Hi Folks,

I picked up my new '06 Prius monday evening (replaced an '06 Matrix which replaced an '03 Civic Hybrid, Matrix had bad blind spots .. almost had 3 accidents in 4 months).

My impressions so far are that I should have bought this rather than the Matrix from the beginning.

I love the way it drives and am getting 39.5 MPG so far (103 total miles on the car and it is still cold here in Massachusetts). The smart key system is so wonderful that I find myself wanting to find places to drive just so I can not use the key again.

One question I have is regarding the climate control. In looking back at old threads I get the impression that I should leave the "AC" in auto mode all the time and just set a temp via the buttons on the steering wheel and just forget about it. Is this correct?

Another question is on what the graph on the left side of the "Consumption" display really means. Does anyone know? Does a higher bar on the graph mean good or bad?

I have found myself setting the touch screen to the "Energy" screen (the one which shows the car wheels and engine stuff with the arrows) and adjusting my driving based on a combination of the arrows and the MPG indicator. Does anyone else do this?

Brian

 

Hi Brian,

Congratulations and welcome to the hybrid club!

On driving, I use the 'Consumption' display and pay attention to the MPG, especially the fractional part. Upon starting any trip, I reset the consumption display to "0" and the B odometer to 0 miles. Then as I drive, I check to see if the MPG is going up or down in 10ths of a MPG. But this is just the 'test results,' not the study of how to drive a hybrid efficiently.

In my case, I have used the 'cruise control' to develop MPH vs. MPG mileage curves for our previous model Prius, a 2003 model. Then I used a Google map to look for optimum commute routes (scroll down.) By holding everything constant and changing one element at a time and testing of other suggestions, I've come up with these rules for driving my Prius:

1) warm-up for ~1 mile at the start of each commute - drive through a neighborhood or back streets having 25 MPH speed limits
2) cool-down for ~1 mile at end of each commute - use 'stealth mode' as much as possible at the end and/or "pulse and glide."
3) use speeds below 39 MPH or above 51 MPH - due to one of the control laws, the 01-03 Prius has to run the internal combusion engine (ICE) at speeds of 42 MPH and above. Reproducable, I get my worst MPG by setting the cruise control to 42 MPH in my daily commute.
4) keep tires at 42/40 psi
5) keep oil at 3/4th between the full and empty marks
6) practice 'Pulse and glide' away from all other traffic

GOOD LUCK!

Bob Wilson

 

Hi Bob,

Thanks for the tips.

Luckily for me, I can take back roads to/from the office that made for good mileage on my old HCH (50 MPG avg) so the Prius should do really well on the same circuit. The first 1.5 miles of my commute is a 30 MPG zone that is 75% down hill mode and the rest is mostly (75%) flat or small rolling hills. There is one stretch that is 50 MPH but that is only 7 miles out of a 26 mile commute but the rest is anywhere from 25 MPH to 40 MPH. I think that once the Prius gets broken in I should be able to easily beat the numbers I put up on the HCH.

Thanks, Brian

 

Congratulations on an excellent purchase! I use the energy screen exclusively. The only exception is during extended cruise control periods. Once it warms up you will be able to control forcing your Prius into EV mode easier as you'll be able to see the results in real time. I have my tire pressures even higher than Bob's. His other suggestions are great too. I usually keep my climate control to OFF as much as possible. I'm in the Dallas, Tx area so it's much warmer here. When it has been cool to cold I have taken to dressing warmer and using heat when in ICE mode only (accelerating and over 41 mph), which has helped a lot. I see much less ICE activation/increased EV operation this way. I don't have any hard facts on this though.

The rest of Bob's suggestions are great too. One thing I have run into is that my dealer wouldn't fill my oil at oil change to lees than the FULL line. I emailed Toyota though and they have changed their tune. I expect to be able to ask for 3/4 over minimum at my next oil change without a problem. Some owners have reported no improvement in mileage with less oil but I am looking forward to trying it. Also, expect your mileage to improve 5-10% after the break in period of 8-10k miles and another 5-10% when it warms up for Spring, and another 5-10% after you really learn how to drive it. Congratulations again and enjoy it.

 

On the consumption display, higher bars = higher mileage (mpg). So the higher the better!

I too find that I use a combination of the "energy" and "consumption" displays - if I'm going to be "coasting" I'll switch to the energy display to confirm that I'm pressing the accelerator just enough to stop all regeneration (provides a longer coast, due to less slowing down), or if I can't figure out what's going on with the engine (am I getting electric motor assist or not). Otherwise, I usually keep it on "consumption" so I can track the instantaneous changes in overall mpg (as Bob suggested), is it going up or down? I find it easier to watch the large bar on the right out of the corner of my eye, than to use the actual numbers on the bottom of the Energy screen.

My mileage so far hasn't been great (I got my '06 Prius in January), but I attribute that some to the weather, some to 'break in' time, and some to the fact that I love the car so much I want to drive it everywhere - even on lots of short (mpg-ruining) errand trips! But I'm looking for some 60-mpg tanks come summer... and even if not, hey, over 40 sure beats any other car I've ever had!

C.

 

Hi Briain,

Good deal. The Prius and HCH have different approaches to hybrid-electric and each has its strengths and weaknesses. I can appreciate the mechanical simplicity of the HCH while admiring the different characteristics of the Prius approach. That is why the 'rules' that work for a Prius may or may not work for an HCH.

One thing I remember from driving in MA are the hills and lots of two-lane roads. We don't have that in Huntsville but I remember someone suggestinig that cruise control in a hilly area works almost like an automatic 'pulse and glide.'

I do not have a Prius II, 04-06, but my understanding is it may have a simular control law at 42 MPH on keeping the ICE running. Certainly that has been the case with the 01-03 Prius where the ICE apparently must run to prevent MG1 from overspeeding. A tecnical report from Toyota covering the differences indicated the 04-06 Prius MG1 has a higher red-line than the 01-03 models. I just don't know if anyone has used their scanners or other instrumentation with the 04-06 Prius II to determine if there is a minimum speed that requires constant ICE operation.

GOOD LUCK!

Bob Wilson

 

Hi Folks,

Thanks for the tips and everything. As of tonight the MPG is up to 42.9 with 139 miles on the car.

Brian

 

Above 41 MPH the Prius II ICE mostly runs. In Cruise Control mode and/or gliding downhill over 41 MPH the ICE may deactivate but it is still spinning to avoid electric motor damage and to be restart ready. It does add additional friction thus slowing the car down slightly more quickly but it will shutoff not infrequently above 41 MPH under the previously mentioned conditions.

Also, one thing to keep in mind with the consumtion display graph is that it is 6-5 minute intervals. If you sit at a red light for 5 minutes it will show 99.9 mpg even though you haven't moved. I find the display to be most useful on highway trips for a last 30 minutes of driving feedback.

 

I thought if you sit for 5 minutes it just shows a blank bar? I've seen this several times in both our Prius and HiHy. Perhaps we were in PARK.

Rick

 

My experiences are similar to yours. My commute is short (15 minutes), but our weatehr has been relatively mild (only a few days near zero degrees F, most of the daytime highs have been 30 F or above). My first tank was 39.6 MPG but seems to be improving with each tank. I am on my third tank and getting around 44 MPG.

The rest of my commute is urban with hills and poorly timed lights. I don't use the heater too much but do so when I get cold or the windows begin to fog.