I have read a lot of threads about great gas mileage with the Prius C?? I have a 2012 Prius C with 3700 miles on it and am lucky if I get 45 MPG around town.. My old 2007 Prius wae getting 47 all the time. I am very dissappointed with this C. All of my driving is in the ECO mode and I live in Houston Texas with no hills and drive very conservatively. I don't understand why my mileage is so bad????
If you got 47 on an old Prius with old less sticky tires 45 seems appropriate for a new vehicle. Since when is 45 crappy?
Those are EPA estimates. See Car and Driver: The Truth About EPA City / Highway MPG Estimates | PriusChat and Your Mileage Will Still Vary. I don't see anywhere at fueleconomy.gov where it says EPA ratings are guarantees of what you will get.
You should read more about EPA ratings and their testing procedures. There is never any gaurantee you will get the EPA ratings. Everyone drives differently and in different conditions. I'd love to see someone engineer a car that will get a specific MPG number in any situation at any speed all year round. LOL
Rick, I sympathize. You should be getting better mpg than that- in theory- around town. Try driving around town for a half-hour and see what happens from there. Make sure you're using the right techniques, though.
Wonder if any of those 30+ highway MPG advertised cars ever get slammed for never getting that number...
The C is a bit different from the Gen II you are used to. You might look up Wayne Gerdes videos on how to interpret and use the HSI. Like this one:
Take it out of ECO mode, drive way across town and back to be sure everything is warmed up, use all you have learned about driving a Prius, and be in tune with the differences of the C. By your mileage, you should have learned what the C likes by now. A/C is a real gas sucker. Turn it off and put your windows down in town. See how much that helps. The most important thing I've learned about the C is to back off the gas pedal a lot to get the car into EV as much as possible, and to work that EV as long as you can. It doesn't glide like our '09, so it is somewhat different. The other most important driving tip I have is that the Rearview Mirror is very important. If there is nobody behind you there is no pressure to speed up at all. If the person behind you is close and stays there it probably means they're either about to pass you or they're about to turn right. Either way, they will take care of themselves before long and remove any pressure you may feel. I pretty much ignore them either way.
Your Gen 2 is a great car. The c has a lot to live up to. When FE is below the previous Gen I call it crappy as well. Rick, I believe upgraders are at a disadvantage compared to Newbies as we already learned what to do & when to do it. The problem is that the new car is different. The feel is different, the transition points are different... You're probably doing the right things but at the wrong times. Are the tires different? Check & adjust the tp. If you were running max sidewall on the Integrities are the new tires at max sidewall? That was easy. Gas may make a difference. My 2006 seemed to like Shell. I know it's a feeling that I can't prove. The 2010 does not like Wawa. It absolutely had no power & felt like it couldn't get out of its own way. It's run fine on mostly Citgo, but also Gulf & Shell. The displays are different. That which was useful isn't now. I use the HSI exclusively but we don't have the same dash so I don't know what will work for you. It took me the longest time to adjust to the different feel & transition points. There are a couple really good Gen 3 vids that I watched over & over again. Maybe there are c specific vids available. On the HSI being in the left side of the bar keeps you on the battery (as long as the ICE is hot enough & the SOC is high enough). When I get into the right side the ICE kicks in & instantaneous FE drops. It stays "low" until the pedal comes all the way up. Remove pressure for a split second & reapply but a bit less. You've got some 5 years worth of habits to unlearn but one day everything will click & that which you weren't able to do at all becomes instinctive. It's going to be frustrating as all He!! in the meantime but hang in there.
This is my first Prius and I love it! I watched a few P&G videos before I bought it, so I basically try to glide as much as I can and stay in EV mode as much as possible. I've done a bunch of out and back commutes of >60 miles at indicated 62-66 mpg. My fill up today was a calculated 60.5 mpg over 414 miles. The car is great, hope it all comes together for you!
