The 35-40 Avg Mpg Club

I really have to wonder how you can get under 40 mpg... I've been very casually enjoying the 300 ft-lbs of torque that the electrical side of the system provides, beating everyone else off the line when the light turns green, and 42 is the worst I can do!

 

I actually try pretty hard to do better, but my best tank yet is only 45 mpg. I drove from Chicago to Louisville and only got 44 on my tank that drove mostly 70ish on the highway, with a little bit of city driving in Louisville thrown in. My 1/2 tank from the return trip has me near 48 mpg, but I'm sure my under 10 minute 2.3 mile commute will drag me back down below 45 before this tank is thru.

As stated earlier, I'm not unhappy with the city results as I can't do better with other vehicles (or even close). I was hoping to break 50 on the highway though. I did a bit better using cruise control, but I do not know. I expected to do better.

 

In SI units.
Sienna 75 litres over 240 kilometres
75/2.40 = 31.25L/100km!! (Mack trucks do better than this)

Prius 33 litres over 513 kilometres
33/5.13 = 6.43L/100km!!

I know which bill I would rather pay now.

 

I note the title's changed to allow me to sneak in.
Probably easier to track than The 5.9-6.7 L/100km Club

These prius things are too darned economical. Today for the first time I actually pushed the little "go" pedal (other cars have a "gas" pedal, same purpose I guess) all the way down. Mmm... Power...
I also passed 300km traveled on the odometer.

Disappointingly, even with my lead foot, for that trip I still got no bars over 7.5L/100 (under 30mpg) and got regeneration too!

Lifetime: 5.5L/100km and 302km driven. Never bought fuel for my shiny green car, and I'm only 3 blips down, I think. Obviously this will change in the months / years to come.

Is this club exclusively for Prius drivers, or should we go find people in antique only-dinosaur-burning cars who can join on numbers alone?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Mark Derail @ Oct 23 2007, 11:31 PM) [snapback]529534[/snapback]</div>

Well I think I'm up to the challenge (not that I really wishes though).
2005 Prius owned for two weeks now
EBH (plugged in 2 hours before I leave in the morning)
24,000km
Tires 40/38

I leave in Saguenay , five hours north from Montreal. Waaaay up north.

First fill up on Oct 19th Outdoor temp around 18C (65F)
25L for 580 km - 4.3L/100km (54mpg) but Consumption Monitor said 5.2L/100km (44mpg)

Then last time I fill up on Oct 25th
32.8 L for 465 km - 7L/100Km (33 mpg) but Consumption Monitor said 5.3L/100km (42mpg)

My ride to work is 15km an takes around 10 minutes. Lots of hills, stop and go in morning jam. I'm trying to start slowly from lights and glide to stops. The ICE rarely stops. Heather set to 28C (82F) with low fan and no A/C.

Weather is always -1c (30F) to 3c (38F) in the morning and max 9c (48F) during the day.

I also find Consumption Monitor is way off in my case but I've read that I must wait for more fuelings to get a better average.

Is this "normal" for my conditions ? I suppose it is. I also plan blocking my grill this week end.

So I'm sort of in tha club right now but kinda wishes to do better :lol:

EDIT: okay, I did a bit more research (sorry I'm noob ) and found that my MPG is absolutely normal for the weather and driving conditions I'm in.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Mark Derail @ Oct 28 2007, 04:18 PM) [snapback]531659[/snapback]</div>

thank you I try my best with my written english

During the weekend I've blocked my lower grill. I've also added a small heater in the back of my Prius which is AC powered and gets power when my EBH is plugged in. It's purpose is to heat the cargo area where the battery is and get it to temp faster. I'll see if this will help my consumption.

I know I'm a bit off topic because at first you were talking about using the Prius "freely" without much consideration about fuel economy but I think it's always interesting to see what Winter + Prius equals to

 

I've got a question for you guys. How much *time* to you think you
actually save, in real life? What if you adhered to posted speed
limits on average, but still used the acceleration/braking capabilities
of the car to the max? If someone could come up with some reasonably
hard figures on actual real-life time saved by aggressive/spirited
driving over "wuss" driving, it would really help me out on something
I'm trying to write up and capture some data on tradeoffs.
.
_H*

 

SyCo,
28C, why so hot? Don't you feel uncomfortable at that temperature in winter? I find that in winter clothes, 22 to 24C is fine. bring down the temperature and you will cut consumption.
The fuel monitor will be more accurate than fill up calculations due to bladder and fill variations.

Hobbit, I travel 34km each way to work and sometimes people who accelerate and brake hard don't get where they are going any quicker than I do, depending on lights. I do drive at or 2km/h over the speed limits. Going with the flow but leaving time to brake and reading the traffic ahead. Sometimes I feel like I win when I get the tail end of a green light but the next light will no doubt be red and everyone else catches up again. I get bored going slow though.

Thanks Mark, I try to help.

Sitting Duc be careful using full throttle in New Zealand, we wouldn't want you going over the edge now would we? Maybe OK heading north or south but be careful going east and west.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(patsparks @ Nov 1 2007, 10:29 AM) [snapback]533368[/snapback]</div>

Actually I start at 28C to get hot air faster. Then I go down to 24C or a bit less but the ICE will run most of the time anyway unless I turn the climate control off. I'm now running my Prius with lower grill blocked and my heater and EBH plugged on grid power to heat my car 2 hours before I leave to work. That seems so help alot. I will see during next fueling what MPG will be.

The consumption monitor is at 6.0L/100km (40mpg) right now after 300km. I'll see if that is about the same as my calculations.

 

My Classic 2003 Prius consistently gives better mileage than my wife's 2004
my last 5 tanks have been
4.9 L per hundred 57.6 Imperial 48.0 US
4.65 L per hundred 60.7 Imperial 50.0 US
4.87 L per hundred 60.1 Imperial 48.2 US
4.7 L per hundred 60.1 Imperial 50.0 US
4.77 L per hundred 59.2 Imperial 49.3 US
I drive it pretty hard, 2500 to 2700 RPM from traffic lights till about 5 KM from the speed limit or go with the flow, most times I'm speeding, coast to lights as much as possible, B on the steep hills or light brake to 25 amps regen or thereabouts. I think most people try to hard to get good mileage and don't drive it "hard" enough. The 2004 is a lot harder to get good mileage with as far as I'm concerened compared to the Classic. But if you just keep the tires pumped up properly and hold the RPM to 2200 or so it gets good mileage. Hiway milage in the 2004 on our last trip 2126Km on 109.26 liters. 5.13 L per hundred or 55.06 Imperial 45.85 US. 6 mountian passes and lots way over the speed limit. So the car is capable of getting good mileage, but short trips, which she does all the time locally just kills it. She needs a block heater in it, but no place to plug it in. My two cents.

 

I'm not a member yet (There should be a 40-45 MPG club). A really long trip (ie, more than 20 minutes) is a rare luxury for me. 90% of my trips are about 5 miles. Still, I'm getting about 43-44 MPG. However, once the New England winter hits, I'll be joining to 35 MPG club, unfortunately. I recently got myself a car heater (for passengers, not the engine block). Whether it saves gas by letting the engine heat the engine and not worry about the passengers or whether it wastes gas by using up the battery remain to be seen.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Stev0 @ Nov 2 2007, 03:24 PM) [snapback]533735[/snapback]</div>

I don't understand what you have got yourself?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(patsparks @ Nov 2 2007, 03:52 AM) [snapback]533771[/snapback]</div>

something like this

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Mark Derail @ Sep 30 2007, 09:24 PM) [snapback]519683[/snapback]</div>

Difficult to get crappy mileage? Yes. Difficult to get high mileage? Also yes.
The general consensus I've noticed (including from my neighbor who has the Touring version of my Prius (and the neighbor on the other side of me has a blue one)), is that people get about 40-43mpg. I get about this range also, although to conform with this thread, I once drove to Arizona doing between 85 and 95 the whole way down, and I believe my actual mpg was 38. Still not bad considering the speed I was going, and considering the 1996 Camry my Prius replaced would get slightly better than 20mpg less.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Mark Derail @ Nov 2 2007, 10:48 AM) [snapback]533975[/snapback]</div>

Actually, that was to keep up in the right lane. Maybe it was just that particular Friday, but people love to speed on the 10 freeway. It was fun though, and I'm glad it wasn't all uphill.

It does sell today - Toyota Yaris (with an extra cylinder and made overseas).

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(pkhoury @ Nov 4 2007, 02:34 AM) [snapback]534569[/snapback]</div>

I've owned both a Geo Metro and a Toyota Echo (which they then redesigned and called the Yaris). While they were both great cars, you really can't compare the two. Unless, of course, you're an American who thinks anything smaller than an Escalade is a "compact car".

 

Well, it looks like I'll have to turn in my badge and part ways; I finally put petrol in my ugly green car, at 744 km it took 39.5L to go from one bar (no blink) to ten bars.
Works out at 5.3L/100km or 44mpg. So unless things improve in the months ahead, I just voted myself off the island.

These prius things are just too damned economical!
On the other hand, at the price of 39.51L of refined dinosaur at the moment, that's probably just as well!