Well, I used Pulse/Glide for the 2nd time (on my way to work which is between 4 and 5 miles depending on the route I take) and the results show that you guys are correct. I’m sorry if I sound surprised but it really did seem to be too good to be true. Your technique really does work. My MFD showed 64 mpg even with the annoying 2 minute startup mpg killer. I find this result particularly impressive given: 1. the low total distance (about 5 miles) 2. the fact that I included the warm-up time, 3. that fact that I had to stop 6 times during the trip for lights and stop signs 4. that my battery level was higher when I finished than when I started. I'm still struggling with getting the car to "glide" but I've got the pulse portion of the cycle down. My record for the longest "glide" is probably less than about 10 seconds. Sigh. Nevertheless I'm still getting close to a 20% increase in MPG which is nothing to sneeze at.
Congratulations! Keep studying and practicing, and it will continue to get better. I've been driving it for 2.5+ years and I still am fine-tuning my driving techniques. But then, I'm a slow learner. You might as well be prepared now, however, for a drop come fall. Fuel economy decreases with temperature.
"You might as well be prepared now, however, for a drop come fall. Fuel economy decreases with temperature." I've had the car since last year but since "winters" are so relatively mild here I didn't notice too much of a drop. This may change, of course, since before yesterday I wasn't coming close to maximizing my mileage (I thought I was but my last two trips have proven otherwise).
Would someone care to educate a new, but ol guy, on what and how Pulse Glide is and how you do it? BTW, Jimbok, I'm an old Chesterfield boy myself, although been here in SW Va since '81.
oh how i long for "fall" around here, "fall" is a high of 80 and a low of 55. winter is about 5 degrees cooler than that
for the small areas where i can use it: small hills, stop and go traffic... it's great. I can get an average between 70mpg and 80mpg. Otherwise I'm safer cruising at a steady spead above 43mph on a 45... this lines up green lights and i'll get a constant 50mpg. I try to stay off the pedal. i'm tired of 40mpg. these wheels are not helping either.
I feel you mate. That's why I dumped the 17s and went back to stock. Maybe someday they will make a truely lightweight LRR 17" tire for us folk.
Hey, and my Dad is an ol' SW VA man -- from Big Stone Gap. Beautiful country out there. This is probably the most complete writeup of P&G in the Prius. In your neck of the woods it might be more of what could be called "terrain driving" -- pulse up the hills and, to the extent the grade and curves allow, glide down them. If you spend any amount of time on those mountain roads, however, don't expect the same results as the flatlanders.
It's also because in the Fall they switch over to a Winter-blend gasoline which isn't as potent as the Summer blend.
My reference was to his first thread where he was having trouble inducing or holding a glide so I suggested taking off his shoes.
I tried pulse-glide yesterday on local roads at 30-40 mph. It's tough to keep the pulse mode--a slight touch of the accelerator changes it. You can get into the black mode in the downslope part of the road, but once again, it's tough holding it. Like everything else, maybe it just takes practice. But those modes are very elusive.
A little more practice and it becomes second nature. I suggest trying it with a charged battery so you can eliminate the chance the ICE is staying on to charge the battery. You can do this by force charging the battery for a few moments (stepping on the brake and flooring the gas pedal). This way you start out with a full battery. Gliding should be a lot easier then. What pressure are your tires at?
That could play a small part in why you have a harder time holding the glide or at least how far you can glide before slowing down too much. I notice with the higher tire pressures it is easier to glide and I can go for longer. I'm not advocating you do this but this is one of the main reasons many of us run over 50psi. Keep an eye on your tire wear as well. I;m sure you've read all the threads were people complain about premature wear.
Hi Prius Sport. F8L is right. If you keep your tires pumped up, you will get much more wear on your tires. Currently I have almost 40,000 miles on my Integrities and they don't show much wear. Also, San Jose is a great place to get some great fuel economy.
