I agree with Tideland.... there has to be something contributing to it. Try to eliminate the variables. You may suddenly fall in love with it like the rest of us

 

The only way I know to get those sort of averages is to travel at speeds of +75 mph or a lot of short trips with a couple of hours, cool-off delays between each leg. Running the AC in defrost mode all the time can also hurt whereas normal AC will cycle very nicely. An ICE oil level over the FULL mark instead of 3/4ths can hurt and alignment is a stealthy but subtle bug.

Really, I think what would make sense would be some instrumentation on the car to understand what is going on. Let me think about how this might be done in a way that doesn't ask someone to put out any more money.

Bob Wilson

 

I don't mind - please go ahead

 

I think the idea of renting a Prius and taking it on your route is genius... as it might help you identify if its your car, route or driver. Same route, same driver, different car same results would mean you have a difficult commute. Different results might mean something is wrong with your new ride.

Or you could just have Bob drive his Prius on your route and whip you up some fancy charts on how he squeezed 68 mpg on your commute. I just don't like the stretch in his chart where he has us getting out of the vehicle and pushing it for a 1/4 of a mile.

 

ps and FWIW, I have calculated tank mpg by hand as well as using my trip computer, and they are nearly identical

I also only base my mpg numbers on near-full or full-tank fill-ups, not partial tank fill-ups or short trip events.

 

LMAO!

<-- has visions of the best gas mileage ever. We can take human energy to push our vehicles to work everyday!!!!

 

Done! Make sure it reads OK and PM if there are any changes.

I also started a new thread in "Fuel Economy" discussing route planning since it is something any hybrid driver may have an interest.

Bob Wilson

 

That gives me an idea... We install pedals like in those paddle boats for the passengers. If you are going to be dead weight in my Hybrid you are going to have to pedal to charge up my batteries enough to offset your negative impact on my MPG.

 

I did not see it in the Prius FAQ

is it in a different FAQ?

am sure it is fine

it's also OK with me if you "publish" your thoughts re my mpg compaint and trip planning

of course, don't forget that almost nobody knows how to read a topo map, so......

 

Okay lets try this again as some didn't read my previous post with my numbers.

My average tanks have only been giving me 42mpg and now 39mpg. My tire pressures are 44psi front and 42psi rear. The outside temps have been in the 75 to 85 degree range. I only use A/C going down hills and rarely go above 65mph. I throttle as if and an egg was under the pedal. The terrain in my area is somewhat hilly but all my city driving is level ground. My drive to work is under 20 miles both ways. The vehicles engine water temp gets up to 190 degrees within 5 minutes during the day, this time of year.

If I reset the average indicator for each route trip then it shows fantastic mileages for each leg, but if I let it go to get a whole tank average then things go south fast.

I read of many people on this forum getting at least 50mpg averages. I just don't see it being possible with this vehicle. I've tried the pulse and glide thing, but that is hard to do with traffic behind you. I get many times of 5 minutes periods where my mileage is 75mpg or over and then I get cars behind me in a hurry.

It just seems if we have to do all this "specialty driving", to get high numbers with the Prius then Toyota falsely advertised this vehicle. Toyota supplied no driving information help in my owners manual. The Hybrid hype has quickly left me. If I were to drive any vehicle the way I have to with a Hybrid to get hiper mileages, I'd get great mileage. So other than cleaner emissions, what is the point?