Now that most of us are feeling the warmer weather (And gas price increases), Prius MPG numbers are inching up.
The biggest jump I've noticed is Rick Reece's "City" Prius went from 55 to almost 70MPG over one tank.
This is simply fantastic.
I was wondering how an experienced Insight "Gamer Pilot" would do behind the wheel of a Prius.
Is there any big differences driving for max MPG between the two cars or is it about the same?
Thanks
Steve

 

As far as I know, the most significant difference between the Prius I and Prius II is that the latter operates with electric air. The Prius II is about 5-10% more efficient overall, but it's basically the same system.

 

Sorry, I should have specified.
I was referring to the differences for "Gaming" in Prius vs. Insight.

Thanks for the info of Prius I and Prius II.
I didn't know that either!
Steve

 

The huge jump in mpg on the 01 Prius is because I took it on my comute while I was waiting on clips for my Insights windshield replacement. Its amazing how much Interstate trips help the mpg. On the trip to Washington I was above the 70 mpg mark but fell below it on the return. It is a bit different to drive because of the varaible transmission. In the insight I simply set the throttle so that my fuel consumption meter is in the 100+ range which is usually around 1800 rpm on a flat road. The Prius on the other hand varies the final drive ratio. Using Grahams miniscanner I just tried to set the throttle so that I was in the 30% range for engine load on a flat road. In that position the mpg guage would show 80-90 mpg while it was running at 1300-1400 rpm. When you would encounter a hill the % load would go up along with the rpm to about 1700-1800 and the fuel economy would drop off to 25 mpg or so. Anyway in my testing anything above about a 46% load would result in a huge fall off in mpg. I highly recommend the miniscanner for the 01-03 Prius. Hopefully one will be built for the 04 Prius as well. Perhaops I will try the 04 Prius on my commute sometime as opposed to the Insight. Have fun, RIck

 

Hi Rick:

___Since your wife probably drives the 04, have you had any opportunity to transfer the technique to the 04 from the 01 to see how it (the load range if close?) works with it? The system(s) are so close to one another to be almost identical in the way the power flows work anyway.

___Since there isn’t a tach in either Prius, are you using the accelerator to match the load from the Graham scanner in the 01 or does it vary with terrain like just about anything else we have driven? In other words, are you continuously changing throttle angle to maintain a given load % by the Graham scanner or simply locking in the throttle angle for ascents and descents like we do in the Insight’s? Without a tach, I am at a loss as to how you control the load, engine RPM, or how a locked down throttle when encountering hills actually effects the ICE/Pack/CVT of the 01-03 or 04 Prius in real time?

___Another reason I ask is that according to my wife, Ed Bagely was on a local high profile talking head radio program she was listening too and he was bragging about the 04 Prius he now owns gets 60 mpg. I highly doubt he has ever come anywhere near that number or we would have heard about it … Give me a broken in 04 for a day and that number should be toast but the maximizing fuel economy technique(s) do sound a bit different … I did receive 56.x mpg in an 04 Prius TRAC while test driving it in 32 degree temperatures and a 5 mile drive around a neighborhood from cold but wanted a bit more time to see what she was really worth when warmed up and out on the open road.

___And with that, I have a Corolla LE w/ Auto that has given me some fantastic mileage on the highway before I picked up the Insight but the wife tanks it whenever she drives which is almost daily as of late. In fact, she tanks everything she drives including the MDX to an even worse extreme and her back and forth to work or even highway trip fuel economy in the Corolla show her technique (what technique, she drives like $**t) as being truly abysmal She wants a new Hybrid for her back and forth (16 mile round trip) and has talked about the 04 Prius but I wouldn’t dare spend that sum of money knowing full well she would probably kill an 04 Prius’ fuel economy as well … That is unless I can teach her again how to up the mileage in the Corolla and then transfer that to an 05 VCM based Accord Hybrid, 06 Camry Hybrid, 05 Prius, or even an 05/06 Hybrid MDX?

___Anyways, I made mention of your 70 mpg tank in your 01 here the other day and with that, I have a feeling the 01 - 03’s might actually be more fuel efficient then the 04 (150 #’s lighter, smaller frontal area albeit w/ a slightly higher Cd and on the highway only?) with the proper technique/HW to assist in real time? There was a Graham scanner installed in the 01 Prius at the GreenHybrid.com Milwaukee, WI. - Miller Park group meet but I didn’t have the opportunity to speak with the owner about it. He did however rig a 120 V AC inverter hardwired from the pack and was supposedly making cocktails in a blender from it before the game

___Good Luck

___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Hunt Club Farms Landscaping Ltd.
___Waynegerdes@earthlink.net

 

Wayne,
Graham did a great job on the scanner. It can display 4 items at once. I used the %load, % throttle, RPM, and current flow. I believe he has 30-50 items that it can read. The downside is that it doesn't work on the 04 Prius or the Insight. As a result I havn't tried driving any distance in the Prius but have had some short trips around time that were in the mid 60's. The 01 doesn't have cruise control so I took my turnbuckle and rope from the Insight to hold a steady throttle load. Just got my 4th 1000 mile tank this year in the Insight. The Lmpg moved up to 89.7 so the next stop is at the 90 lmpg mark. I figure I will be there before I hit 100K miles. Have fun, Rick

 

Rick,

I Finally found "Prius numbers are inching up"...

I just had a look at your mileage data for your Prius I. I have a Prius I too, and I have two questions for you:

1. I saw that you are getting close to 70 mpg. That is amazing! :blink: I could never even come close to that. So you're saying it's because of highway driving and making sure engine load does not get above 46 % using Grahams miniscanner?

2. What is engine load exactly? % of maximum rpm?

3. What speeds do you drive on the highway?

4. Do you really do eight hour drives frequently?

Best regards,
Johan Erlandsson

 

I have a 500 mile commute so yes I drive 8 hours at a shot. The engine load I believe is a ratio of power to max power at any RPM but I'm not really sure. (It varies a bit depending on terrain even when the throttle position doesn't change) I drive in hilly terrain. I find the Prius because of its weight varies more between min and max speeds but the commutes I have done averaged in the low 60 mph range. Have fun, RIck

 

Darn, I thought you meant production numbers. <_< oh well

As your MPG are growing better during the summer... mine are falling!!! I went from 19 to 17

 

Eight hour commute! :o

Rick, what on earth do you do for a living?

And I used to complain about my one hour commute . . .