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First 350 miles

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Fuel Economy' started by anonjedi, Mar 28, 2006.

  1. anonjedi

    anonjedi New Member

    Joined:
    Mar 20, 2006
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    Location:
    Northern Virginia/Washington DC
    So I have had my Prius for one week now.

    As of last night I have driven it to and from work five times. The commute is 32 miles each way: first suburbs, then highway (averaging 65 mph), and then city for 10 minutes -- reversed on the way home.

    I have been tracking each commute trip, each direction. So I have data for 10 trips total - 5 into work and 5 going home. I also track the temperature and the length of trip.

    Average morning temp has been mid-40s. Afternoon trip has been mid-50s. Also, car is in a garage at night and all day. Haven't had much need for A/C.

    I have seen my average MPGs increase consistently as I have learned the best way to drive. My first few trips were 42-45 MPGs. Then you see an increase to 47-49 MPGs.

    Then this morning, for the first time, I broke the 50 MPG mark. When I hit park and got ready to power down the screen read 51.2 MPG.

    I am hoping to see this continue to rise as the weather gets warmer.


    One more thing.

    Like others, I usually am right around 25 MPG for the first 5 minutes. Last week I would usually see a trend up over the next few incrment markers (35 MPG, then 40 MPG, etc) Today it was 25, then right to 49. I then hovered around 50 the whole way in.

    As i posted before, compared to my old car which got 18 MPG on a good day, this is heaven.
     
    #1 anonjedi, Mar 28, 2006
  2. viking31

    viking31 Member

    Joined:
    Oct 30, 2005
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    Location:
    West Central Florida
    Vehicle:
    2006 Prius
    Same story here ;-). I now have 5,000 miles on my 2006 #4 purchased mid Jan 2006.

    But one must wonder if the initial mileage increases are due to a break in of the components or improved driving habits due to the feedback provided by the MFD. I think it is a combination of both but more so because of the fuel mileage feedback from the MFD. I have always been "easy" on my autos but with the Prius's MFD feeding back my mileage I feel I have improved even more regarding getting better fuel economy.

    I am always amazed at the number of people who use full throttle or very hard acceleration from stop lights, toll booths, on ramps, etc., and little to no anticipation of required stops due to red lights or other factors resulting in hard braking to slow or stop the car.

    I truly believe if every car had a device similar to our Prius's MFD showing feeding back mileage that fuel usage would decrease drastically in this country. Hmm, if I was the king for the day...

    Rick

    2006 #4 Prius
     
    #2 viking31, Mar 28, 2006
  3. finally_got_one

    finally_got_one New Member

    Joined:
    Mar 27, 2006
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    Location:
    Orange County, California
    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(viking31 @ Mar 28 2006, 07:01 AM) [snapback]231333[/snapback]</div>
    My Prius will turn 1k miles sometime this week. Before that, I had a Honda Accord, a good car but the engine was going. So as I waited (and waited, and waited) for the Prius to be delivered, I drove the Honda very carefully. Got better mileage on the Honda, getting good mileage on the Prius (52 mpg to date). The MFD helps a lot in telling you what driving habits cost you fuel. However, it can get distracting, and I have turned it off a few times because of the need to concentrate on traffic.

    The commute for me is 20 miles one way, with more streets than freeways. I have had some concerns when stuck in traffic; for some reason, when I am on the freeway at 60mph I get the best mileage. I still have a lot to learn about driving this car...
     
    #3 finally_got_one, Mar 30, 2006
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