Mileage hit vs Prius is too severe

How about on the highway?

 

My 2005 Prius would average around 47.5 mpg overall which is inline with expectations. The v is getting about 52 in the city and 48 on the highway at about 1000 miles. The v seems to perform above EPA estimates.

 

Sweet! You can't beat that. Size and efficiency!

 

The 0-60 time in ECO mode is identical to the 0-60 time in PWR mode, if you floor the gas pedal - according to all of the documentation I have read.

 

Over at fuelly.com there are 35 Prius v's with almost 100k miles tracked and ringing in at 40 MPG. Not too shabby.

10/11 Prius is basically 48 actual, so the 8 MPG difference is spot on so far.

4 cylinder Rav4's get about 23 mpg below, so pump in 7.4 gallons less to refill Prius v after 400 miles. Who cares if you can't fit a dryer in Prius v, small price to pay.

http://www.fuelly.com/car/toyota/rav4/gas l4

 

Wait... You can fit a dryer in a Rav4? I thought dryers were a pain in the butt to put into anything but a truck.

 

Not if you lay the dryer on its back. We have a 2006 Rav4 and it's quite roomy.

 

I buy a dryer about once every 15 years so I'm not concerned if the v doesn't fit a dryer.
In trying to figure out why my v average is over 50mpg, I notice that a lot of my daily driving is about 15 miles each way composed one third of highway and two thirds of city. The v just seems to thrive on that combination and stays almost always in the ECO and EV modes. If the route were significantly shorter, the number would not be as good.

 

Probably the same reason some people get 60+mpg in a GenIII or GenII. You probably have a commute and driving style that is a perfect match for the car.

 

Here are the Prius v vs Toyota Camry Hybrids, for the record.

 

The new Camry Hybrid is a great car and I would not hesitate to buy it if I wanted a car. I drove both the v and the Camry Hybrid at the dealers. I chose the v because I wanted a multi-purpose vehicle and the v's unique design fit the bill.

 

Funny, after reading some early review saying something about it having issues getting up to freeway speed even in power mode, when I test drove it I was blown away. Seemed react better than my car I had at the time I bought the V (an 05 Civic), and it did more than fine compared to the V6 Taurus I had before that.

That Mazda CX 5 seems fun, but even if there is nearly as much cubic cargo space, for me, most of what I need is square footage, and compared to almost every vehicle that is close in that area it blows them away in gas mileage. I was gonna be forced to get something like a Subaru if I didn't get this- which would get about half the gas mileage.

I generally use eco mode, and use power mode to get onto freeways or up steep hills.

I don't know what people are complaining about. If it has and does what you want buy it, if it doesn't and you buy it that's on you.

 

I tested out the Prius V and the Prius C today.

One can certainly feel the difference in mass between the two vehicles. I drove the V first and it felt solid and decidedly "heavy." I couldn't even hear well enough to tell when the engine cycled on or off (unless I stomped on the gas).

When I took out the Prius C, it felt decidedly light and peppy by comparison, even in ECO mode. There was more road noise, and I could once again pretty easily hear when the engine cycled on or off.

For comparison, the specs between the two are:
V : 3274 lb curb weight, 1.8 liter engine (134 hybrid system net hp) 44/40.42
C : 2500 lb curb weight, 1.4 liter engine (99 hybrid system net hp) 53/46/50

 

Stay tuned as I'm in that experimental swap stage now. Initial (1st) tank concludes what F8L is saying to be true & accurate as I've gained about 7 mpg(on stock 15's) driving mostly the same route, trying to drive in similar manner(conservative but aware of my surroundings & adjusting accordingly). I'll wait til I have more fill-ups & sample tests to make the final judgement but the logic of physics is undeniable as 17" wheel w/wider tires Does negatively impact mpg.

 

Bought my Prius V in November of 2011 and my overall mileage calculated by the computer is 46.8 and I have over 13,000 miles.

 

They are both made at the Georgetown KY plant.

Bob Wilson

 

A word of note though, the Gen II is not the same drive train as the Gen III/​

Prius​

v. The Prius v scores a lower EPA because of the drag coefficient (higher profile) and heavier weight than the Gen III model. Also, if I recall correctly, the Gen IIIs have the EV Mode, which I think the Gen IIs people were hacking their Prius in order to get EV Mode. While the Gen III ev mode is governed​

car transport.

 

Essentially correct although I would suggest:

• The engine, transmission, inverter, and traction batteries are an integrated unit and not interchangeable.
• The North American NHW20s, 2004-09, have an EV button pin but no EV button. The Japanese and European models either came with or had the option of an EV button.

Bob Wilson

 

I second that. My long story:

I'd never heard of the V until we were at the dealer. My wife was finally ready to give up the 2002 Lexus IS Sportcross with 102K and 19MPG (on premium gas no less). We were originally looking at the Volt, but the Prius is tried-and-true by comparison so in the end we decided to let others explore the bleeding edge.

I voted for the V because of the extra space, and the MPG hit doesn't really add up to much on a yearly cost basis. So in mid-June my wife was driving a new V/ATP.

The other car is/was a Sienna, which replaced my beloved GS300, procured at a time when the kids were at an age where the minivan made a bunch of stuff easier. But that was then, and this is now. After a month of pondering the tradeoffs of a V vs the 18.5mpg behemoth, the only real advantage of the van was the third row. Which we've taken advantage of only a handful of times over the past four years. Hauling really large stuff can be done other ways, and it was rare that I ever got the van even close to its cargo capacity.

Meanwhile my wife was getting MPG envy from her colleagues who have "real" Prius's. By July I was totally sold on dumping the van and taking over the V as my daily driver. So on 7/31 we took delivery of a Prius IV with the solar roof package. The solar roof with the red paint is just gorgeous.

So I look at the V as a brilliant move by Toyota. My early perceptions of a Prius was that you got amazing MPG but had to live with a lot of compromise, especially in terms of space. The V takes that out of the equation. It feels like a "real" car (ok, a somewhat underpowered real car). You can put a LOT of stuff in it. The back seats shift and recline, which is more than most sedans can claim. The fact that I was willing to trade a mini-van for the V says a lot. I'm really not losing much in terms of utility, but am getting over 2X the mileage. That's what Toyota is aiming for to lure in customers to the Prius family. It worked for me.

And I believe the other side of the coin works as well, though I can see that it's more controversial (witness my wife still craving a normal Prius with 50+mpg). Taking a hit from 50 down to the low 40's sounds like a lot. But when you do the math, and consider what you are trading for that mileage, it's a very compelling package.

 

^^^
Yep, when one moves between a vehicle that gets sub-20 or low 20s MPG and requires premium, it's an incredibly noticeable difference in cost to fill up a Prius that went the same/similar distance.

I used to have my Z alongside my Prius and it irked me to fill up the Z (I'd see ~23-24 mpg on my old long ~2/3 highway commute and ~13-17 mpg when I moved to WA and had short drives in cold weather). It was always a pleasant experience to fill up the Prius, in comparison.