37 mpg and not happy, but I DO have a question
 

Basic facts: I have a 2007 Prius with about 5500 miles on it. MPG has been steady at 38-40 mpg, but mostly 38

No, I am not happy, but I hear that the mpg will rise when I hit the magic 10k mark. We'll see.

I figure that a good deal of the poor MPG performance is because my home is at an elevation of 450 feet above sea level, and the train station, school, etc. where the car typically goes is at or near sea level. Home is approximately 5 miles from sea level.

I know that this trip up and down the hill negatively impacts mpg, but I wonder how much. Of course, there's not a whole lot we can do about it, other then coast more when going down the hill (and not "racing" up the hill).

Re: 37 mpg and not happy, but I DO have a question
 

Does the FAQ help?

Bob Wilson

Re: 37 mpg and not happy, but I DO have a question
 

I was HOPING you'd reply

I am reading the FAQ and trying to catch up.

Sorry for being such a noob.

Re: 37 mpg and not happy, but I DO have a question
 

Everyone starts from day one without a whole lot of details. Over time, folks helped me and I enjoy passing on their lesson's learned.

Bob Wilson

Re: 37 mpg and not happy, but I DO have a question
 

My wife is the primary driver, so I will have to pass along the accumulated wisdom. I have to think that climbing up to 450 feet every day is going to have a fairly signicant negative impact on mpg, regardless of our best efforts.

Re: 37 mpg and not happy, but I DO have a question
 

I too live in a hilly area but not as steep as yours. My greatest problem is my early commute of 5 miles gets 44 mpg most of the time-probably because the engine is just too cold. Later in the day I take the same route after lunch and get closer to 50 mpg. The engine warmth is about all that is changed. But going up and down hills at least for me is good. Last weekend I drove 40 miles up a 2500 ft total rise, 36 mpg. After returning exact same route, I showed 59 mpg average. So my trip down was maybe 82 mpg. I wish I could do that all of the time!

Re: 37 mpg and not happy, but I DO have a question
 

I also am not happy with my 2007 Prius. I am only getting tank averages of around 39mpg. Who says mileage will improve at 10k miles? That seems insane that we have to wait that long just to get the rated mileage. Don't think I will buy another Toyota again. I should have kept my Honda Insight.

Re: 37 mpg and not happy, but I DO have a question
 

What does your daily commute look like? Perhaps you might give source and destination addresses that could be used with Mapquest or Google maps to get an idea?

Route planning is a good way to improve performance along with the techniques outlined in the FAQ. If you feel uneasy with public posting of addresses, PM me and we'll work something up.

Bob Wilson

Re: 37 mpg and not happy, but I DO have a question
 

The elevation change will even itself out, the real problem is the short trip which leaves no time for warm-up.

When your at home the coolant thermos is dumping warm coolant into your engine at start-up, your mostly coasting down hill so your not even getting warmed-up, shutting-down the engine and, if coolant is stored, it is only luke-warm, come back and restart and the thermos coolant does nothing to help, by the time you get home the coolant has just started to warm-up, you shut-down and store barely warm coolant, next day you start and the barely warm coolant can't warm the engine enough....etc.

As Bob Wilson suggested in another thread get an engine block heater and plug it in for 3 hours before leaving home. Block-up your upper grill and most of your lower grill with the foam pipe insulation to keep your coast down from stealing the heat from the engine. All this will keep your engine in a warmer range and give you better MPG for what is a pretty bad drive for any car for MPG. And it wouldn't hurt to pump up your tires about 5 psi more all around.

If you want to really see what your car can do, reset the comsumption screen and take a loooong drive somewhere, at least 200 miles round trip and see what MPG you get.

Wayne

Re: 37 mpg and not happy, but I DO have a question
 

<shrug> took me 2.5 years to get 60mpg so if you're impatient, by all means, buy another car.


Also, if you bought a Touring, good luck cause the 16" wheels will put a small dent in mileage. Just note the engine isn't on all the time like it is on the Insight (except at stops of course) so engine break-in will take longer.