Prius on the freeway

I gave up on Motor Trend a long time ago for reasons just like that.

 

I thought about the PiP, but figured it was going to be too costly for the model & amenities I wanted. Plus, I'm not disappointed with the "around town" mpg, it's still better than what I was getting with my Pontiac vibe. My point was that if one really wants to save money on a car for just puttering around, the Prius may not be the best choice. I would seriouy consider a Leaf for that. For overall driving city/hwy, I think the Prius is the car to get.

 

Yeah, even a used PiP is unlikely at the OPs ~$14k price point. While its not the cheapest car you can buy, its worth noting that the Prius family are often amongst the lowest estimated cost to own and operate over time. With gas prices where they are, its probably a good time to buy a used one I would think.

Rob

 

I drive a Gen II (2005) and get slightly lower mileage than what some other drivers are getting on freeways.

Averaging 65 mph with 80+% freeway driving in SoCal weather, over the last 6k miles I get around 53-57 mpg. When I would get stuck in traffic, which was not often due to the time I commute, my mpg actually increased slightly.
The one time I averaged 75mph, i got 50 mpg.

Still beats any diesel I have read about on the freeway without the extra price premium as well.

 

I had a 2005 gen II, You are doing really good, keep up the good job!
I have winters to work with, but saying that here in the summer I would get between 48-53 mpg on highway trips at 65-69 mph.
Over all in seven years I averaged 45.3 mpg. These figures are calculated long hand. Not read out on dash.

You are doing good, Great!!! Enjoy your car.

 

For the best of both worlds in mpg and comfort get the camry hybrid.

 

The comments on this forum about the seats amaze me.

Maybe it's because I'm 31, and still limber. Perhaps it's because for the past 7 years I've driven a 2008 Jeep Wrangler, literally one of the stiffest, roughest riding vehicles I've ever had the pleasure of driving. Or, maybe Toyota did something special with the 2015 MY Prius...

But...

These seats are perfectly fine in my book. They're comfortable, they're soft, and they go unnoticed to me while I drive.

Just my 2-cents, but wanted to give a "these seats don't suck" opinion to balance out some of the negative.

 

seat comfort is subjective to a large degree, but it can be objective to a point too. How else could they know how to design them? Guess?
Look, these 'run of the mill', 'one size fits all ' seat bottom cushions ARE made short enough for back of knee of shorter legs to make it over front edge. But long legs end up hanging 5, maybe 6 inches past the front edge. Lack of leg support causes discomfort. For this very reason I won't be upgrading to even a Camry Hybrid let alone a Prius.

 

For a long time I was one of the people who believed that the Prius was only for stop and go traffic. In reality it's the opposite. Stop and go means you accelerate a lot from a stop, which kills MPG. Steady highway driving returns the best mileage for me. When I'm driving the Prius on the highway, the biggest influencer of MPG is the net altitude change of the drive. Because the overall energy to lift the car the few hundred feet net up, has to come from somewhere, and you get it back when you go the other way. One thing the Prius has done is made me very aware of hills, altitude, and other energy issues (in the physics sense, not the gas sense though that's the net result).

 

Big factor for me to choose Prius and not the Camry was hatchback vs a trunk. Being able to transport by bike easily and other stuff was crucial. If mpg isn't crucial nor open cargo area, Camry is a great choice.

I'm quite envious of all you guys getting some awesome MPG's doing 70+. I bet it's due to my hills, and the stop and go in my commute. I did get one my best MPG's down in LA in rolling traffic.... key does seem to be flat and no stop.. keep rolling is slow traffic is perfect scneraio to get good MPG's.