My father in law just picked up his '05 and his first tank averaged 36.5 mpg. What gives? does it get any better than that? using regular unleaded in NY. thanks, scott
have you heard of this thing called breaking a car in?.... and also the pedals really sensitive driving with a lead foot defeats the whole purpose. The cold weather is also playing a big part. Well take your pick :wink:
Regions play a big part too. When I lived in South Orange County, driving up and down it's hills made my averages between 44 and 47. Now that I'm in Phoenix, driving the 101 loop (and it's traffic) to Scottsdale everyday, I'm now averaging 54mpg per the screen. Granted, this is fall/winter weather, which requires little use of the A/C, and I keep the heat low enough to prevent the ICE from running full time. I will also concur with the breaking in though. I'm at 21k miles now and my mileage is significangly better than when I got the car a bit over a year ago. Once the engine and tranny parts loosen up a tad, friction will reduce and mpg should go up.
Scott, Couple of things...I moved your topic to a more appropriate forum...please note that there are several and we try to keep the threads topical to the various forums. Next--print & read and give a copy of This Article and the linked articles to your father...should help.
thanks for moving the post. i posted it late last night and tried to delete and re-post, but I guess it didn't work. I am aware of breaking a car in, but with all the hype of 55-60 mpg, I didn't expect 35. Thanks
speed control is much more sensitive and critical in the Prius due to the low power of the ICE. the ICE is designed to maintain speed. acceleration is not its forte. it will take time to get used to the car's speed. without a normal transmission, your dad will most likely find that the car is sneaky fast. also realize that at this time of year, winter gas formula will have 8-14% less power than summer gas in most areas. tell him to ultilize cruise control more often. i think that as long as his trips are not real short, the mid 40's should be easily attainable.
Scott, It might help if you tell us about the terrain and your F-I-L's driving habits, and routes. If he hops in the car at 35F and drives 2 miles, stops for the day, then returns home, low mileage will result, the car never gets past the warm-up phase. Break-in would not, by itself, explain 36.5 MPG. New off the lot the worst of my 3 tanks to date was 47.1. Evan's document is quite helpful. You do need to train yourself to get the best possible mileage for your given situation.
Scott, One of the greatest eye-openers for me was the fact that once you have achieved a speed, you can ease up on the pedal and still maintain that speed. Sometimes I fall into old habits and keep the pressure on the pedal. That's just one thought. The second thought is that the car actually taeches the driver how to improve the mileage. That is, if the driver pays attention. So in a way, it's not just breaking in the car, it's breaking in the driver. I'm glad Evan posted a link to his document. There are lots of good ideas in there. However, there are mny, many variables in mileage. Good luck and I hope he's otherwise enjoying his new Prius.
Scott, We've had our car since May and have reached 55 mpg only once. I remember that during that period we were doing a lot of long trips at moderate speeds (50 miles an hour, for example). The weather was warm, but not warm enough for air conditioning. We had been averaging about 50 miles per gallon on most tanks, but lately have gone down to 45 or so due to cold weather. I don't expect to see nice numbers again until spring. If you live in a cold area, your father in law's mileage might be suffering. I'm sure his mileage will get better eventually.
Although it was touched on earlier in the thread, let me hammer it home. What is the length of the commute? This is the most crucial factor. I have a 12 minute, roughly 3 or 4 mile commute through residential neighborhoods (read as: go a block, stop, go a block, stop, ...) to get back and forth from work every day. In the summer, with the warm weather I was averaging about 43.6 mpg. Now that the weather has turned and it is below 7 degrees Celcius during all my commutes I am averaging 36.2 mpg. This won't get much better I'm afraid. As Bruceha so correctly pointed out, if the car never warms up, it never gets the kind of great milage others report on this board. I console my self with the fact that if the Prius is getting 36.2 mpg, what was I averaging in my old 89 Maxima? You are STILL doing better than you would in any other vehicle. And since my commute is so short, although the average is high, the actual VOLUME of gas used is a lot smaller than someone averaging 55 mpg and commuting 100 miles every day. So what am I complaining about!! I just sit back and enjoy the Prius ride (BTW, has anyone else noticed that the Prius has some of the best darn coffee mug holders up front on the market? I love drinking my coffee and cruising in the Prius!)
Actually, I noticed that they are just a bit too small for my stainless cup. It is straight sided, has a solid cap and a drinking cap. I drink it at work so I leave the drinking cap there. It doesn't fit in the door panel bottle holders either. I put it in the center console on the way to work. At least I can't store too much unneeded junk in the console since I need the space for the mug.
mine doesnt fit in the round one either, but the one that extends from the front does the trick. its the handle that gets in the way in the round one. but the round one is used for my ID badge, keys and cell phone so its still very convenient
