Colder weather has zapped my mileage to 44mpg

That's the way to do it.

A tip to highway drivers: Follow cars / trucks that go at your desired speed. Never be the lead car. You can leave 2 car distance and still gain 5-10 MPG.

 

I agree... I remember "a priori" following a semi-truck with his smart cruise control or whatever it is called and attributing his impressive MPG in the hwy to the trucker driving habits, which was wrong... the good MPG was simply caused by reduced drag from the leading truck...

 

Going 1000 feet downhill with a maximum speed of 64MPh, therefore, more likely driving at around 50-60 MPH… so, were you impressed with the MPG???

 

I call a 2 car distance at highway speeds tailgating. I have done a little of it when I first got the Prius and would do just about anything for greater fuel economy. Thankfully my car is older now, 60 mpg overall is good enough for me, and I've taken to driving safer. Much greater following distances.

 

In the weekends, I leave more distance. During work days, people usually cut in front of me when you leave two cars distance. One car distance is the "norm" here.

 

My lowest real MPG in my Prius so far was 38.7 in one of my hwy-only trips under 10F... that is what my past 02 civic would consistently get in the hwy even in the winter... frustrating...

 

With snow tires on today (and a little bit underinflated), I got 49mpg displayed over about 40 miles. Speeds around 40mph, but I think I'm starting to get the hang of "pulse and glide". Actual has typically been about 2-3mpg below displayed, so that should be around 46mpg. Temp was about 30F, 85% bottom grille block.

 

Strange that you'd get frastrated by a smaller car at its best compared to Prius at its worst.
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John, you are right, I'm comparing the better of my civic against the worse of my Prius... but I disagree about size. The Prius is a hatch, so it is supposed to have more trunk room than any civic (although… have you seen the trunk space in the latest models?), but regarding interior room, I felt less cramped in my civic both in the cabin and back seats compared to my Prius.

I just find remarkable that a car launched almost 10 years ago, with no hybrid system (my 02 civic) is able to beat the hwy mileage from one of the most modern hybrid technologies in the current market (my 2010 Prius) in certain situations.

I was spoiled by Hondas my whole life and I honestly regret not paying more attention to the Insight. From what I’m getting in the Insight forum, EPA numbers are highly underestimated in the Insight, even in the winter… I miss the much cheaper regular maintenance o Hondas (oil change in my Odyssey + CR-V combined is a little more than half of what my Toyota dealer charge for the Prius and the OCI in the Insight is 10K, not 5K like in the Prius), I miss the more professional approach of Honda service staff (in my experience… I know it vary by region), and I miss the functionality of Hondas. Someone made a comment that Toyota is on track to become the next GM… I use to strongly doubt it… but I don’t know anymore…

 

Having squeezed out 52 MPG from my '84 Omni, I don't find that remarkable at all. Of course, the car itself was lightweight & powerless with no safety features whatsoever and required me to shift myself. But using non-blended gas and getting measurement from nothing but a highway cruise, it gave the impression of being really efficient. Overall though, lifetime average came to 30.5 MPG.

And let's not forget about emission rating. Achieving PZEV levels sacrifices efficiency.
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You claimed posts here were not buyer's remorse. That's hard to believe after reading all that.
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I suppose different people have different perceptions about remorse. If I was really under significant remorse I would do anything to get rid of car, which is not the case. Based on my needs, the Prius is serving me OK, under my expectations, true, but still within acceptable limits. I see no reason for trading it at the expense of a financial loss. Having said that, I am indeed on search for a used 2010 Audi A3 TDI for trading consideration but will be hard to find and may not make sense financially at all. So, no John, just because I miss Hondas and I really do, it does not mean remorse is hitting me hard... You're wrong there... A car is just a car... it costs a lot more than a simple gadget but my feelings for a car is just like for any other thing money can buy…

 

Granted that a 02 Civic is a lot safer, powerfull, and better than a 84 Omni...

 

Indy,

What is your winter MPG average so far? I just found out that it takes 11% more energy to push through the cold air than the warm air. If you are doing 70 MPH in the winter, that's like 78 MPH in the summer. To keep the same amount of energy spent on the aerodrag, you need to slow down to 63 MPH.

I doubt the Insight will do better in the winter. It does not have any heat recovery system.

 

Also granted that the 02 Civic is a lot smaller/weaker than the 2010 Prius.

Apples to apples, please...

 

Measurement could have been made with different kinds of gas too.

E10, which holds less energy, is quite common now. It wasn't just a few years ago.

What did you use back then to determine the Civic MPG?
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About 43 MPG in the winter so far...

My Honda dealer could get me a used Insight traded with my Prius and return some cash but the problem there is size and HWY MPG...

Later on, my Audi dealer may be able to get me a used A3 TDI but depending on the trim available, the amount of cash I will have to provide for the trade could be a problem... Privately, it will be hard to find, almost impossible...

 

Off topic here… sorry… but does anybody know what the cargo volume in the Prius with seats down is? Toyota website only says 21.6 cu ft... I suspect that is with seats up?