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new owner of a 2002

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Fuel Economy' started by old toolman, Jun 7, 2005.

  1. old toolman

    old toolman I miss my '02 Classic Silver

    Joined:
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    Location:
    Waterbury, Connecticut
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    I recently bought a used 2002 Prius.lucked onto it as it were....I'm over whelmed with the quality and technology of this car. We seemed to hit it off immediately, and I'm crossing over from an Isuzu trooper.
    My question is this: I'm tending to get better gas milage during long highway driving..up to 48.8 mpg; but city driving averages 44mpg. On the highway drives I'm not using the cruise control and still seem to get good mileage. In the city..lots of hills here and stop signs..I've tried to feather the pedal more with still mediocre results. I guess what the question is..is it technique or maybe a difference in the classic Prius to the newer models? Technique , I can work on... :D
    tires over by 2 lbs pressure all around
    synthetic oil
    any recommendations?

    thanks all

    walt
     
    #1 old toolman, Jun 7, 2005
  2. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
    Staff Member

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    Hey Walt! welcome to PriusChat!

    Where are you located? You don't have to be specific but a general area will help us.

    I would throw out a couple of guess since where I live, there are hills (a pretty damn big one to get to downtown) so that can prevent me from getting the super high mileages. Note that the Classic came with LRR tyres as standard equipment. If the tyres you're currently running on aren't LRR, you might lose a few mpg. Hmm, what else? The ideal situation would be low, constant city speeds without much stopping and starting.
     
    #2 Tideland Prius, Jun 7, 2005
  3. old toolman

    old toolman I miss my '02 Classic Silver

    Joined:
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    Location:
    Waterbury, Connecticut
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    oops..sorry..I'm in Waterbury, Connecticut..rather hilly state..tires aren't original..and I'll have to check the tyres tonight..I'm still very impressed with the hiway mileage though...did not expect that much...

    walt
     
    #3 old toolman, Jun 7, 2005
  4. DanMan32

    DanMan32 Senior Member

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    How long are the city drives? I believe even with the adsorber (or perhaps more so), MPG is much lower for the first few minutes since the ICE/Cat is warming up. If all your city trips are short, that would lower your MPG. A/C would too, as you would then be forced to idle when the compressor was needed.
     
    #4 DanMan32, Jun 9, 2005
  5. Wolfman

    Wolfman New Member

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    Williston, ND.
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    Welcome Walt.

    I have a 2003, that I commute 100 miles per day round trip. It's not uncommon for me to see as much as 54 mpg, with a highway biased commute. Alot of this car will have to do with driving style. There is little difference design wise between the THS and HSD systems. HSD is a higher voltage, and higher power system, than our classics, that is all. Our biggest change is that we have our A/C compressors engine driven, so we get a bit more of a penalty when we use it. The best way to get the high city figures, is to look well ahead, and anticipate the lights, so you can coast as much as possible.
     
    #5 Wolfman, Jun 11, 2005
  6. Frank Hudon

    Frank Hudon Senior Member

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    in warm weather, A/C required, your best bet is to use Max A/C and get the car as cool as possible in the first 5 minutes as that is when your milege takes the biggest hit as the ICE is in warm up stage and runs anyhow. Once past the first 5 minutes set the temp for as warm as you can tolerate with the fan speed set to low or medium. If you have lots of stop signs your limited as to doing a lot of coasting to catch lights as they are green so your stopping and then starting which are not the best for mileage. I'm one who uses a brisk acceleration to get to speed and then back off on the throttle to make the ICE to go into stealth mode and then feed in just enough throttle to maintain speed. If it's really warm your ICE will get to 70C in a hurry and should go into stealth almost as soon as a HSD Prius. About 4 blocks will have the Cat's and the O2 sensors to temp. Your stated mileage is quit good for a Classic, and the more you drive it and plan your drive for the flattest terrain the better your mileage will get. Obsessing about 1-2 miles a gallon will soon have you in the nut house, so just drive and enjoy.
     
    #6 Frank Hudon, Jun 11, 2005
  7. old toolman

    old toolman I miss my '02 Classic Silver

    Joined:
    Jun 7, 2005
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    Location:
    Waterbury, Connecticut
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Guys,
    Thanks..I may be getting the hang of it...first week I don't think I took my eyes off the display..it was only when I disregarded the screen on the highway that the mileage started to go up...still very impressed with the hiway mileage...
    I guess I've got to do more work on my city driving...flats are almost out of the question, none around for the short commute...but anticipation is something that I may be able to do something about...
    I can't tell you how much I love this car...and I've driven everything from a heavy muscle cars in the 60's through a Karman Gia..heavy trucks and, of all things..a Pacer...but this car is like driving new...all over again!!

    thanks
    again,

    walt Q
     
    #7 old toolman, Jun 13, 2005
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