Ouch :madgrin: I wish we didn't have so many bugs so I could drive my car in the evenings. It's bad enough in daylight with suicide grasshoppers. I'd swear my car was a magnet for those juicy suckers Mike
Does the Mpg improve with the car after 1,000+ miles naturally. Some people talk about a break in period on the engine? Is that a myth or is there something to that?
It can. In many car long-term reviews (of cars, in general, not specifically hybrids), I've usually seen better reported mileage at the end than at the beginning. I unfortunately, can't find one of a 3rd gen Prius right now. Please see my earlier link about tire break in and changes to the tire, as one factor... Can you please answer my questions? We don't know anything about your commute, trips, habits, speeds, etc. 47.3 mpg sounds ok to me. If you've accomplished it with plenty of short city drives w/mostly stop and go, lots of steep elevation changes, in cold weather (not likely right now), then that's excellent.
I went up to Grass Valley and Nevada City.Took a windy road uphill on a backroad to Auburn and then down from Auburn. My wife went to work at the airport 44 miles each day three times. She went around town stopping at stores. Then we went to Richmond and back after taking Bart into the Giant's game.....Rich
What about my other unanswered questions? The above that you provided doesn't tell me all that much either... I don't know if this is the latest version of the graph but look at the ZVW30 (what you have) line at http://priuschat.com/forums/prius-h...1-consumer-reports-mph-vs-mpg.html#post954643.
Sounds like this is your first Prius. A little tip I learned is driving steady speed, slightly lift pressure on the go pedal and notice the car easily maintains it's speed but the mpg meter will climb significantly. Keep trying this until you get it figured out and you will soon blow past that 50 mpg average. I think what you are seeing for your average mpg now is normal driving with no special techniques used. That is fine as that is what the Prius is designed for. Hop in and drive and get around 45-50 mpg. Work the car a bit with some gas saving techniques and it will reward you with 50+ mpg all the time; unless it is winter and your out slogging it thru the snow Then it can drop in the low to mid 40's. As with any vehicle, once it gets a bit of mileage on the clock and the tires scrub in, then the mpg's go up a bit. I suspect that will be around 1k to 2k miles. Just a guess though BTW, welcome to PriusChat. Mike :tea:
Nope. I have tracked my mileage over identical and have never seen it improve over time due to anything other than the tires wearing out. MB860 ? 2
The trip to Nevada City explains it. That is a long steep climb staring in Rocklin at 200ft ASL and ends at approx. 2,500ft ASL. To give you an idea of what that does to fuel economy. I drive from Woodland to Auburn every day. Starting at about 50ft ASL and ending at 1,200ft ASL. The morning trip is usually between 46mpg and 50mpg depending on how slow I drive. I can achieve up to 57mpg from Woodland to Rocklin but the last 13 miles of the trip will drop me to a total of 46-50mpg because of the 6% grade. On the flip side, I drive home and can easily achieve 60-70mpg depending on speed and weather conditions. My average for the total commute is around 50-53mpg calculated (53-55mpg displayed). Driving on flat areas like Woodland to the Bay Area I can easily achieve 55-59mpg calculated. It's all about your drive, speeds, commute length, weather etc. Those Sierra Nevada hills can be a real killer! In short, your car is perfectly fine. If you want better mpg learn how to use gliding techniques to mitigate the impact of the hills.
