I have to wait 2.5 years just to get the vehicles advertised mileage? The outside temps here are in the 80's, so it takes less than 5 minutes for the engine to get warmed up. I have very few times were I get great mileage but for the most part my Prius is not living up to the hype. I keep my tire at pressures higher than normal, 44 front 42 rear. I have learned how to force it into EV mode and use that wisely yet still I can't get higher mileage. Right now my almost empty tank shows my average is only 39mpg, for over 200 miles. I don't see how anyone can even get more than the advertised mileage with this car and drive with the flow of traffic.

 

Hi,

I'm working on another problem right now. But if you get a chance, send me a PM with enough address information for a Mapquest or Google Map showing your typical route. The Prius responds very nicely to route-planning. Yes, higher speed segments are OK if the warm-up and coast-down are incorporated.

We'll chat,
Bob Wilson

 

Sorry I won't give out my address information to let the world know where I live. But I can tell you my area is hilly but all my local in town driving is pretty level. I am in the central California area.

 

Pump the tires up another 5 PSI and mke sure you are using full synthetic 5w30 oil. After that the only thing to do is drive longer trips. The comments about warm-up time requirements are true for me here in Texas. On a short trip of 10 miles total with the 1st 5 being the down hill half it will be very difficult to get good mileage. FYI - I run my tires at 52-50. No problems to report at 54k miles.

 

A study I reviewed didn't show much mileage improvement using synthetic oil over dino. So I am not sure I want to try it, mainly due to the extra expense of the oil. I used to use 50psi in a Honda Insight I owned and it worked great but I'm not sure about doing this with my Prius for safety sake.

 

Whatever. Normally I just need enough street information so we can look at the primary and alternate routes. Then we use a topographical map to figure out the WARM-UP, CRUISE and COOL-DOWN segments and roads that look most promising. Something alone the lines of this:



This is the typical scale used.

GOOD LUCK!
Bob Wilson

ps. On the side of your tires is printed the "maximum cold pressure." That is the maximum 'rated' pressure.' You can actually go a bit higher but then you're exceeding the tire rating and it is 'at your own risk.'

 

I pm'd Bob with my street name, and the location of the train station we go back and forth to

Of course, I AM the only "Alan" driving a Prius on my street, but I hardly think Bob is gonna be tracking me down and pummeling me just because of my eratic behavior on this board. Then again....

fYI, and along the same lines, I don't use my actual home address for "Home" on my Nav system, since a car thief could drive my Prius home and open my garage. I use a firestation nearby, which is more than good enough for purposes of the Nav.

 

Excellent tip!!!

Mind if I add it to the FAQ?

Bob Wilson

 

I really don't want to confine my routes for everyday living. But I pretty much take the most level and shortest routes anyway.

I'm just mad that the Prius is rated so high and doesn't get anything close to what they advertise. Yea sure a select few with specialized driving styles can get that and more, but for most average consumers, 50 plus mpg is a dream.

I could have spent half the money on a new vehicle that gets close to what I am getting now. I didn't buy this car because of cleaner emissions, I only bought it for the superior fuel mileage. Yes I am not a tree hugger. I even got cheated on the full tax credit. That was another advertising scam, so don't get me going on that.

Unless things improve, I doubt I will be purchasing another Hybrid in the future.

 

Hi,

My first fill-up was 39 MPG, almost 6 MPG lower than the rated highway performance of 45 MPG. I briefly thought about taking it back. Then I realized I have a new machine with a different architecture. Someone got good numbers in the government lab, a poorly paid civil servant, why can't I?

The first thing I did was break up the rest of my trip into two hour segments at different cruise control speeds and the first version of this chart:

On the next segment from Shreveport to Vicksburg, I ran at 62 mph and got over 52 MPG versus the highway rated 45 MPG. At that point, I knew this was something quite different from anything I'd ever driven before.

Over the next 3-4 months, helpers at GreenHybrid and my own testing filled out the rest of the chart except for the "I-90" graph. I learned about tire pressure and oil level effects. I rediscovered the 42 mph barrier between two separate control laws. So by January, I bought the car in October, I knew I would be a hypermiler at 3,000 miles if folks would let me take off that first tank, so I asked. The answer was "NO, we need every tank!" So I had to wait another couple of weeks to get my "star" the last week of January, in the middle of winter.

The reason I bring this up is we have been conditioned by all previous cars to a certain way of driving. Other cars pay a terrible price for low speeds and stop-and-go traffic that the Prius avoids. If we try to drive a Prius like all the other cars, the results will be disappointing. In fact, I'm sure that is why the Car Magazine reviewers get such sh*tty numbers. They can't break their bad habits.

Now if you take a different point of view, one that says, this vehicle behaves differently and then DRIVE TO EXPLOIT IT, you can get pretty good mileage. If you go a little further and really study the vehicle and systems, you begin to see some of the "could have been done better" places to avoid. Finally, if you listen politely to what some of the masters, especially our Japanese friends like Ken@Japan, you'll find 'the way' to hybrid enlightenment.

So now my MPG vs MPH chart looks like this:


I also have other charts but they get really busy, really fast. It is understanding how the car really works that allows for consistent performance and continuous improvement.

If you decide to bail, no problem. There are other approaches and technologies available. For example, the hyper-driving crowd, the diesel advocates and even the 'alternate fuels don't count' group.

But if you decide to try and master the Prius puzzle, there are many here who are willing to offer suggestions and help . . . without being pushy about it. The choice is yours.

GOOD LUCK!
Bob Wilson