Here is my report of a 2k road trip along I80 from Lincoln NE to Provo UT. There were 3 adults weighing about total 470lbs. We had the thing fully packed. We averaged about 44mpg on the trip there, along I80 traveling between 75-80mph. On the trip back, with one less adult and all their luggage, we averaged just at 50mpg at the same speeds. I was able to get between 380 to 400 miles out of each tank of liquid fuel. I did notice that when I was NOT able to chose a fuel without ethanol in it that I would get less miles (at the 380 range) while I was able to get more miles (at the 400 end) with fuels without ethanol. I do not like that ethanol. The C handled the mountains just fine and especially the Parleys Canyon stretch of I80 (which completely charged the battery up). I was worried but no longer. I could pass slower cars well, could take the inclines well and everything worked great! I'm am VERY impressed and quite happy with this car. One interesting thing I noticed with the cruse-control. On the steep declines the cruse-control would slow the car down when it exceeded 5-10 miles over the set limit.
I agree, these Prius C's are a great little car! I have no choice but to use E10 fuel, or buy super and it still is E10 but higher octane. almost all my miles are in town and the reg E10 is giving me great mpg. I wonder if it would be much different on straight gas? or if I would just have a little more power but about same mpg.
I should also mention that I was running the air-conditioner the entire trip. I love that the AC doesn't sap power away from the drive-train.
I got 50 mpg on a recent 5,000 mile trip. (See Vernon Birdman on the road posting). I agree with you Frenzied. Good in mountains, great AC. Very comfortable. A truly great car.
While it is much efficient and less obtrusive than other cars, beware that AC still saps power, which ultimately comes from the drivetrain and fuel tank.
I think if you have your car in eco mode the AC only runs while the car has extra power available. so climbing a hill the compressor will shut off so the car has 99 hp to go up the hill. then it will come on after you get to the top. not sure how that works with long climbs. but I think the car trys to pulse the AC compressor with optimal timeing to make the car drive better and get better mpg.
From what I understand, the AC compressor has it's own electric motor. It gets all it's energy from the battery. Therefore the only time it will affect the actual power-to-the-wheels is if the battery becomes so drained that the ICE motor being utilized to charge the completely depleted battery.
Pretty cool to see the great mileage that can be had fully loaded on the highway. Did you notice or feel that while highway driving with the lower mileage that the 9.5 gallon tank was empty too soon after filling up? I personally don't have much experience in my C on the highway, and I average around 450 miles to a tank, so I can't imagine it was too bad. Just wondering what your thoughts were with highway mileage and fuelling up all the time?
I've made the trip in several other cars with much lower mpg and larger fuel tanks and but due to the great mpg from the Prius the fill-up city locations were almost the same, even thought the Prius has a smaller fuel tank. In other words, I did not have to fuel-up any sooner or more often, compared to other cars I've recently (within the last 15 years) driven across the country.
Nice report. I just got my c a little over a month ago and wondered how it will take mountain passes. I want to drive it from SLC, UT to visit my parents in Eureka, CA someday. I was wondering how it will handle Donner Summit. I rented a third gen Prius to drive out there last year and it flew up it. I've only driven about halfway up Parley's Canyon in it, up to the East Canyon exit, and it did fine. Coming down I maxed out the MPG gauge at 99.9 MPG. If you leave the A/C on auto it will get a little better fuel economy than if you go to manual mode. Just set the temp like your house thermostat and let it do the rest. If it's hot it will blow cold air and if it's cold it will blow warm.
Brown.... The C's engine will be revving up Donners summit, but will climb it just fine. I did it this summer with the a/c on. The mpg's dropped but 65/70 mph was no problem.
