After golf last night, I happened to meet a coworker in the parking lot who also has a Prius. I have a 2012 Model 3 and he has a 2011 Model 4. He has had his since Nov '11 and I bought mine in Feb '12. After talking to him for a couple of minutes, I found out that he really didn't have much of a clue as to how to drive the car efficiently. He was proud to tell me that he was getting 46.5 mpg. When I told him that he could do much better he was shocked. I explained briefly that he was probably really getting about 44 mpg since the FCD is typically off about 5% high. I told him I had gotten 53.6 mpg real world (miles/gal). To make a long story short, when I started mentioning things like the HSI and the 1 min Consumption Display, he didn't know what I was talking about. I said that I would send him some info and give him lessons if he wants. I sent him the Max MPG Secrets link and the Pulse and Glide link and told him that his homework was to watch these and try them out and then watch them again. When I do take him out for a drive I was wondering if there was a way to have the HSI display on while having the 1 Min Consumption Display on the lower screen. This is the best way to show him cause and effect on a 1 min basis. I can do that on my 2012 Model 3, but can you do it on the 2011 Model 4? If so how do I get the 1 min Consumption Display on the radio screen?
Some of the '11 model 3's don't even come with the Nav/screen, so he might not have the lower screen to display the consumption. Before I even started looking for a Prius, many owners told me that they were disappointed in the mpg numbers they got and that it didn't match EPA ratings. Then I realized why. They didn't know how to drive in a way to achieve those numbers.
I can understand that completely. If I was not the anal type that deos all the research before a purchase, and if I didd not ifnd PriusChat, I owuld not know anyof that either. Now I am just learning to put that into action.
Maybe I didn't state this as clearly as I could have, but he has the 2011 Model 4 with the NAV screen. Is there any way of seeing the 1 Min Cons. Chart on the NAV screen? On my 2012 Model 3 all I have to do is press the Car button next to the NAV screen and then the Consumption tab on the screen itself.
Sorry, you did state it clearly, I just mixed his model with yours. That I don't know, as I have a 2012. Maybe someone with a 2011 nav can chime in?
I did a lot of research before I bought, that's why I wanted a '12 rather than an '11. I wanted the entune system with the NAV screen. I knew I would be paying more, but since I hold on to a car for a long time, the cost differential wouldn't matter compared to the convenience for years to come. Priuschat has only added to my enthusiasm for the car!
One of the best techniques is getting about 1 second behind a larger vehicle. On your 1 Min Cons. Display you will see a 15 - 20 mpg increase. Just filled up this morning and for 546 miles for this tank I averaged 54.3 mpg (57.6 mpg on FCD). Still refining driving techniques. One thing that would improve my gas mileage is not let my wife drive it, although she has improved from 46.5 mpg to 53 mpg (FCD). But, when the Prius gets about triple the mileage of the 2004 Highlander economics says go ahead and drive it.
I didn't know what a Prius was in June 2006 and I owned a Prius in late August 2006. I wonder how many hours I spent on PriusChat that July!
Except that driving 1 second behind a vehicle in front of you doesn't allow for safely slowing down if they suddenly hit the brakes. Not only is it potentially dangerous for you, but it's also dangerous - not to mention an annoyance - to the person you're tailing.
... and when you look up you will see the back end of said vehicle, as you crash into it. Proper hypermiling entails avoiding braking, which means having lots of space between you and the car in front of you. This has the side effect of being safer, and increasing the general flow of traffic.
I understand where you are coming from, but the reality is that is the way most people drive in large urban areas, like where I commute on Long Island. Does it make it right ... No, but that's just the way it is. Coming from Maine and Nebraska the traffic is a whole lot lighter I'm sure. Basically, if I'm going to be behind another vehicle, I might as well make it a larger one to get the extra mpgs.
Why not? A one second distance allows for quite a lot of reaction time even with abrupt braking from the car ahead. One second means the time it would take to reach that car as the speed you are traveling. It doesn't mean how much reaction time you have until you hit them. Unless they stopped instantaneously like from hitting a brick wall, then yes you have one second to react, but you're going to smash into the wall with them even if you are 4 or 5 seconds behind. An attentive driver will have no problem reacting to a one second gap and it's not as close as you may be thinking especially at higher speeds. Even at 30 miles per hour that's nearly 50 feet of clearance. More than enough...
I feel that way with big trucks especially since their stopping distance is so much greater than ours.
Exactly, you are better off being behind a larger vehicle than a smaller one because of the difference in braking distance between your car and theirs. It will give you that much more margin of error!
People are certainly free to drive the way they want. But the people who tuck in closely behind another vehicle just to get a few more MPGs are part of the reason for the Prius hate, as are the ones who don't keep up with traffic. When people get uncomfortably close behind me, I just tap my brakes repeatedly until they get frustrated and go away.
I couldn't agree with you more! But I am usually 1 - 1.25 seconds behind. At 60 mph, 1 second is 88 feet. I don't consider this tucked in closely behind. As a matter of fact many times people will get in between me and the larger vehicle. I have a name for people with horrible driving habits, like not using their blinkers, shoe-horning into openings at 65 mph, going way to fast for the traffic flow, weaving in and out etc. I call them AAOTRs (like the heart artery). It stands for Another A$$hole On The Road.
