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2010 prius road trip: RESULTS

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Main Forum' started by alfon, May 29, 2009.

  1. alfon

    alfon Senior Member

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    My new wife, Nadia, and I took a road trip for our honeymoon to Reno NV from Seaside, Oregon in our 2010 Prius III with Navi.

    I filled up on 052409 at Costco in Warrenton OR with reg unleaded. The attendant used the slow speed and when it clicked off no more gas went in, Note: trying for consistency.

    Filled up again in Ashland Oregon with Shell reg gas and same fillup as mentioned above. The pump clicked off at 7.266 gal's and mileage was 370.4. MPG on computer was 52.6 MPG. Calculated by hand with miles driven and gas used, 50.977 MPG. Computer appears to off by 2 mpg or so.

    Our car had luggage and a cooler with total cargo weight with us at about 500 lbs or so.

    Speeds driven on highway 60-70 MPH with ac on about a 100 miles or so.

    From Ashland we arrived in Reno but filled up in Carson City NV.

    Speeds to NV were higher fairly consistent 65-70 MPH and climbed mountain passes no problem at speed and there is plenty of power. AC on about 100 % of the time. Note: Carson City is about 5,000 feet in elevation.

    I filled up at another Shell station with reg unleaded. Mileage was 325.4 miles and indicated on computer was 54.2 MPG.

    Nevada is self serve gas unlike Oregon. So I put the pump in at the slowest setting and after about 5 gallons were pumped in I looked at the pump and then it hit 6 gallons and I thought it would shut off.

    Than it went to 6.7 and continued than I heard a noise like someone was pouring water.

    Well the gas nozzel was defective and did not shut off , gas was pouring out of the gas tank and onto the ground. I grabbed the nozzel out of the gas tank. The pump stopped than at 6.942 gallons. with at least a quart of more of gas pooled on the ground.

    So I could not take an accurate measurement but I am sure it would only have taken about 6.2 gallons or so.

    Anyway we drove up to Virginia City and than to Lake Taho and than back to Oregon and I filled up at Albany Oregon with 507.6 miles with an indicated 55.8 MPG. The pump clicked off at 8.281 gallons.

    Note: I could not do a hand calculation because I had filled up the tank in Reno and when the pump stopped I placed another 1.4 gallons or so.(note I did not fill to the brim because of the heat and we were leaving in the morning.

    The trip miles: 1,439.9, total gallons pumped 27.294 gallons for 52.755 MPG. Eco-mode used 99% of the time. Did use power mode on the real steep passes and wow, what power this car has.

    I believe the car gets better mileage now with well over 2,000 miles on the odometer. Breaking in perhaps.

    I did not baby the car and the AC was on most of the time and speeds driven on highway were 65-70 MPH.

    I am really impressed with this car and we had a great time.

    Alfon
     
    #1 alfon, May 29, 2009
    10 people like this.
  2. Rae Vynn

    Rae Vynn Artist In Residence

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    Thank you! Hope you had a great honeymoon :)
     
    #2 Rae Vynn, May 29, 2009
  3. MaggieMay

    MaggieMay Active Member

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    Wow! Thanks so much for tracking this info - on your honeymoon! (and congratulations on the wedding!)

    I'm thrilled to hear your satisfaction with the power mode. We have a few ancient highway entries that have complete stops intstead of merge lanes - you have to be able to get going with the traffic very quickly or else. That burst of power will be important!!
     
    #3 MaggieMay, May 29, 2009
  4. NYPrius1

    NYPrius1 Active Member

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    Great Info, Thanks For Sharing.
    And Best Of Luck To you two!! :love:
     
    #4 NYPrius1, May 29, 2009
  5. Peppito

    Peppito New Member

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    Great info! This will definitely help future Prius owners. I've been waiting for a good road trip post from a 2010 owner. Looking forward to more. When I get my IV, I plan on taking a trip to Orlando. (About 10 hours and somewhere around 650 miles.) Should be a good trip to test out the MPGs and such.

    52.755 MPG is impressive considering the weight and hills. I wonder what the car would have achieved on lower land.

    Thanks for the post and congrats!
     
    #5 Peppito, May 29, 2009
  6. alfon

    alfon Senior Member

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    Well I did a test on the highway just north of Carson City NV.
    The highway speed limit is 70 MPH and is flat as there is a lake right next to it and level.

    At 70 MPH driving southbound I achieved for about 5 miles 55 MPG on the computer.

    The other direction on the way back was 54 MPG.

    So even with the onboard computer being about 2 MPG off the mpg
    was well over 50 and that is with AC on.

    Alfon
     
    #6 alfon, May 29, 2009
  7. Peppito

    Peppito New Member

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    Those are good numbers. Keep us up to date on future trips with your 2010. :)
     
    #7 Peppito, May 29, 2009
  8. JimN

    JimN Let the games begin!

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    Alfon, it will be interesting to see if your display continues to be off 2mpg. I suspect it will vary.
     
    #8 JimN, May 29, 2009
  9. equake

    equake Member

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    With 2K miles in a matter of weeks I would hate to buy your car used LOL.

    It sounds like you were doing mostly highway mileage at 52+MPG which is much better than combined EPA 50 MPG rating. Especially running the A/C (of course we know that it runs on from the electric motor :)).

    How well does the A/C work while driving thru the deserts of NV. Being from CA the A/C kills the mileage on the mainstream car.
     
    #9 equake, May 30, 2009
  10. patsparks

    patsparks An Aussie perspective

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    Thanks alfon for a great report. Shame about the fuel spill, I hate when that happens!

    Good luck and all the best for your new marriage.

    equake, the AC in the 2004 coped really well with 48 degrees Celsius (118f) at 110 to 118km/h (about 72mph) crossing the Nullarbor desert in January this year. I didn't realise it was hot outside until I heard the fan was running fast, then I looked at the temperature outside!! I wouldn't expect the 2010 to have a weaker air-conditioner.

    Love to hear from a 2010 owner after a hot day.
     
    #10 patsparks, May 30, 2009
  11. alfon

    alfon Senior Member

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    The A/C works great; had it on the low temp setting and at about 1 to three bars of blower.

    Max temp for outside was about 90 degrees and the ac cooled the car to comfort. I did notice even when the car stopped at a light the gas motor would stop and the a/c would run even for well over a minute.

    Another reason why the A/C is efficient is that there is no belts on this engine. So the A/C runs totally on electricity.

    Alfon
     
    #11 alfon, May 30, 2009
  12. ljbad4life

    ljbad4life New Member

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    Did you happen to use the navi at all?
     
    #12 ljbad4life, May 30, 2009
  13. HTMLSpinnr

    HTMLSpinnr Super Moderator
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    Note that even though the A/C is electric, the engine must provide the electrical power (whether directly or recharging the battery later on). There is a noticable MPG drop when you turn the A/C on at a constant highway speed in the Gen II and would be similar for the Gen III. In AZ, to keep mpg from being too low, I don't set A/C much below 78˚F when alone and 75-76˚F with family in the car.
     
    #13 HTMLSpinnr, May 30, 2009
  14. Analogkid1958

    Analogkid1958 Member

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    Location:
    Yorktown, IN
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius
    Model:
    III
    I took a 4,600 mile road trip through the South in August in our then-3-day-old 2010 III. The trip went from central Indiana to St. Louis, then stops in Clarksdale, MS; NOLA; Venice, LA; Gulfport, MS; Apalachicola, FL; Naples, FL; Key West (car got a three day break there!); Cocoa Beach, FL; Charlotte, SC; Greenville, SC.

    Air temps were lows in the mid 70s and highs approaching 100. The car carried me, two suitcases, books and a small cooler of drinks and snacks. The air conditioning was flawless, maintained settings perfectly regardless of what was going on outside (heat, rain, heat, rain, even more heat!). I was never uncomfortable.

    I didn't calculate mileage after a while, but when I did, it was always 2-3 mpg less than the computer. I ran "Trip B" for tank to tank and "Trip A" for the whole trip. Since most of my trip was off-interstates, the average speed was fairly low - 45 mph. Mileage was pretty consistent for each tank and overall at 54mpg by the computer.

    I found the Prius to be a very comfortable cruiser once I got used to the driver's seating posture (Toyota must assme we all have long arms!). The seats are comfortable and supportive, except at the thigh. I wish the seat bottom were about an inch longer.

    The stereo was my constant companion; I listened to a lot of XM as well as my Sansa player through the aux jack. I think the sound quality of the 6-disk, 8 speaker JBL is great, compared to the other vehicles I've owned, though the bass is way too much. The kids'll love it. :)

    A great trip in a great new car, and relatively cheaply done! I'm headed to Pittsburgh (from home in Muncie, IN) this weekend, and back to Florida in November for the Shuttle launch.

    Pictures from the road trip are available on Facebook at:

    Mark Darrall's Photos - The Road Trip | Facebook

    Pictures of the car:

    Mark Darrall's Photos - How Mark Got His Green Cred Back | Facebook

    Enjoy!
     
    #14 Analogkid1958, Sep 30, 2009
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