@40 MPG at 67??

Oh,

And to encourage you as to what a Prius is capable of. I just drove over to a store, to a gas station, and back. It was about 15 miles altogether. From the store back the 3 rd pip dropped, so I continued onto the gas station, which is about as far from my home as the the store is, the other way. From the store to the gas station (uphill ) I got 75.3 mpg, and from the store to home 80.4 mpg. This is on 40 mph roads, with light traffic, that allowed gliding down to slow speeds to time the lights perfectly. I only got caught by 1 of 7 lights in this route, and of course I did stop at the gas station. The tank average for the past 2 weeks and a day of driving was 63.7 mpg (pulled into home on Friday at 64.2 mpg the short trips today were killers) per the MFD for 534.8 miles. The fillup was 9.001 gallons. Allot warmer here this fillup than last, 85 versus 65 F, thus the 4 mpg discrepancy between the MFD and Pumped Fuel Economy.

 

It looks like he got an 8-10 mpg increase (approximately) by getting his car aligned. We'll see how the whole thing pans out.....

 

THESE ARE MY DRIVING TIPS AND I AWAYS KEEP MY EYE TO IT :
1. SET ALL TIRES TO 45 PSI
2. SET AC TO LOW AND ABOVE 72 FF (OFF YOUR AC MIGHT HELP YOU A LOT AS WELL) DO NOT SET IT TO MEDIUM
3. ALWAY FILL HALF A TANK OF GAS
4. CLEAN YOUR AIR FILTER BY AIR BLOW IF YOU PLAN TO GO ON A LONG TRIP (REPLACE IT IF IT GETS DIRTY)
5. GO BETWEEN 60-69 MPH ( I ONLY DRIVE ABOUT 65 THE MOST SO THAT'S WHAT I GOT MORE MPG)
6. RELEASE GAS PENAL WHENEVER YOU SEE A SLOW TRAFFIC IN FRONT OF YOU ( I SAVE ALOT OF GAS ON THIS # 6 TIP)

* SOME OF PRIUS OWNERS MIGHT FIND THESE TIPS USEFUL AND SOME ARE NOT. SO I AM JUST GIVING MY TIPS TO YOU GUYS AND JUST WANT EVERY BODY TO SAVE MORE MONEY ON GAS.
IF YOU DON'T THINK IT IS USEFUL THENPLEASE IGNORE IT.

I SUGGEST NOT TO USE CRUISE CONTROL WHEN YOU DRIVING.
BEST TIPS IS ( RELEASE A GAS PENAL WHEN U SEE A SLOW TRAFFIC AHEAD OF YOU)

PLEASE SEE PICTURE BELOW TO SEE WHAT I GOT FROM THOSE TIPS.






GOOD LUCK EVERYONE !!

 

If he picked up that much of an increase just by adjust the front left camber from -1.4* to -0.9* and changing the front toe from 0.05* to 0.01*, then there is a lot more mileage left in the car by reducing the rear camber and rear toe as well.

I'm not convinced, myself...

 

Hi Paparyno,

Have you been hitting the fuel consumption "Reset" switch at each fillup? Also, you might want to do it now, to get a fresh unaveraged mileage reading for your testing.

Yes, the computer will adjust to your driving. But that should have happened in the first 1000 miles .

 

Yeah--I think going above the max pressure rating for the tire is taking a risk. I'm thinking about the strain limit of the polyester cord in the sidewall--you are going up the stress-strain curve of the cord with increasing pressure--as well as the adhesion of the rubber to the cord and the steel cord in the belts. That's aside from questions about handling, traction and uneven tire wear.
You have to recognize there are other things besides gas mileage to consider. Safety, for one.

 

Hi there Papa...The way your Prius is performing at that speed for a long drive seems pretty normal to me. On long distance trips back and forth from New York to Massachusettes my display looks about the same as yours. I set my cruise at 67 in the 65mph zones, and just drive. Check out my database at green hybrid by searching for 6263 and look at the 245 minute long drives for more details.

 

The report is readable and your alignment is much improved.

I would to see the rear toe and camber smaller but you are faced with the rather coarse values Toyota publishes. However, rear toe and camber can be reduced using an after-market kit, EZ Shim 75800, and 'sweat equity.' This can further reduce rolling drag and reduce tire wear.

Bob Wilson

 

Dude, it's just not efficient to drive anywhere past 53 mph! Case in point:
* for 30 min at a cruise set speed of 38mph = 49.9 mpg
* 15 min on interstate at cruise set speed of 65 = 41.9mpg

Why do you think the speed limit's were set at 55mph back in the 70's? Because they knew the bottom line! It's not that you are wrong, or doing anything wrong or thinking wrong. Anyway, look at it this way...you are still getting better gas mileage at 65mph than say, anyone else without a prius/civic hybrid.

As for the maintenance required light, I'm willing to bet that Toyota did not reset the computer after they finished working on it...bad on them, OR you need an oil change.

To sum up, don't feel "wrong" about the car's performance. It's totally right and so are you. When I first got the car, I was surprised as well, and it was only by getting used to the car and radically altering the way I drive that I started to see big changes in my MPG from tank to tank.

Click on my signature and peruse the database...lately I've been "driving by feel" instead of looking at the screen all the time, and feathering the gas pedal.

 

How hard was the wind blowing? (No, I'm not kidding.)

 

Something is wrong in the highway numbers. Did you use I-10? Is there any chance you'll be up in the Huntsville area anytime soon? It won't help right away but I may take my wife to Apalachicola later this year and if so, I'd be happy to drop in. Right now I'm getting ready for a trip to DC.

For sanity check, does your speed display also show "D" and not "B"? You mentioned using cruse control and I understand the NHW20 won't run on cruise control in "B" but I have to ask. I discovered my wife had selected "B" and later realized this kills mileage. The numbers would match your reported value. ... Just grasping at straws right now.

I wish there were some way to get some instrumentation on your car. In particular, I'd like to know your ICE rpm at highway speed. I hate to ask you to put any more money in the car but instrumentation could really help us understand what is going on.

Just for grins, could you perhaps repeat the highway test trying these different changes:

• 30 minute warm-up first
• run 10 minutes in your normal mode (wait for two bars)
• turn off AC, 'Alabama AC', for 10 minutes (wait for two bars)
• manual using "D" for 10 minutes (wait for two bars, report last)
• manual using "B" for 10 minutes (wait for two bars, report last)
• finally, pull off highway and feel your tires ... see if any are 'hotter' than the others ... if you have an IR temperature gauge it would help

Better than the mileage bars, just reset the MFD between each test and write or memorize the values. Something isn't right on the highway and at these speeds you should be getting better.

Your 30 minute warm-up seems a little low but not too far off. My morning commute is 20-25 minutes at similar speeds and I'm typically seeing ~52 MPG.

Bob Wilson

 

Hi Paparyno,

Ok, now we are getting to issue. There does seem to be something amiss in my opinion.

BTW Bob means to drive for 10 minutes when he says "wait for two bars" if you did not understand that.

You need to check those rear brakes. Also look for scoring on the front brakes. Its possible for a stone to get into the slot in the brake pads.

Also, pull open the air filter housing and inspect for debri clogging the filter, or the tubing leading to the filter, and underneath the filter. People have found plastic grocery store bags sucked up in there. Big problem.

Also, is your battery fan running ? Its the noise from the vent near the left side rear seat. If its running all the time, you may have a blockage of the battery exhaust vent. With AC on at 80 F and Auto, and outdoor temps below 95 , it should never come on in flat terrain and sustained speeds below 70 mph (in my experience).

Other things might be the inverter cooling circuit/pump, but one would expect a DTC to be set for that. If the inverter is running hot, then its not going to run hybrid mode at all. Which is about the mileage you are getting.

Also, get the State of Charge up to about 6 or more bars, with a warm car and AC off and do a wide open throttle standing start to 60 mph accelleration. Should be under 11 seconds.

If after all this stuff, and the flashing light goes off when you do the oil-change light reset proceedure in the manual, you might disconnect the 12 V battery for 10 minutes and reconnect. Do not disconnect the 12 V battery if the light stays on, as that means there is a DTC and disconnecting will loose the information. What you describe with the light is what its supposed to do at 4500 miles (start blinking breifly at start up) since the last light reset (at oil change presumably) and then at 5000 miles (go solid and stay on). My guess here is that a technician may have left the car in a diagnosis mode. Reseting the computers by disconnecting the 12 V battery would bring the car back to the original startup state.