Driving advice

35 miles is a short trip? That would be almost across the whole island for me. I guess I will stop worrying about those 40 mpg 1 mile trips to the market.

 

I am with you - I do not understand why people get pissed when there is a red light up ahead and I just start to coast.
I recently started going into the PWR zone (after a guy visibly had a fit of anger) , and am waiting to see what happens to my mileage.

But I would love to have a thicker skin and just stick to optimizing my drive rather than worry about the wrath of others.

 

Agreed. I was in a quiet area of the city, early in the morning with light traffic, but everybody wanted to do 10 to 12 mph over the speed limit. I had more angry tailgaters than ever before. Maybe it has something to do with being Friday. Everybody seems to have more stress for whatever reason.

 

My advice is don't be too scared of the "Power Zone" when accelerating.
There's benefit not only to those around you, but yourself, in getting up to speed safely, and in concert with traffic around you.

As a hybrid driver, I worry more about maintaining momentum once gained, than I do about how I gain that momentum.

Basically, I try to not let the fact that I'm driving a hybrid and a Prius change how I'm interacting with traffic.

My results seem to suggest, simply driving The Prius as close to possible as per "normal" results in perfectly great MPG numbers.

Toyota gives you the feedback tools to drive efficiently, but sometimes, driving safely, and efficiently means getting up to speed. If you are accelerating so slowly you are making everyone mad? I think you're driving too conservatively. There is IMO no need to do this with The Prius I don't think adapting your behavior in this regard will result in any massive MPG loss.

 

Agreed, but as juvenile as it may be, if I am at a stop light next to one of those beautiful new corvettes or (more likely) a new generation camero oe charger, I am going to give it a go -- I have yet to lose

 

I'm pretty much sold on the PWR mode. I find it very easy to use. You can accelerate briskly and smoothly up to speed, and then ever so slightly ease up on the throttle and it drops down into EV mode. (Just don't look at the silly "score" upon there on the screen, and you'll be fine.)

My car seems to run better. The gas mileage hasn't been hurt at all, and in fact it's improved slightly.

 

This seems to depend a lot on the person driving. I tend to get better MPG and enjoy driving my gen 3 in power mode also. Plus, if I am not in power mode I have trouble switching to the Honda Odyssey's gas pedal because it's very front loaded.

One thing I have started doing is dropping out of power mode for parking lots or residential areas sometimes to intentionally slow me down.

 

Also a new owner (but a 2015 Prius).
Been driving it for a week now. Beginning driving local was ok, but then first time hitting an interstate was very different as I wasn't expecting to be so slow in lane changing. (I slowed down a truck that much which caused that driver to show me his middle finger ).
Anyways, i am also still struggling to find the best balance of not slowing down others too much. So is the recommendation to drive in PWR mode and treat is as a normal car, and even then the MPG will not be too much lower than in ECO mode?
So for accelerating from standstill, it's OK to fill up the PWR bar?

When braking, is partially filling the CHG bar) better than filling up the bar? When is the frictional brake engaged?

 

I sometimes fill up the bar completely accelerating and almost always use power mode. Calculated mpg is between 48 and 53 so far, which is great considering the car doesn't have trouble keeping up. I rarely go over 3,000 rpm even with the bar full so don't worry too much about it. My MPG is better in PWR mode, sometimes by up to 10%. Depends on how you drive and use the pedal.

Yes filling it up (the CHG bar) partially is better than full, when the CHG bar is full the friction brakes begin to take over. They also are used exclusively under 7 mph and will take over if the car hits a bump under braking. You will feel a change in the brake pedal if this happens as the regen brakes cut out, just keep pressing it. Those 2 scenarios aren't reflected in the CHG bar. I am a nerd and have 2 scangauges to monitor all of this. But you can do just fine just keeping up with the traffic - the Prius should get great MPG even then.

 

I've tried driving in all modes, doesn't seem to have that big of an impact on mileage really. seems difficult to go below 58 or above 66 (at least for me). I find I like Eco mode because I can accelerate more smoothly at lower speeds. I don't mind "getting on it" when I need to and usually do, I definitely don't drive moderately or slowly. I kind of like the sound of the engine when it gets wound up. Funny thing is I was really concerned about the CVT, thought I would hate it. Test drove a Honda Fit and was stunned at how loud and obnoxious it sounded. Anyway, it's a personal preference thing. and this is about MPG not the car itself. I drive in ECO mode and the display shows 64.9 so there you go.

 

Oops this is the gen 4 forum sorry. I have a gen 3. I was thinking you guys had really good mpg

 

I have the Four Touring model. I'm getting 49.5 mpg overall right now after almost 7k miles. One thing I think helps is to accelerate to cruising speed quickly, then get the electric mode to come on by letting off the accelerator for a second. Then I try to stay in electric mode for as long as I can. This seems to give me better mileage.

I think one reason my mileage is "poor" is because I often have my family in the car with me and I think that the extra weight lowers my gas mileage.


iPhone ?

 

It's true. More weight is comparable to going up a slight upgrade.

 

I suggest driving your Prius as you would a Corolla or Camry, normally. You will get excellent fuel mileage. There is a time and place for "hyper-mileling" your Prius. On occasion, I will even show off my Prius' strong acceleration at traffic lights if I have some youngster next to me in the other lane driving a fart-can equipped Honda Civic. Have fun with your Prius!

 

Same here, driving our Odyssey is hard after driving in ECO. Thats why I leave it in PWR. The van screeches, lurches forward, and does a burnout. It's probably twice as sensitive as PWR mode in the Prius. Of coarse, it gets 16-18 MPG.

 

Haha! That makes me feel better. That was my main motivation for PWR mode...the wife and kids didn't like lurching around all the time. We have had two, a 2004 that was lucky to get 15 in town, and our 2014 that can approach 20.