Actually, a lot of cars can match the average MPG of the Prius but if you seriously hypermile a Prius you can achieve numbers (118mpg) that no other cars can attain except for the Honda Insight I (160mpg).
How can you get that kind of mileage, that's incredible. I'm getting 53.8 right now at average speed of 36+ mph. I can't imagine getting much higher. I also seem to get worse mpg in city driving 30-40 mph than I get on the highway. I do have to use cruise control almost all the time because of knee problems. Even still those 70+mpg numbers are incredible.
Generally speaking those kind of results are attained during MPG competitions or in the case of the Prius, the gal that achieved 115-118mpg uses extreme pulse and glide techniques and drives very slowly. Average speed is below 18mph I think. Our friend Ken in Japan is a great source of information on the subject as is Wayne Gerdes from Cleanmpg.com. I suggest checking out that website as well as Ecomodder.com for more information.
You get a hummer or any SUV to do that and I will be impressed. Hypermilling an RX400h nets just over 30mpg. Hypermilling an RX350 nets 26mpg. Good for an SUV, but not Prius levels. Hypermilling a hummer was done by someone before and they netted something in the mid-teens. Again great for a hummer, but not Prius levels. I don't have to be anywhere at a specific time so I can drive however and whenever I want. But when I do hypermill I am usually only 5-8 minutes behind where I would have been and I am always calmer. Driving to meet a deadline is stressful and really you don't gain much in time. Usually I drive like a bat out hell though because I enjoy it, not dangerously, just fast acceleration and so on. Still get 45-48mpg. When I drive with the flow of traffic and time lights but not hypermill, I get mid-50's.
Sorry my hand wasn't in the picture, I took the picture a couple of weeks ago before discovering this thread. Although the HSI = 70.0 mpg, the hand calculated mpg was 66.4. Some details: My commute is approximately 35 miles each way, approximately 32 miles are "freeway" miles, 3 miles are surface streets). There is, typically, 4 miles of slow and go to work and about 2 miles of slow and go coming home, thus 6 miles of surface streets, 6 miles of slow and go, and 58 miles of freeway driving, daily. There is a ~500 ft elevation change (downhill to work, uphill coming home). Since I'm in CA, we use E10 gasoline. My summer/Fall mileage typically exceeds 60 MPG. My winter mileage typically exceeds 56 MPG. My tricks - keep my tires inflated to max PSI, keep my top freeway speeds at the speed limit or lower (I'm in the right lane), give myself plenty of room in front of me in slow and go traffic to utilize pulse and glide techniques to further improve mileage. I have tinted side windows and a front window screen to try to keep the car interior cool during the day. Oh, and rocking out to ZZ Top helps immensely.
I realize that this picture is only 400 miles into the tank, but I took it because I knew the weather was about to start a downward trend. And sure enough, I ended this tank at 65.3 I fear this is the last time I will see these numbers until next Spring.
Nah, not too impressive The high miles is an artefact. I added about 2 gallons midway through the tank to make it to less expensive fuel a few days later. As you know, the tank meter does not reset unless ~ 3 gallons are added. I don't try to stuff the tank when I fill up, so it is unusual to have much more than 9.5 gallons from full to empty.
Very nice! Despite the fact your winter numbers drop, they are still impressive for such terrible conditions.
I finally got around to doing this. I hope 1095 km is a long enough distance for Unigeezer to believe. - 1095 km, 680 miles - 43.6 L, 11.5 US gal - 4.0 L/100km, 59 MPG US Opps, sorry about the finger placement.
Ah yes. Still I'm very proud of that distance. Nearly 1100 km on a single tank, it's my best yet. The petrol station was at the top of a large hill, I could have gone another 5km practically without any more fuel, so I know I could have made it. All the fuel stations after this hill sell ethanol (E10) only, so I had to stop where I did. I think I'll claim it as 1100 km anyway.
... and mine (only the Leaf, now) can only read out in miles per kWh's ... 8,000 miles life time being 5mpkWh after deducting for recharging (from DC solar, to AC then back to DC again conversion) losses. That works out to about 120mpg life time if you convert the number to fossel fuel, minus all IT's conversion losses. But ... if we're talking 'gas only' MPG here? As for our Gen II, I posted lots of "tank-full“ range pic's over the last 6 years ... 700+ miles per tank ... mpg's - allof the pic's in the low to high 70's & I did it because it was fun seeing that I can ... and hopefully it inspired others to learn to drive anticipatorily, if there's such a word. But ... you can't average 55.95mpg over the 6yr life of your prius unless you first figure out how to range 650 miles per tank. That's because there WILL be times over the life of your ownership that you'll only get 40mpg (hills short trips, freezing temps, etc). The crazyest pic I posted was 84mpg ... but it was only over a 340 mile range. I'd hoped to be able to get at least one full 'tank-full' with an empty tank range of 800+ miles at 80mpg's ... but it was not meant to be. I failed ... but I tried. Yet some here on PC have done it. that's more work than I was able to devote. Good luck to all the folks who continue to push their bests ... whether their doing only moderately so so - or their already doing crazy high mpg's. .