How's your Winter mileage?

It's my first winter with my 06. I was consistently getting around 49-53 during the summer/fall and am now seeing 41-43. I don't have the grille blocked, nor do I have a engine block heater. Temps are averaging in the 10's on the way to work and 30's on the way home. Still beats any other vehicle on the road, as they all see a decrease during cold weather.

 

I have a 42.7mpg reading, this is since I bought the car (the milage is lifetime, not tank). I have about 1250 miles on the car now since buying in October. In 42 degree temps, with the defroster on with the AC off, temp set to 65 degrees (the coldest setting for heat) the ICE remains on more and more. As I drive along in traffic I notice my instant milage readings going as low as 8mpg! Sometimes coasting with the ICE on (because heat is set to 65 degrees with the fan on low) the milage is around 30-35mpg?!

I have a lot of hills around my home, going up and down them all the time. And I don't baby this car, I use the horsepower it has to get up the hills, I'm not a sunday driver at all. But no complaints for 42.7mpg in cold weather! I'm hoping for 50mpg+ in the summertime.

Also, I have not adjusted the tire pressure since buying the car. I'll do that this weekend. What are the recommended specs again? I have the owners manual, I know what those specs are. Do you all just follow the owners manual or do you put more air in? I wonder about safety with over inflated tires on wet roads.

Dave

 

49.6, down from 51+. Coldest here (LA) has been mid 30's (degrees, not MPGs)

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tideland Prius @ Dec 21 2006, 12:56 PM) [snapback]365330[/snapback]</div>

Hi Tideland, remember me? You had me worried a while back with your talk of 4.X L/100km. I glad to say that I'm matching your 5.1 at the moment. Many of my trips are pretty short so part of me (the stupid part) is wishing I had longer trips to make.

 

Yes, it seems like all cars have lower winter mpg's. My Toyota Highlander got 16.5 mpg recently (rated 18/22 or 24) in 30f temps and I'm pretty easy on the pedal. My Prius arrives tomorrow and I'm not going to worry about getting the great mpg numbers until spring. I'll still get 2-3 times better mpg than currently getting (and emissions will be greatly reduced)!

Update...I got my Prius! See later posts, first tank 43.5 mpg, road trip 49.7!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(DaveLeePrius @ Dec 21 2006, 02:31 PM) [snapback]365208[/snapback]</div>

Dave,

I commute "over the hill" from Santa Cruz, CA to Santa Clara, CA, and what I find is that I do much better in gas mileage if I maintain a relatively constant speed on the uphill side. If I'm accelerating a lot on the uphill side, my gas mileage goes down on that side quite a bit. Doesn't matter much what I do on the downhill side, very little driving off the 99mpg mark, and I gain back what I lost on the uphill side if I drove reasonably on the uphill side.

Just a tip, going from your "I use the horsepower that it has to get up the hills.". Of course you do, just try not to be accelerating on the upside, just enough gas to maintain your speed, or lose some speed on the uphills and gain it back on the downhills. And pass if you need to, of course.

I keep my tires at 42/40 (front/back), and that works well for me. The ride is a little hard, but it really does make a difference in tire wear and in gas mileage.

By the way, I was getting just over 55mpg in my 75 mile-a-day commute during the summer and fall. Now that the temperature has dropped about 20 degrees, that's down to just over 51mpg. Looking forward to spring again...

-Roger

 

I had my Micheline ICE X put on at Costco around a month ago.. Initially I saw a HUGE mileage hit.. from 46 to around 36... very hilly here. However, there appears to be a considerable difference now.. I am up to 42 for this tank.. around what I expected in terms of a drop. My trips tend to be 10-20 minutes, so I am not able to maximize mileage potential.. I am jelous of you 50-60mpg-ers!

 

I got my Prius! First tank at winter temp of 35f got me 43.5 mpg. Road trip (all highway) today at 37f got me 49.7mpg! I'm happy to get this mpg for break-in period and winter temps. Excited to see potential in summer and after I know car better.

 

Wow.

I too must wait for the summer months before I can get good milleage out of my 2007 Prius. For now, I am working hard to keep it in the high 30's or early 40's. So far so good but I have to admit that the current winter tire setup (among other factors) just adds too much of a drag penalty.

Anyhow, I expect to be in the mid 50's for both my hybrids when the warmer months arrive... perhaps a little higher since I actually work at it whenever I get a chance.

Cheers;

MSantos

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(FishHawk @ Dec 20 2006, 09:41 PM) [snapback]364897[/snapback]</div>

Mine has never been anywhere near the claims. Has anyone else ever gotten anything close to the claimed mileage? To me, 40 mpg is a significant slap in the face compared to the claimed 55-60 mpg.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(crisdowe @ Dec 27 2006, 07:52 AM) [snapback]367100[/snapback]</div>

In Spring and Summer getting 50-52 combined is automatic for my 150 mi RT commute each day. It drops to 45-46 in Winter.

Actually adjusted for the speed I drive on the highway, and weather conditions of course, my personal weighted average FE values are always right on the EPA values.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tideland Prius @ Dec 21 2006, 12:56 PM) [snapback]365330[/snapback]</div>

Yep! I'm getting around 5.9L/100km currently. I'm sure the rush hour crawl along Route 1, that I now have to take, is contributing to it as much as the winterized gas!

 

Can you tell me what you mean by block heater and winter tires? I'm also from SW side Chicago so I know we've had the same weather. Last 2-3 weeks MPG is down to 37-38. Only had mine since July. Have never seen 50's. Want to know what I'm doing wrong.

 

I purchased my Prius used. It is an 05. Most of my trips are very short 3-17 miles. I acquired the Prius with 18,000 miles on it. The former owner had the oil changed at each 5000 mile interval, changed the cabin filter, and had the tires (original) rotated. During the summer with all my best efforts, I could only get 51mpg. With winter here, the mpg is trying to match the temperature. By Nov 5, the mileage had gone down to 44mpg. TOday it is reading only 28. Very disconcerting. If I changed the tires would that help? Or is the Prius just not a winter vehicle? I had owned a Corolla and the lowest mpg in that was 34mpg during the witner months.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(BadD @ Dec 30 2006, 07:19 AM) [snapback]368580[/snapback]</div>

Just do a search for block heater here on PC, and you'll find more way that you want to know.
How much good the block heater does for you will probably be determined by how many stops you make during the day and how long your normal trips are. If you just start up in the a.m. and drive quite a distance before turning off the engine, the block heater will improve your efficiency in the first 5 minutes of driving and get it into its highest efficiency much sooner. Another trick people use is blocking off the grill with water pipe foam insulation in winter months, to help the engine stay warmer during the times it's not on.

Every time you turn off the ICE (the gas engine), or the computer turns it off, it cools down and you lose efficiency. If you could drive many miles without stopping at low speeds (45 mph or there about) you could probably see 55 mpg or better. For the right conditions (level road, constant speed, etc.), the EPA 61 mpg is realistic or even conservative, but you may not be able to drive that way. In a place like Chicago in the winter, I suspect if you drove less than 5 miles at a time, and stopped the car at least 15 minutes, you'd probably be getting well below the 37-38 you're seeing.

There are so many variables, it's impossible to say what you're doing wrong. You even may be doing everything right for the conditions under which you may be forced to drive.

There are a lot of threads here under fuel economy, so browse through to see what you can find.

Dave M.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(CMUCasey @ Dec 30 2006, 04:26 PM) [snapback]368714[/snapback]</div>

For winter driving particularly on snow and ice conditions we would change the OEM tires to winter grade rubber.
This type of rubber actually imposes a greater penalty on fuel economy but that is expected because the standard OEM tires tend to grip poorly in cold conditions. So, what you gain in safety you give up in fuel economy.

The Prius is a great winter vehicle provided that your trip lenghts are long enough for it to warm up. If the trips are too short and the temperatures very low, then the Prius is no longer the best hybrid for winter driving. All is blissful in Prius land and long as the vehicle is warmed up. If it is not, then you have a 1.5 liter engine tasked with hauling itself and a great deal of hybrid specific gear in addition to the added friction of winter tires.

If you click on the my signature you'll see what kind of winter mileage and temps I am getting for my 2007 Prius. It could be much lower but I actually use a block heater alot and work hard at it just to keep it from falling into the 30's.

I find it very, very difficult to believe that a Corolla would give you 34mpg in the winter months under similar driving conditions. As a matter of fact, most people cannot attain that in the summer months. How did you derive that fuel economy figure? Did you use a device like ScanGauge or was it a manual calculation?

Cheers;

MSantos