over 50mpg so I'd say you're doing very well. Unless you are using UK or imperial gallons in which case your should be around 70mpg.
Yes Phil, 25C is a fairly comfortable temperature for the Prius so you should get good MPG. Be aware however that if it gets too much hotter then your MPG may start to deteriorate slightly due to A/C use and a warmer traction battery giving less scope for EV mode. I would say that I get my very best results when the outside temperature is in range of about 18 to 24C (roughly 65 to 75F).
I used to own a 2004 T-Spirt in the UK (over 3 years ago now!) and I remember that I was getting just under 50 mpg. My current T-Spirit was exported from the UK by the previous owner in 2007 (Its manufactured in 2006 but first registered in 2007). Currently very pleased with the mpg, as of this morning was getting an indicated 57 mpg and just over 300 miles with over 1/2 tank still to go! Regards, Phil
You gotta love UK gallons, I think we should all use UK MPG's That's what we used to use in Australia way back (about 40 years ago) before we went decimal. In UK MPG I'd be getting over 70 MPG on my best days. Just a bit of trivia about UK versus US gallons. Traditionally the "gallon" was used to measure lots of different things but wasn't well standardized, it was actually a somewhat different volume depending on what was being measured (gallon of corn, gallon of beer gallon of wine etc). It was customary that a gallon of corn for example would fill a given sized bucket but the gallon itself wasn't a well defined volumetric measure. When the "gallon of beer" and the "gallon of wine" were volumetrically standardized (presumably for excise purposes) they were actually different volumes, with the "gallon of beer" standard becoming the UK gallon and the "gallon of wine" standard later becoming the US gallon.
They were all on acid (i.e. LSD) back then.... I remember the florins and sixpences well when I visited Oz as a child...
Yes In the UK the T-Spirit is the top-of-the-range model. Other models are T3, T4 and Prius 10 (a special edition model). No idea where the naming convention comes from Regards, Phil
