Hi Brian,
Quote:
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Originally Posted by BrianMaher
I picked up my new '06 Prius monday evening (replaced an . . .
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?
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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