mileage dropping?!?!?!?

I have no response other than to say you worry too much!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(brandon @ Jul 29 2006, 03:52 AM) [snapback]294237[/snapback]</div>

My mileage was good for the first 20,000 miles. Without trying, I would get 46 - 48 mpg. If I were extra careful, I could get 52 - 54 mpg. There were stretches when I would see 75 - 80 mpg across the board (traffic jams). I miss those days.

At the 25,000 service, I reported to the dealer that my mileage was dropping. He said he found nothing wrong. 30,000, same thing. I tried a different dealer at 35,000. Found nothing. By 40,000, my mileage without being extra careful was only around 38 mpg. If I try my very best, I can get around 42 mpg over a tankful.

The dealer tried to blame me for the problem: since the car is no longer a novelty for me, I'm not really trying to save gas anymore. The fact is that I'm working harder than ever with it, and the gas mileage is about what my 75 Corolla got.

 

I have noticed it's much harder for me to achieve 50mpg+. I used to be able to get 50 fairly easily.

How much of a difference does E10 make? It seems that might be the difference for me.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(homebuilt @ Jul 29 2006, 03:36 AM) [snapback]294241[/snapback]</div>

Nice to hear this dealer doubles as a psychologist.

I'm a very new Prius owner with less than 1,500 miles so I haven't really got a pattern or stable average yet, so I can't really advise you like some of the more experienced folk around here can. However, you might check the obvious: overfilled oil, underinflated tires, etc. I've read the impact of ethanol is usually 3%, but even if that's wrong, I'm pretty certain it's not 20%!

If your instantaneous averages are consistent with your overall MPG, and you know a hypermiler in your area, having him/her try to reproduce crappy mileage in your car would confirm or deny if it's your driving style.

 

There are a lot of variables but we all have the tools we need in the MFD. CAN-View etc is icing on the cake. Nice not necessary. It is about, tire pressure, driving style, route, speeds, acceleration rates, temperature, wind speed and direction. Driving style is a major actor though. It is a major factor you can change. Want better milage you can have it. I do drive a bit slower these days i.e. I am closer to the speed limit than ever. My day to day commute time is longer by one minute or less depending on lights. It really depends on how much you want to invest in Fuel Economy. For me it a game. Relaxes me going to work and coming home. Pushes everything else out of my head for 15 minutes. Have fun.

 

Check your tire pressures... This is what I do at the first indication of falling MPG- generally the car settles to a consumption figure of somewhere around 50 mpg (on an Classic Prius) after feathering the accelerator on a flat road), but if it's consistenly worse than this and it's not attributable to the engine having to charge the battery, etc, then I know something is off with the car, and it's usually that the tire pressure has fallen on one or more of the tires.. I've also had one case where it was bad gas, but it's usually the tires.. Pump them back up, and your MPG returns.. I tend to run my Hydroedge at 46/44- yes, greater than sidewall rating because as an engineer, I know the safety margins they design in and am absolutely *not* worried about exceeding the sidewall rating by a PSI or two..

 

Short drives [esp. with some amount of cooldown in between] are an
absolute mpg killer. Go take a longish tool about the countryside
and grab an average for *that*...
.
_H*

 

If you drive on the highway at 55 MPH for 10 minutes or more after a warmup period and the SOC still isn't at 6 bars, there's probably something wrong. At that speed, AC wouldn't matter much. Your MPG for the trip should be in the 40's at least after the 10 minute warmup.

A low battery capacity will kill your mileage. Another symptom that would occur if the battery can't hold a charge is poor acceleration.

 

I'm really new at this, but am fascinated with watching the MFD.

With the tire pressure up and with watching the other factors...stealth, pulse and glide, hills, ICE warm-up....the real mileage killer for me is my short trips to Post Office or library and home.

On days when I bunch my short errands...and car is only off for short time, the engine warm-up time is not a factor...and if the trips are just slightly longer than 5-10 minutes...e.g. 15 -20 minutes, my mileage jumps...

On this tank, I was averaging...40 mpg, then I took a couple of trips in one day, bunched, two of them to our mall, which is about 20 minutes away...with lots of stop and go...my mileage jumped to 45.8 mpg...

Next few days, those very short isolated trips and I'm back down to 40-40 mpg....

I agree, just enjoy!!

For me, I'm enjoying all of the techy stuff as much as I enjoy computers, so it's more for fun and learning than economy.

My first tank of gas was 31 mpg..I'm only on my second.

If I get around 40 mpg or a little higher, given the fact that I only drive about 6000 miles a year and almost all short trips, I'll be a happy camper...I love the car and got it primarily because of environment, secondarily, because of the hybid technology which fascinates me.