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Tank MPG

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Fuel Economy' started by Indyking, Sep 10, 2009.

  1. Indyking

    Indyking Happy Hyundai owner...

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    Really, so go ahead and do it for a full tank. Find yourself a 550-mile-long rural road with no stops, set it steady on 30 MPH, and just let it go... and of course post your mileage here with a picture and route, so we can trust the data...

    Anyone can do it, right?

    Maybe you just changed your mind?
     
  2. a64pilot

    a64pilot Active Member

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    Trickle charging the traction battery at night is interesting to me. I assume you would need a "peak detecting" charger?

    The other thing I would buy would be an inverter that would pull either 110 or 220 directly from the traction battery
     
  3. a priori

    a priori Canonus Curiosus

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    :doh: Ouch! You mean a habit like accelerating to a stop light, punching the accelerate to be the first guy to 35mph -- or letting the car run while you go for smokes at the convenience store!?!?!

    (I have absolutely no bad habits. And so long as no one ever speaks to my wife or children, I'm sticking to that story.)

    :fish: The road to some place is paved with some kind of intentions.

    (I've wanted to use those graphics for soooo long!)
     
  4. anne1965

    anne1965 Gotta love the game...

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    You bet! My commute today was 3.6 l/100 km @ 56 km/h. (That included the 6 km errand of last night: cold start, 24 km/h avg speed and 4.0 l/100 km, low speed + high consumption). The tank now stands at 3.7 l/100 km, 770 km and 56 km/h.

    I'm sorry, I don't think that. The MID only shows the avg speed, not the circumstances how that number was achieved. Therefore the value of that number is very small.

    You want a challenge? Try 64 mpg calculated. Try 64 mpg year round. Try 64 mpg with a 4 mile commute.
     

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  5. Indyking

    Indyking Happy Hyundai owner...

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    I don't know what those numbers mean unless converted to the US system... and be careful... wait until the end-of-game whistle to get excited.



    You may not be used to charts and data, which would be my guess. There is a pretty convincing curve that suggests a trend.

    If you don't want to see it, drive your Prius for a full tank at 90 MPH on average and show me that you still can get 64+ MPG, because in your mind, MPH does not matter... right?



    My last tank was based on 27miles/day. According to Bob's data:

    http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii-2010-prius-fuel-economy/68916-fuely-data.html#post957739

    I'm performing well above the average...

    http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii-2010-prius-fuel-economy/68916-fuely-data.html#post957777

    but wait... you may not believe in that kind of data too...
     
  6. DaveinOlyWA

    DaveinOlyWA 3rd Time was Solariffic!!

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    ok, np... i have a backup explanation in case the first one didnt fly...

    i reduce the amount of startups (or bootups) to reduce wear and tear on my 12 volt battery so it will last longer...

    ok... ya, anyway.

    going to the Puyallup Fair today. got around 600 miles, DTE passed zero about 30-40 miles ago, bar has been blinking since last week sometime. so i can either put up with the SO whining about not wanting to walk to the gas station when we run out, or just get gas 100 miles before we need to so which is what i will do (she has whining done!!) i will have a "real" contribution to this thread whence i return

    **edit** to illustrate the point above, she drives the SPM... u can see by her tank stats, she usually gets gas with 2-3 bars left...
     
  7. angelrob

    angelrob New Member

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    That's what I'm talkin'bout. How far is really empty after the 0? If the "top off" method can put nearly 12 gallons in, how much of a cushion is there on the bottom side of the gauge? I look forward to your running-on-empty report!

    Go Dave, Go Dave :cheer2:
     
  8. hill

    hill High Fiber Member

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    I highly doubt the EPA does thousands of miles to determine mpg ... so the bottom line is, any time you measure mpg over a tank full of gas ... TRYING to get good mpg's ... you can be certain you can do it again. After all ... you can't coast down a mountain for 700 miles ... meaning over THAT far a range ... you will necessarily meet a good amount of variables representative of how/where you drive. Will the next tank you measure out while trying to get great mpg's be exactly the same? Not likely ... but it's a dang good representation. Fact is ... in many cases, the EPA lets the manufacturers determine mpg's of their models. Talk about a liklihood skewing the results
    ;)

    .
     
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  9. Indyking

    Indyking Happy Hyundai owner...

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    Well, I guess I won't be able to report my MPG here for a while, unfortunately!

    The back passenger door of my Prius has been damaged, nothing major, but enough to spend a couple of days, maybe a week or 2, in the body shop.

    Oh well... life is still good...
     
  10. a64pilot

    a64pilot Active Member

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    So far on this "new" tank, I'm at 200 miles with a little over 69 MPG, which I'm proud of because work is 4.2 miles away and I'm basically going back and forth to work four times a day is 90% of my driving so far. I can glide for about two miles of the four miles and the OAT is in the 80's or I couldn't do it.
    Starting tomorrow, I'm going to be driving up to 150 miles or so a day with a large part of it 4 lane highway, but not interstate. Don't know yet if my mileage will tank or not.
    Whatever it's worth, I'm at 200 miles or so and still indicating full on the gauge because of the evil top off:D
     
  11. Indyking

    Indyking Happy Hyundai owner...

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    .... and the MPH so far is...
     
  12. FreakinToddles

    FreakinToddles New Member

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    Why are you trying to squeeze every last drop out of your tank? I'm pretty sure it is not good for your car to run it so low, the fuel pump/line. High gas mileage is high gas mileage, fill up when it blinks on E, that way you still have a good 1.5 gallons in there and you wont mess up your new car.
     
  13. DrJon

    DrJon New Member

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    "Pretty sure" isn't good enough for me to change based on what you "think." Back up claim w/ statistics on 2010 Prius and I'll "think" about changing. Note: I didn't run my tank dry. Bob has done this > 3 times in his 2010 and he hasn't noted any adverse effects. I haven't done it at all and don't plan on it! I had almost half a gallon left, perhaps more when I refilled. How would another gallon on top of it help?
     
  14. a64pilot

    a64pilot Active Member

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    I never have understood why running a tank low could be bad for most vehicles. Now my Duramax Diesel actually uses the fuel to cool some electronics and it recirculates fuel, so low fuel could result in hot fuel and hot fuel wouldn't cool well, but that's unusual isn't it?
    Some people have this theory of picking up trash if you let the fuel level get low, but what's trash doing in there? It would have to be floating trash for a low fuel level to let it get in the fuel pump wouldn't it?
    I would hope if it were bad there would be a warning in the manual wouldn't there?
    I admit manuals can't cover everything, but still.
    No, I have to think this is an urban legend, like you can't break an engine in on synthetic oil.
    I think the greatest danger comes from having a disabled vehicle and possibly endangering yourself and others and doing so intentionally may be hard to defend, unless of course your aware of what's happening and you manage the risk
     
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  15. Spartane

    Spartane Member

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    Miles: 680 [1095 km]
    Gallons: 10.37 [39.258 liters]
    Avg Speed: 29 mph [47 km/h]
    Mpg: 65.6 mpg [3.585L/100km] measured.
    MID: 71.3 mpg [3.3L/100km]
    MID Error: +8.7%
    Fuel: Shell Premium 91 (best mileage so far).

    Most of the it was commuting 33 miles [53km] in each direction to/from work across the top of Toronto on the 403/401/404 highways during stop-and-go rush hour. Each fill-up lasts me about two weeks.

    I find it interesting that I was able to do this with premium fuel, since most people seem to feel that 87 provides better mileage. The best I've been able to do so far with Shell regular 87 is about 62 mpg [3.8L/100km] measured.
     

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  16. DaveinOlyWA

    DaveinOlyWA 3rd Time was Solariffic!!

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    ok, back. filled up waaay too early. (still had a good 50 miles in me. but this time i did what others have done and slowed down to lowest rate while filling the tank and got a pretty large difference in mileage. but my tank

    613.9 miles, 23 days, 24 mph, 62.7 mpg on MFD. pump mileage 55.78 mpg.

    so we will see what the next tank will be. hopefully will be a lot closer because i am pretty sure i filled a bit more than i normally did. FYI, checked DTE after about 5 miles on new tank and it was at 620 miles. but as the tank runs down, DTE will slowly drop to around 560 miles give or take 10 miles.
     
  17. Indyking

    Indyking Happy Hyundai owner...

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    Spartane, nice job, maybe the best tank mileage I have seen so far, but you were still bellow that 30 MPH mark, which I consider the "magic number" for your best mileage.

    Now, I'm impressed with the discrepancy between the MID and calculated (measured) MPG for both of you. 71.3 vs. 65.6 and 62.7 vs. 55.78! That's around 8% bellow in both cases. Mine is not even close to that, it is always in the range of 3-4% bellow!
     
  18. MikeDS

    MikeDS Member

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    Finished up my dismal 47mpg tank last night and refilled. I refilled super slow and somehow got more than 12 gallons in. I suspect I was filling the neck of the tank up a bit. Definitely weird...my car was warmed up a bit and then I drove home about 15 miles...my current tank is 66mpg, average speed about 35, so I can see how this can be done if you're driving longer distances...I get killed by the combination of hilly terrain and short driving distances...ah well, 47-50mpg is still pretty killer!
     
  19. angelrob

    angelrob New Member

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    I'm SO not looking forward to winter here in upstate NY :scared:
     
  20. mgb4tim

    mgb4tim Noob

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    On my most recent tank, I drove mine like I used to drive the caddy (75-85 MPH on the mountainous interstate 50/day) and got a hair under 40mpg... not so good. But, still double the caddy!

    With greater caution, I was getting 42-44, but we have some killer hills.