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Best commute yet!

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Fuel Economy' started by miscrms, Nov 8, 2007.

  1. miscrms

    miscrms Plug Envious Member

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    Not that anyone probably cares, but I was so excited I had to share. I've been doing a lot of reading on various techniques, trying to practice here and there when I can, but don't get too much chance. My commute is 7 miles mostly highway, plus its been unusually hot (still in the 90s) so AC has been on. When I'm driving around town its usually with the family and I can't do too much. Anyway, given all that I've been pretty happy to be averaging 50mpg, with a slow improvement from high 40s to low 50s since we got the car a few months back.

    So, I decided to take surface streets to work and see if I could pull it all together. Pulse & glide, timing the lights, using Hobbit's restricted RPM ranges, AC off (in the low 80s finally) and generally just taking it easy. I generally drove right around the speed limits (35-40), but there are enough lanes out here (usually 3 each way) that I wasn't really holding anybody up.

    I was very excited to see that I hit 65mpg for the 20 mile round trip! Not too shabby for a newbie with no mods B)

    I know I won't be able to do that on a daily basis, but it was still really cool!

    Rob
     
    #1 miscrms, Nov 8, 2007
  2. miscrms

    miscrms Plug Envious Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Rob Smith @ Nov 8 2007, 03:00 PM) [snapback]536830[/snapback]</div>
    BTW, I did not use dead-banding on this trip. I would frequently use stealth/warp stealth to extend a glide, and was then recharging the battery on regen and accel. Is dead-banding still under debate or pretty universally accepted at this point?
     
    #2 miscrms, Nov 8, 2007
  3. Neicy

    Neicy Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Rob Smith @ Nov 8 2007, 04:00 PM) [snapback]536830[/snapback]</div>
    Trust me, once you've seen that 6 preceding the other numbers there's no going back. You won't be happy until you see it again. Congratulations, and welcome to the world of the obsessed :lol:
     
    #3 Neicy, Nov 8, 2007
  4. TonyPSchaefer

    TonyPSchaefer Your Friendly Moderator
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    "Not that any probably cares" ??

    Are you kidding? Three years ago, PriusChat was all about the daily reports of individual commutes. Hell, back then we were still trying to figure out how these new-fangled things actually worked. It is way too few and far between that we get the daily commute success stories. Keep it up!

    And a big "way to go" on your commute.
     
    #4 TonyPSchaefer, Nov 8, 2007
  5. F8L

    F8L Protecting Habitat & AG Lands

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    That is awesome. :)

    I have been working by butt off to maximize my commute to school and I have only attained 55.8mpg over 26miles and now it has dropped to 53.9 over 83miles. :(

    Posts like this serve to show it can be done and we should keep trying. :)
     
    #5 F8L, Nov 9, 2007
  6. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    sweeet! Congrats! Now you know what the car's capable of!
     
    #6 Tideland Prius, Nov 9, 2007
  7. miscrms

    miscrms Plug Envious Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Neicy @ Nov 8 2007, 06:04 PM) [snapback]536930[/snapback]</div>
    I hear you there. I haven't had time to take surface streets since, and now 50s are so not doing it for me ;)

    Rob
     
    #7 miscrms, Nov 10, 2007
  8. miscrms

    miscrms Plug Envious Member

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    Finished up the tank at 57.1mpg (56.2 calculated) and 555 miles. Much better than previous best. Still probably half and half freeway (55-65) and city (35-45). I think my technique is improving, but lower temps (AC off finally) and a little more city are definitely helping. This was my first full tank hobbitting on the freeway and really pulsing and gliding in the city. I would have been just over 58, but spent one day this weekend driving the family around with AC on including several times parked with AC running. Easily lost 1mpg that day :rolleyes:

    Rob
     
    #8 miscrms, Nov 21, 2007
  9. mingoglia

    mingoglia Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Rob Smith @ Nov 21 2007, 02:15 PM) [snapback]542593[/snapback]</div>

    I've found that In the metro Phoenix area it's actually pretty easy to get good fuel economy in these vehicles. I was commuting from my house in Gilbert to downtown Phoenix (1st and Van Buren) taking side roads and I easily got 53.5MPG on a full tank. Keep in mind this was my second tank of fuel since buying my '08 and I was doing a lot of experimenting with different techniques. Also on that tank my wife took it to North Phoenix (I-17 and Beardsley) once on the freeway late at night and probably did 80 there and back. I thought that was pretty good.

    My last tank I got 50.9 but that had several freeway trips on it including a trip back from the airport (to my house in Gilbert) doing 85-90 the whole way with a quick trip up to 100. Hey, it was the middle of the night, and I had to give it a try. Also part of that 50.9 was a trip up to Barcelona's in Scottsdale with 4 adults in the car driving 85 both ways.... so pulling 50.9 out of that tank was pretty good. :)

    Anyway, back to my original comment. Commuting in Phoenix is pretty good as the streets are perfectly straight, the traffic lights can be timed easily, the traffic lights are usually a mile apart, and the traffic is relatively light in many areas of the surface streets (well, in relation to other parts of the country).

    Mike
     
    #9 mingoglia, Nov 21, 2007
  10. marvmmarv

    marvmmarv New Member

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    This gets to be kind of addicting!

    Marv
     
    #10 marvmmarv, Nov 21, 2007
  11. Neicy

    Neicy Member

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    Awesome tank! Oh how I wish I had Arizona weather right now. I hate winter. (sigh)
     
    #11 Neicy, Nov 22, 2007
  12. marvmmarv

    marvmmarv New Member

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    Niecy,
    Just keep telling yourself how much nicer it is there instead of here in July and August! Winter will over in a few short months.

    Marv
     
    #12 marvmmarv, Nov 23, 2007
  13. acdii

    acdii Active Member

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    Wish I had roads like that around here. Too many little hills, stops turns and assholes riding bumpers to get really good numbers. When I get to drive in suburban traffic where road speeds are 40-45 I can see the same results your getting though. Every road between my home and work is 55MPH until I hit the city, and that is about the only time I can get really good results, but it is less than 5 miles of driving out of 37 one way. I cant complain though, 18400 miles of driving have netted 48.2 MPG.
     
    #13 acdii, Nov 23, 2007
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