Getting 30ish MPG. Help?

Listen Stan, I too care about the environment, that is why I got a Prius after all. But there is no need to drive like a grandma, clogging up lanes and as someone so elegantly stated earlier, breaking laws doing so.

You can drive your car and have fun at the same time, you know? My Subaru was a gas hogging disgrace to the environment sure, but now when I chirp my wheels and power slide tight corners on snowy roads, at least I am doing so in a beautifully engineered and underrated machine. That being said I still think your an arrogant hippy hugging tree lover. I almost want to buy a deisel pickup just so I can spray black smoke on your flowers everyday.

Anyway, back on TOPIC. This morning I averaged 50mpg driving gingerly to work, I was bored out of my mind but I guess I saved some money and Stans precious trees. We need the OP to chime back in however so we keep this on topic and solve his issues.

 

Albeit, posthumously if you continue to drive like you've stated. Eventually, someone who is a lot less environmentally-friendly will put you and your car in a ditch, at best or just blow you away. Road rage has become a serious problem in this country and it'd be a shame to loose your life in such a stupid and senseless way.

I'd think long and hard about just how important your one-man campaign is to you and your loved ones.

 

The Zen of Prius driving means learning how to drive in traffic yet still 'get stuck' behind the slower vehicles. A practiced art, you're never at the front but behind the slower traffic:

• pickup truck towing a trailer
• semi-trailers
• the handicap licensed car
• changing lanes so faster traffic doesn't have to
• jumping off to use the access road instead
• taking routes less traveled

It becomes a way, the Prius path to enlightenment . . . and not lightening the bank account.

Bob Wilson

 

It could. If you are braking hard enough to force hydraulic braking, you'll lose energy heating the brake pads. Also, if you are accelerating so the engine spins faster than ~3,200 rpm, you'll start to go into a bad area of engine performance. But you can't tell unless you have an rpm instrument, say a ScanGauge II.

Bob Wilson

 

As for autocrossing and racing, yes it can be done and has been done. I have taken the Prius to the track once and it was surprisingly fun. As it sits stock, the body roll is laughable but it was not designed to do this as a machine. A simple bolt on stiffener works wonders. For racing, you will absolutely have to disable the traction control, but with the instant power and no torque converter to slow things down it is instant pickup. The brakes are outstanding for a station wagon, I mean "hatchback", and it can be a lot of fun. Driving it around the track, 18mpg to 20mpg is the normal. Consider a 22mpg subaru gets closer to 2-3 miles per gallon in the same situation. Some of the hypercars out there go from 12-18 mpg to gallons per mile under the harshest conditions on a track.

 

I've read most of this post , I might have missed this , but does your bill of sale
Say PLUG IN 2010 ...... What does the paper work say , got a title yet
What's the description , if it says plug in , you have a case of fraud ....
Verbal really won't make your case

 

On topic.

Was your Grandma ripped off?

She was if she paid for a Prius Plug In and only received a regular Prius.

Mileage Issues?

Your tires were severely under inflated. You can apply other driving techniques to improve your mileage but that was probably the heart of your MPG problem.

Excuse my suspicion, but The OP seems to have applied a passive aggressive approach through this thread. As in " I love my Prius BUT....my mileage is poor. Why? Uh my are Tires Low, I'm Speeding, and carrying a lot of weight.

And I'm very suspicious of somebody who claims to have a plug in Prius, or says they think they own one but then once revealed that they weren't offered in 2010, claims ignorance based on a salesmans supposed statement.

How do you take ownership of a vehicle and not be curious or discover pretty quickly something as obvious as whether it is a Plug In or not? I mean, if I thought I had a Plug In..but did not, I think my thread would be titled "Where's The Damn Plug? Help " not " Getting 30ish MPG? help".

But in any case, I think you've got your answers here. Whatever Prius you own, it is a Hybrid and even a hybrid is subject to parameters that lower MPG's as any gasoline burning vehicle. So Colder Temps, Higher Speeds, Agressive Driving, Carrying Weight and severely under inflated tires would all be factors that could lower your MPG.

I also find it hard somebody wouldn't know this.

But if you are sincere? Good Luck with your new Prius...whatever model you own.

 

Watch this video. It gives a quick rundown of how to drive the Prius for mileage. In my opinion, anything under the EPA rating is bad for a Prius.

 

That is a shame. We've seen more than a few cases where enthusiasts are fooled by 'salesmanship' into buying impractical cars. Worse, they seldom achieve much on the track because they don't know how to get the peak performance. The BBC "Top Gear" hosts are enthusiasts . . . entertaining as they play the fool.

Bob Wilson

 

I'm not blaming your Grandma. If she bought you a car? Nice Grandma. And I can certainly understand a Senior that is not familiar with Prius perhaps not knowing the difference or what to look for in a Prius. And maybe even being taken by a salesman. You asked if she was ripped off...and without placing blame, if she paid for a Plug In Prius, or bought the vehicle with it being sold to her as a Plug In Prius, with Plug In Prius claims being made about it? Then regrettably she was mislead. I'd certainly want to know how the vehicle is represented on the sales contract, and how much she paid. If the amount paid is fair for a regular Prius of that age? And you are happy? I guess no harm, no foul, but if she paid a premium for something she did not get? That's too bad.

But I am saying, if somebody handed me the SKS fobs to a "Plug In Prius"....whether I knew or not? About the first thing I would look for is the Plug.

Did the vehicle NOT come with an owners manual? I just find it strange you would be more concerned about poor gas mileage, than why your "Plug In Prius" evidently had nowhere to plug it in.

 

THANK GOD most Prius owners aren't like the Jollygreendonkey. America is a free country buddy, with the freedom to mention God if one feels like it. Get off your high horse. Drive the speed limit because it's the law. If you need to go that slow and impede everyone around you with no consideration for anyone but yourself just because you want to save more of the environment, then sell your car and buy a motocycle...or better yet a bike or a horse. It's a big country, it sould be your duty to live in a climate where you can do this.

 

He mentioned earlier that his owners manual was used as a child's coloring book so it was totally useless. Makes sense to me, I contemplated lighting mine on fire it made so little sense. It did help me in turning off traction control to get this car sideways however.

Amen, Stan is an absolute reason to hate all Prii, and I would love to see him driving on NY roads.

 

Yes we have freedom of and from religion, which is great.

In my state, the speed limit is the UPPER bound of what is legal, one is legal down to 40 MPH on freeways, there is no lower bound on other roads. Your location may vary, I do not know as you do not give any clue what state you are in.

I endeavor to pass about as many vehicles as pass me, 47 in a 45, 61 in a 55 and 71 in a 70 achieve that for me. Only freeways are 70 so I am only counting the right lane there. So I do not impede any more vehicles than I am impeded by, this may or may not appease the "It is all about me, the speed limit is for other people" drivers.

Legal drivers should never be intimidated by assholes, and I never am. Calling *hp works in my state so I see them again by the side of the road talking with the officer. Some clueless drivers I see 4 times in one day. (I doubt I make 3 calls a year, very few drivers here are a danger to others)

It is not a requirement to speed*, it is perfectly legal to drive the speed limit or slightly below. Even without a horse or a bike.

* In Washington state, it is illegal to impede more than 5 vehicles.

You have no 'right to speed' in any state. But just as I have the right to worship any gods I choose, or none at all, I have the same rights you do about my driving.

 

Well we certainly have constitutional right to freedom of religion (see 1st amendment).

 

When he reported 25,000 miles that and the year confirmed this is a used Prius.

Bob Wilson

 

My copy says "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,"

So I am both protected from having a religion, and free to have any religion of my choice. No idea what your copy says.

 

That's what mine says as well. Which allows me to say:
For God so loved the world that he gave his one an only son that whoever shall believe on him shall not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16).

 

I'm trying to be mature about this, I'm not sure what your beef with me is. It's really starting to test my patience though. Sometimes we have to make sacrifices for our planet, and sometimes not everyone agrees with those sacrifices. I will drive in a way that benefits the earth the most, not in a way that benefits you or even myself for that matter. Yes I am late for appointments sometimes, but that just means I need to leave a little earlier next time, and wouldn't the roads be much more relaxed if everyone learned to leave earlier?
Environmentalism isn't a fad, it's a responsibility we all share. Would I rather take a fifteen minute shower every night as opposed to taking a bath in two inches of water every other night? You bet, but everything isn't about me. Everyone is so self centered it's sickening, and not just for humans.
-Stan