56 Plate prius t3. NOT ENOUGH MPG

welcome!

start by educating yourself. read through the many mpg threads here, and especially the gen 2 sticky.

my first question to you is: how are you measuring mpg's? the only good way is to fill the tank and divide miles by gallons. miles per tank and the dash average are only useful to a point.

second: how many miles on her? older prius can have a multitude of issues that affect mpg's.

third: what make and model tires did you have put on, and what tire pressure are you running? the wrong tires can have a large affect on mpg.

lastly: there are a myriad of issues that affect mpg: oil and level, air filter, throttle body and maf, intake manifold, the list goes on.

all the best!

 

Welcome to the forum! In addition to bisco's points above, you may want to start here:

Fuel economy complaints/queries? Please copy, paste & answer these questions, esp. if you're new | PriusChat

New owner? Want MPG help? Read this first. | PriusChat

You'll find a lot of help awaits you from the great people here. They just need the right information to correctly help you with solutions.

 

What exactly does "56 prius t3" mean ??

And the single biggest factor in gas mileage is the DRIVER.
What speed do you drive on your commute ?
Do you drive it like a sports car ??

There are a lot of other threads on here about poor gas mileage.
Have you read and digested any of them ?
If not, you should.

 

One option I guess would be to replace the 56 plates with a set of 41 plates.

Ok seriously though, I don't know what 56 plates are.

 

A 56 plate is a UK 2006 model.

UK mpg is different to US with different gallon sizes but in the winter 50mpg+ on a long run should be easily achieved.

If it's doing 90mph then 41mpg might be right - that's all car reviewers seem to get here.


XT1572 ?

 

Correct. For example, my 42.5 mpg here in California converts to 51.0 mpg in the UK. When the OP indicates he's getting around 41 mpg, he should legitimately be getting over 50. That's why I directed him to the questionnaire thread where all the factors affecting his low mpg can be looked at.

 

Yes, I've regularly achieved 50-55 UK mpg in the Prius and my own Yaris Hybrid(a Yaris with the engine from the Prius C) when driven normally so for a 30 mile journey that should be normal.

If I use all the hybrid driving techniques this can be pushed up to 70mpg but many roads are too crowded & too much rage to achieve that regularly.

Some UK car magazine reviewers only get 42-45mpg usually when they review the cars - likely because they are sitting at 85-90mph instead of 65-70mph.

 

Because it's UK, there are some things we are less familiar. But in the USA lots of short trips is one big explanation. The first 5-10 is lower MPG especially in USA with CARB style emission controls on all USA Prii. When we stopped working/commuting and just did shorter trips, that was a big step change in MPG. So you want to get on the road after warm up 15-minutes or so, and then see if you get 50 MPG stretches say at 55 USA Mile per hour nice ride.

 

Warmed up, in the summer, I can get over 70 ukmpg while cruising at 55mph - top speed makes a huge difference.

Increasing to a 70mph cruise drops my mpg to 55.

The Yaris Hybrid doesn't have great aerodynamics.

 

Adjusting mentally for unit conversions (UK gals etc), I think I agree exactly

 

Hi and welcome to Prius Chat.

You said you bought new tyres all round. Can you please tell us what kind of tyres they are? Make, model, and possibly designation; for example, are they Low Rolling Resistance (LRR) tyres specifically designed for Hybrid vehicles like the Prius? If they're just ordinary budget tyres, they will penalise your MPG results.

IF they are LRR tyres, have you pumped them to the correct pressures to aid low rolling resistance? We're talking realistically about 40 Front, 38 Rear - which is what I am presently running.

Do you reset your MPG counter every time you fill up the vehicle with petrol? You should, in order to get realistic MPG readings.

Getting the best economy from a Prius entails changing your driving style from the one used when driving traditional vehicles.

In a nutshell, you do not need to have the pedal to the metal every time you move. In fact, the best way t drive one of these economically is to get up to speed quickly, then feather that throttle pedal once you reach your desired speed and it will cruise along quietly without burning hydrocarbons at an alarming rate.

Leave plenty of time for you to brake progressively when coming to a stop - no point racing up to the lights then hitting the brakes at the last second - waste of fuel - and undignified when driving a Prius anyway.

I'm not saying you ARE making any driving mistakes, for of course, I cannot tell - these are simply guides only.

A lot of people in the UK, noticeably BMW and Audi drivers seem to believe they have to race everywhere like the Stig! This is simply bad driving and carries an MPG fuel figures drop penalty.
Believe me when I say you can still make excellent progress cruising with the rest of the traffic on the highway without trying to employ boy racer techniques with the Prius.

Other questions; who services your vehicle? A Toyota Main Dealer? Or some other non Toyota franchised garage? This alone could make a difference in the MPG output - Toyota Dealer for maintenance all the time (in the UK).

Do you use the heater onboard a lot? Or the A/C on automatic when driving? Read up how to regulate your Heating or A/C settings when driving. Never use the A/C on Auto - fuel MPG penalty right there. Dtrive repeated short journeys? Ditto.

One more thing overlooked by a lot of people; the Prius attains maximum economy after the engine has warmed up to the correct heat zone. Often, if you come to a halt in traffic, you should stop with your foot on the brakes, and wait till the engine cuts out and stops running of it's own accord. Your vehicle will now be running at optimum efficiency for the rest of the trip.

It is very easy to be unaware of the aforementioned; you could travel a very long way to work with the vehicles ECU never automatically switching the propulsion system to run in it's most efficient mode. Weird, I know, but I have 58.5 MPG on my MFD despite the unseasonably cold UK climate of recent.

Read up on "Pulse and Glide" techniques when driving; You can soon be doing this naturally - you just need to practise it regularly everyday.

Hope some of my input is useful to you.