Excellent MPG even w/ winter gas - why I love this car

With just a change of shoes and an alteration of driving technique I can go from sporty "look at me" mode to "who cares what you think, I'm saving fuel" mode.

I filled up today after driving on the 17s for the last 4 tankfuls or so. What was the mpg you ask? 41.2mpg. The tank before that? 42mpg and the one before that? 44.2mpg. You get the point. My mpg is always pretty poor in the winter but it is especially worse with the 17s because I feel like I have no incentive to drive for mpg because it will never go above 47mpg in the winter so I just give up and drive fast. The result is even worse mpg. Duh.

So today I was feeling well enough after surgery last week to go to work but not before swapping wheels in an effort to save money (that is going toward the hospital bill). I swapped the tires, aired them up to an undisclosed psi and refilled the tank. I proceeded to drive home from work. The trip is about 36miles (35miles of freeway) at freeway speeds of 60-65mph and an elevation loss of approx. 150ft. Most of which occurs within the first 5 miles.

I ended the trip at 59.5mpg over 36 miles. I was holding steady at 61mpg until I hit an open section of freeway right before my exit with winds exceeding 20mph at my right front passenger side. Uggggg! With no ability to hypermile my mg back to 61mpg I had to settle for 59.5. not too bad for winter fuel although temperature was 64degrees so it's hard to call it winter weather.

So the change in wheels/tires and a reduction of driving speed from 70-75mph to 69-65mph was worth over 10mpg this time. Sometimes it's only an 8mpg difference but that's decent enough in my book. Just thought I'd share my exploits of the day.

Trying to attached the pic of the MFD but my iPad doesn't show the select file buttons and my Android phone sucks.

 

I went out to Point Reyes national seashore today with the girlfriend. I decided to drive because her Rav4 gets pretty terrible gas mileage.

I knew I would drive the mpg down on this tank but it had been awhile since I have driven a long distance without any major elevation changes. I also knew there was no way in hell she would allow me to drive at 60mph the entire trip so we comprimised at 65mph. Despite numerous stops to view elephant seals, tule elk herds and to suck down some oysters, I ended the day at 291 miles at 56mpg. That is 11mpg higher than the EPA rating of 45mpg highway.

Anyway, I know this is no revelation to many of you but I felt like writing about how proud I am to own such a capable little old (157,000 miles) GenII Prius.

 

As the late great Chris LeDoux sang....



It Ain't The Years, It's The Miles
I walked behind the chute, stapped my spurs to my boots
At that big Rodeo in Cheyenne.
Feelin' tired and sore for a ride the day before,
And a thousand other rides since I began.
As I climbed up the gate I heard that young cowboy sayin',
Well, that ole man ain't gonna ride, and I had to smile.
I said son it ain't age that makes me look this way,
It ain't the years boy...it's the miles.
It ain't the years that I've known that have taken their toll,
'Cause they've been few.
If you took all the mashin's, the draggin's and the crashin's,
You'd probably look the same way I do.
It's the million miles of road, and gettin' snatched around and throwed,
That finally put the cramp in my style.
It ain't the years boy...it's the miles.
Went on and made my ride, only scored a 65.
But you know what really made my day complete,
Was when I looked up just in time to see that young cowboy goin' flyin',
And land in a pile at my feet.
And as the first aid came to haul him away, I said son you'll be
allright in a little while.
He's on his way to findin' out what it's all about.
It ain't the years boy...it's the miles.
It ain't the years that I've known that've taken their toll.
'Cause they've been few.
If you took all the mashin's, the draggin's, and the crashin's, you'd
probably look the same way I do.
It's the million miles of road of gettin' snatched around and throwed,
That finally put the cramp in my style.
It ain't age that made me look this way,
It ain't the years boy...it's the miles.
It ain't age that makes me look this way,
It ain't the years boy...it's the miles.

 

I'm pretty sure we do. Not all of Cali is warm year-round like LA.

 

I don't have time to let this stupid disease keep me down. I have stuff to do.

On the way home today I decided to see how far I could glide on these yokohamas. I started the glide at 55mph while traveling down a side road in an industrial complex area. I made sure to check the trip meter before starting. The car glides so darn smooth that after 1 mile I had to stop for a red light and I was still traveling at 33mph! I bet I could have gone close to another mile if I could somehow avoid traffic for that long while I roll to a stop. I was quite surprised to see how fast I was going by the time I had to brake for the light. I sorta like these tires. lol

 

I set it at 50psi right after I swapped them.

Your results are likely due more to road conditions and/or driving style. Higher pressure definitely helps but not to the tune of 12mpg. To truly evaluate the difference higher pressure makes you will need to either restrict the variables or use larger samples (more than just a couple of hundred miles). You can always just state the conditions so that we are now so skeptical. In my case I am aware of all of the variables because I've been tracking mpg for so long and I've had the same commute for the last couple of years.

Thanks for the tip though! PC is such a helpful place.

 

Bah! Don't bring me down. I'm already jealous that the damn GenIII could achieve this mpg without breaking a sweat. lol

 

Level ground with a barely discernible bump in the middle. I'll get a picture of the stretch of road today.

Glide with no regen. Due to high speed I enter the glide using very minimal HV battery energy because there is no way to turn that off until under 42mph. I believe the term to use is warp stealth for that period between 55mph and 42mph. Is that correct? If I were to lift off the throttle even just a tiny bit I would go back into regen.