I've notice that with all the tools available on my Prius, my driving habits have changed. I'm in Jacksonville FL now and drove from Atlanta in my wife's 2010 Honda CR-V. I averaged over 30mpg just because of this and neither my son nor my wife have noticed any change in how I drive it. Any one else here increased mpg in their 2nd vehicle this way?
I drove my "other" vehicle, a 2007 Chevy Avalanche to work a couple days this week, and I averaged over 20 mpg. I kept up with traffic, and tried to keep the v8 in v4 mode as long as possible, plus the huge truck just loves to coast.
The simple answer is yes but perhaps not in the way expected. I use instruments on the Prius to find out how it performs. Then I drive using this information to optimize performance and confirm my studies. So I have changed my driving style to match what my studies show with a few exceptions. I drive on cruise control as much as possible. My testing indicated pulse-and-glide gives only a 10-15% improvement between 25-42 mph. Compared to other techniques, pulse-and-glide is too labor intensive and unreliable in local traffic. Bob Wilson
No. I drive each of my vehicles differently because each is unique from the other. This is why I own them.
Yes, the Prius changed the way that I drive, with what I have learned from the dash information along with the SGII info. This carries over to my wife's 2007 Honda Accord. The accelerator is much more "active" than the Prius but I have learned to feather the pedal and try to duplicate the things that I have learned from the Prius. My wife used to call me a Type A driver. I have not heard her use that phrase since the Prius
I've actually experienced the opposite (less mpg). I feel that with my V6 Saturn Outlook and Turbo Pontiac Solstice (5-speed trans, 320 hp/360 tq), I tend to have a lead foot to experience the torque and speed I can't get with the Prius.
My driving changed significantly a year before acquiring a Prius. With gas far above $4/gallon in 2008, I discovered the SGII, then found CleanMPG.com. Together, they changed my driving with traditional drivetrains.
Yes. I bought the Prius because it is one of the easiest cars for learning how to hypermile. I've also attached a Scangauge II to my Prius. I've since achieved a CleanMPG *skilled hypermiler* rating. To get the most fuel efficiency from a Prius - I find that I had to be more aware of the driving condition and more focused on driving the car itself when my mind wanders I do poorly and when my mind is focused I do much much better. Walter
Thanks for the info on the cleanmpg. Just looked it up. Very cool site. I seldom drive my wife's CR-V and noticed it too has an instantaneous mpg monitor much like the Prius. I used that the whole trip from Atlanta to Jacksonville FL this weekend and beat her average by 5mpg. The key to it for me was in how I accelerate. A half an inch down on the pedal would drop it by over 10mpg and not really gain all that much in acceleration. I've gotten to where I can feel my Prius go into glide and so I mainly use instantaneous monitor for my normal driving when the ICE is running. Focusing too much on the arrows in the HU has my eyes off the road too much for comfort even when I try and look at out of the corner of my eye. A quick glance does it now.
Yes and no: Yes, I did change to use the "Prius habits " such as gentle acceleration and anticipatory timing of deceleration for upcoming stop lights when driving the Tundra pickup. It seems to help mpg on the truck. No, I have not changed my driving style for the Miata MX-5 as it elicits a sport car style of driving congruent with the type of car rather than a conservation style of driving.
