Posted by Bob Wilson on January 14, 2006, 8:12 am
> I got my new '95 in November.
Ahem, your '05 ?
> . . . I knew my mileage was not what others are
> getting, but last night I actually figured it out and 34.18 is what I got on
> my last tank. It's NOT broken in, it's at a little over 1,700 miles.
I got my '03 in October and have put nearly 4,000 miles on it. But it
had 49,300 on it when I picked it up.
> . . . And I
> uderstand that mileage on these cars is lower in winter.
Yes, you might check out:
http://www.greenhybrid.com/
> . . . And the bulk of
> this last tanks driving was from short trips around town, probably around 10
> miles or so average.
Short trips in cold weather is rough on mileage. One suggestion is to
keep the initial speed low for the first mile to let the engine and
drive train reach an efficient operating temperature. Another approach
used has been an engine block heater. Finally, the circuits indicate
there are electric heater blocks that can provide 'instant heat'. The
problem is this comfort takes fuel and cuts into MPG.
> . . . My question, should I take it in to see if the
> emergency brake is too tight?
New car? It should not be a problem to bring it in. Shouldn't you have a
3,000 mile oil change coming up soon?
> . . . Did anybody else experience mileage like this
> when your cars were relatively new?
My experience:
http://hiwaay.net/~bzwilson/prius/
Good luck!
Bob Wilson
Posted by mrv@kluge.net on January 15, 2006, 4:55 pm
OscartheGrouch wrote:
> I got my new '95 in November. I knew my mileage was not what others are
New '95? The Prius was only a concept vehicle in 1995. I'll assume a
typo and that you meant '05.
> getting, but last night I actually figured it out and 34.18 is what I got on
> my last tank. It's NOT broken in, it's at a little over 1,700 miles. And I
> uderstand that mileage on these cars is lower in winter. And the bulk of
> this last tanks driving was from short trips around town, probably around 10
> miles or so average. My question, should I take it in to see if the
> emergency brake is too tight? Did anybody else experience mileage like this
> when your cars were relatively new? TIA
Short trips will lower MPG in any car. (short "in town" trips are not
what the EPA considers "city" driving!) Winter temperatures/weather
will also lower MPG in any car. (EPA only measures fuel economy in a
lab at 68-86^F, with no heater/AC use.)
1 tankfull isn't enough to gage the car's performance - too many
variables (was the tank full when you got it? did you fill it properly
this time (different pump auto-shutoffs)? is the size of the tank the
same as the last time it was filled (the North American Prius has a
bladder fuel tank, which is stiffer in colder weather (doesn't hold as
much))?)
Tips for better Prius Gas mileage (near end of Spring 2004 newsletter):
http://www.toyota.com/html/hybridsynergyview/archive/pdfs/priusview5spring2004.pdf
Prius Fuel Economy: Explaining the EPA Ratings
Toyota explains what the EPA ratings actually mean, and lists ways
toimprove your MPG
http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/toyota-prius/message/71431
http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/Prius-2G/message/2742
http://www.priusonline.com/viewtopic.php?t 79
Prius Fuel Economy Factsheet:
http://www.toyota.com/images/vehicles/prius/Understanding_Fuel_Economy.pdf
Can I expect to get over 50MPG in the new Prius?
(see question #6): http://www.toyota.com/vehicles/2005/prius/faq.html
http://www.toyota.com/vehicles/2006/prius/faq.html
More MPG tips are in the Prius User's Guide:
http://john1701a.com/prius/prius-userguide.htm
Gas Mileage Tips from the EPA:
http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/drive.shtml
There are also more MPG tips in your Owner's Manual.
There is a Prius MPG calculator for the Classic Prius in the
toyota-prius yahoogroup's FAQs, but I don't think anyone has
recalibrated it for the 2004-? Prius yet, but it should give you some
ideas where you might be losing your fuel economy:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/toyota-prius/message/6299
In case you can't tell from the above, things like how long (or short!)
your trips are, speed, tire pressures, your driving style, terrain,
outside temperatures, cabin climate settings, gasoline type used, oil
type and fill level, will all contribute to your final fuel economy
figures.
Posted by A Sherman on January 15, 2006, 7:21 pm
>I got my new '95 in November. I knew my mileage was not what others are
>getting, but last night I actually figured it out and 34.18 is what I got on
>my last tank. It's NOT broken in, it's at a little over 1,700 miles. And I
>uderstand that mileage on these cars is lower in winter. And the bulk of this
>last tanks driving was from short trips around town, probably around 10 miles
>or so average. My question, should I take it in to see if the emergency brake
>is too tight? Did anybody else experience mileage like this when your cars
>were relatively new? TIA
You haven't used your Prius a lot.... I received my 2005 in September and am
just heading out to buy tankfull #18 at about 6,600 miles. I have tracked all
purchases since the beginning and have also tracked the indicated mpg starting
with fill-up #4. My overall calculated average is 45.95 MPG. Although most
of my trips are >20 miles (a plus), my recent mileage is degraded by a lot of
high speed highway driving and by cold weather.
Over the last 12 tankfulls, the average of indicated mileage at the end of
each tank is now 46.1 mpg, while the calculated mileage using pump gallons is
44.6 mpg. I find the difference between tank-to-tank calculations and
indicated mpg to be as much as 5 mpg. I have not been able to be consistent
in determining the same "full" level when gassing up, but I haven't tried real
hard. My conclusion is the indicated MPG is probably reasonably trustworthy
if I recognize it is 1.5 MPG on the optimistic side of truthfulness.
Al
Posted by OscartheGrouch on January 18, 2006, 1:04 am
>>I got my new '95 in November. I knew my mileage was not what others are
>>getting, but last night I actually figured it out and 34.18 is what I got
>>on
>>my last tank. It's NOT broken in, it's at a little over 1,700 miles. And I
>>uderstand that mileage on these cars is lower in winter. And the bulk of
>>this
>>last tanks driving was from short trips around town, probably around 10
>>miles
>>or so average. My question, should I take it in to see if the emergency
>>brake
>>is too tight? Did anybody else experience mileage like this when your cars
>>were relatively new? TIA
> You haven't used your Prius a lot.... I received my 2005 in September and
> am
> just heading out to buy tankfull #18 at about 6,600 miles. I have tracked
> all
> purchases since the beginning and have also tracked the indicated mpg
> starting
> with fill-up #4. My overall calculated average is 45.95 MPG. Although
> most
> of my trips are >20 miles (a plus), my recent mileage is degraded by a lot
> of
> high speed highway driving and by cold weather.
> Over the last 12 tankfulls, the average of indicated mileage at the end of
> each tank is now 46.1 mpg, while the calculated mileage using pump gallons
> is
> 44.6 mpg. I find the difference between tank-to-tank calculations and
> indicated mpg to be as much as 5 mpg. I have not been able to be
> consistent
> in determining the same "full" level when gassing up, but I haven't tried
> real
> hard. My conclusion is the indicated MPG is probably reasonably
> trustworthy
> if I recognize it is 1.5 MPG on the optimistic side of truthfulness.
> Al
Thanks all for the comments. I'll check mileage over time. In the meantime
check this out. I reasoned that filling at empty with a tank that changes
capacity will yield results that don't mean much. But how about if I fill up
at say half empty or so? The tank capacity should not matter then as I am
not making the assumption that capacity is the same as the last time I
filled. In fact I won't even guess how many gallons I've used, I'll let the
pump tell me that. I'll just fill it to as close to full as I did last time.
Using this method today I took 5.4 gallons after I had gone 251 miles.
Dividing that out gives me about 46.5 mpg. My consumption screen was reading
46.7 mpg. What I got out of this is the consumption screen can be pretty
close to accurate and, more importantly, I am getting way better mileage
than I thought, somewhere in the mid 40s. I feel better.
Posted by gkk2001 on January 19, 2006, 9:49 pm
And if I heard you correctly, your Prius is new, ie engine not broken
in and driving now in the winter. If that is all correct, you are
doing just fine. Wait until the summer and see it really do its
stuff.
greg
>check this out. I reasoned that filling at empty with a tank that changes
>capacity will yield results that don't mean much. But how about if I fill up
>at say half empty or so? The tank capacity should not matter then as I am
>not making the assumption that capacity is the same as the last time I
>filled. In fact I won't even guess how many gallons I've used, I'll let the
>pump tell me that. I'll just fill it to as close to full as I did last time.
>Using this method today I took 5.4 gallons after I had gone 251 miles.
>Dividing that out gives me about 46.5 mpg. My consumption screen was reading
>46.7 mpg. What I got out of this is the consumption screen can be pretty
>close to accurate and, more importantly, I am getting way better mileage
>than I thought, somewhere in the mid 40s. I feel better.
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