I got so mad today on my first commute to work when my miles to date went "down" to 48.6 or so. Then I cheered as I hit 49.3 by the time I got to work. Talk about giving you instant negative feedback. No wonder people change their driving behaviors. I'm scared to look at what my gf is going to do to the mileage this weekend since she's a speed demon and we'll be in Montana.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Zzyzx @ May 24 2006, 11:21 AM) [snapback]260320[/snapback]</div> Where do you see miles to date? Is that part of your package? Or do you not reset after each tank fill?
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Mike0422 @ May 24 2006, 08:24 AM) [snapback]260325[/snapback]</div> I got it yesterday. Miles to date == miles per tank
i have a friend who is diagnosed obsessive compulsive and has a prius. to that point he drives 55 mph on the freeway. his son hates to drive with him because of this. drives 8 miles to buy gas at a reduced price. i don't know if he was oc before the car or if the car made him oc! however, this car is special in that promotes obsessive behavior with the mpg screen. it is even getting to me i think.... i turned off the dam screen the other day just so i could drive normally with no guilt.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Zzyzx @ May 24 2006, 11:21 AM) [snapback]260320[/snapback]</div> Turn off the MFD, or better yet, put a paper bag over your head when she is driving. Tom
How accurate is the average mpg reading on the consumption screen? it just stays like 47.5 mpg never changes even after reset & reprogram. On just the normal display screen the mpg bounces all over the place
ZZYZX, Welcome to the fold! You haved the ranks of the obsessive compulsive drivers. 1.2.3.4.5.6 I too stare at my screen to see how I'm doing on second-by-second basis. This morning, on my way to work, I was thrilled to see that my mileage went way up since we are experiencing warmer weather for a change. 1.2.3.4.5.6 I wouldn't worry too much about it. It'll eventually go away or you will no longer notice. 1.2.3.4.5.6
I get slightly bummed whenever my mpgs go down and quite pleased with myself (and my car) whenever they go up, this is during every trip I make no matter how short. To the point where I hate running errands on weekends because my mpgs go down every time I start up the car, and where I love getting 'stuck' in 20-40mph traffic on the freeway because I can run in electric more often and get my mpgs up.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(priusguy04 @ May 24 2006, 12:53 PM) [snapback]260390[/snapback]</div> The mpg is generated by a random number generator. It can be programmed to generate generally good numbers or bad numbers and is set by a particularly peevish person at a factory in Japan. His mood on the day your Prius came off the production line dictates what you see for the life of the vehicle. We can't reprogram it, we can just reset it. This isn't generally known, but the comparing of these randomly generated numbers gives us something to write about. Nah, not really, just kidding. The display screen you refer to that has numbers that jump all over the place is the mileage you're getting at that particular moment. Give it more gas and watch the number go down, give it less and the number goes up, generally. Ask it to do more work and the number is lower. Any car is like that, it takes fuel to do work, it's just that the Prius gives instant feedback.
I just got my second fill-up today. In the 2 mile trip from the gas station (where I reset my MFD), I watched the MPG jump from 17.4 up to 38 up to 48 then 55, mostly during the first mile. I guiess I'll have to go out and drive another mile - it's a good thing I need to go to the post office! (My average on the second tank was 48 MPG compared to 50.4 on the MFD screen; my first tank was 43.2 vs 44.2)
Glad its not just me! I keep telling myself that on the next tank I'm gonna revert back to my old drving habbits. It would be fun to enjoy the accelaration, see just how bad I can make my MPG, and tailgate someone with a Prius! ) But I can't bring myself to do it.
The other thing you might be seeing is an average of a miniscule sample. That would cause the average MPG to vary wildly. After fillup it isn't unusual for me to get home and show close to 90 mpg on the MFD for the average run home. Of course that's only a 5 mile run and mostly downhill or flat. Accelerate out of the station and the average will be low since it's the only mileage it can average, drive "better" in the next short distance and the average will climb wildly. Ignore the MFD average when you only have a few miles to average against.
Man, if only WA 520 were flat, I'd be so much happier. I never cared at all in my last car. However, it is fun to coast down that last hill on the way into work. Looks like that Wyoming trip is cancelled btw; it doesn't make much sense to drive 1500 miles rt to sit in a hotel room playing Uno because it'll be pouring the whole time.
My first tank was 46.8 calculated versus 48.5 MFD. I'm now 136 miles into my second tank. MFD is showing 51.2. For my commute home last night and my commute to work this morning, I used cruise control about 75% of the time. In this brief experiment, it seems CC is getting me better mileage than trying to do it myself. My commute is 25 miles one way. A lot of it is flat. On the way in, I end with a long, gradual downhill. Going home, I face this uphill at the beginning. Going home yesterday, I left work with MFD at 50.3 and arrived home with it at 50.4. This morning's ride increased it from 50.4 to 51.2. My last three bars were 95, 60, an 80.
Tony, you crack me up LOL Is the number counting part of P&G ? Anybody else grimace when they are foiled by a red light ? There was a hilarious thread on greenhybrid.com titled something like 'you know you are a hybrid fanatic when ..' One of my favorites: .. when granny flips you off.
My commute is about 25 miles each way and I have been playing with routes to take advantage of elevation and average speeds. Unfortunately I go down hill to work and uphill home. My goal (obsession) is to have my ending mpg when I get home be equal to or slightly above my starting MPG when I leave in the morning. I was working on a 55+ mpg tank with 2 bars left and got caught in a detour that had me going up steep hills and a great deal of stop and go driving with the ICE. I ended up with a MFD economy of 50.9. UGH! My wife teases me about my Anal Retentive/Obsessive Compusive Engineering personna that comes out when I drive this car. But I love this @#%$ car and her anyway!
I could not bear the fact that my wife would ruin my MPG so we just had to get her, her own Prius. She is not allowed to drive mine. hehehe
