Poor Mpg On Geniii Tspirit

[Dave R.]

Looking for some words of wisdom here... after 5000 miles or so and 2 months driving a new GenIII T Spirit, I'm pleased with the mpg compared with my old Volvo, but am disappointed to find that my consumption is down compared with other Prius drivers. :(

I realise that my mileage may vary but.....

I've purchased a flat cap & am driving slower than I used to .... but the mpg seems to bear no relation to speed / driving style etc.

My journey to work is over 50 miles each way, so there is no question of the car being warmed up. The route is a mix of A-road (potentially 60mph, but I'm now tending to be doing nearer 50), some twisty country lanes, and a couple of miles of crawling traffic once I get into town (which actually does wonders for bumping up the overall mpg!)

I've tried "just driving", paying no real attention to the mpg meter; I've tried gently accelerating up to 50/60 and feathering back the accelerator to maximise mpg; I've tried to avoid a full-blown "pulse and glide" as I don't want to be too much of a pain to the line of cars stuck behind me; I've tried just setting cruise to 60 mph and letting the car take the strain.

It seems that the car has a "natural" mpg of around 51 for whatever speed I try to travel.... .so it doesn't matter if I'm cruising at 50, 60 or 70; the mpg is still the same. If I try easing off on the gas, however gently, the speed just drops.

Tyre pressures are OK.

I try not to drive like a maniac (though that doesn't seem to make much difference)

"normal" or "eco" mode don't make much difference (I've tried both!)

I've just had a 200 or so mile return motorway cruise & still consumption was around the 52mpg mark! (see fuelly link in my signature below for details.... and, yes, I've got the fuelly account set to UK mpg not US!).

Having the aircon on or off doesn't make much difference either.

Am I missing something in driving technique, or is there a problem with the car?

Yesterday the computer said I'd done about 55mpg on my trip to work... today was more like 52 - even though I felt I was still taking it steady. (though today I had a passenger.... but surely 1 person's added weight won't make that much difference!)

Any suggestions????

Dave R.

[SilverT4]

Have you tried setting your display to monitor fuel consumption at one minute intervals. It may help you see where and when your consumption is high or low. It will also show how long it takes for your engine to warm up as of course the first few 'cold' minutes will show quite a high consumption gradually improving as the engine warms.

[Dave R.]

Have you tried setting your display to monitor fuel consumption at one minute intervals. It may help you see where and when your consumption is high or low. It will also show how long it takes for your engine to warm up as of course the first few 'cold' minutes will show quite a high consumption gradually improving as the engine warms.

Yes - tried that - Warm-up isn't really a problem (my daily journeys are all over 1 hour, so the car is completely warmed up). As I say, it seems to be that, to maintain ANY speed above about 35-40mph, I need the power meter somewhere above 50%, & this puts mpg at somewhere at or below 50mpg. :(

[hertsnminds]

Maybe ask the dealer if you can test drive their demonstrator for half a day on the same routes that you usually drive. If the MPG figures are very different you will have some more evidence that your car might have a problem.

[THX]

Looking for some words of wisdom here... after 5000 miles or so and 2 months driving a new GenIII T Spirit, I'm pleased with the mpg compared with my old Volvo, but am disappointed to find that my consumption is down compared with other Prius drivers. :(

I realise that my mileage may vary but.....

I've purchased a flat cap & am driving slower than I used to .... but the mpg seems to bear no relation to speed / driving style etc.

My journey to work is over 50 miles each way, so there is no question of the car being warmed up. The route is a mix of A-road (potentially 60mph, but I'm now tending to be doing nearer 50), some twisty country lanes, and a couple of miles of crawling traffic once I get into town (which actually does wonders for bumping up the overall mpg!)

I've tried "just driving", paying no real attention to the mpg meter; I've tried gently accelerating up to 50/60 and feathering back the accelerator to maximise mpg; I've tried to avoid a full-blown "pulse and glide" as I don't want to be too much of a pain to the line of cars stuck behind me; I've tried just setting cruise to 60 mph and letting the car take the strain.

It seems that the car has a "natural" mpg of around 51 for whatever speed I try to travel.... .so it doesn't matter if I'm cruising at 50, 60 or 70; the mpg is still the same. If I try easing off on the gas, however gently, the speed just drops.

Tyre pressures are OK.

I try not to drive like a maniac (though that doesn't seem to make much difference)

"normal" or "eco" mode don't make much difference (I've tried both!)

I've just had a 200 or so mile return motorway cruise & still consumption was around the 52mpg mark! (see fuelly link in my signature below for details.... and, yes, I've got the fuelly account set to UK mpg not US!).

Having the aircon on or off doesn't make much difference either.

Am I missing something in driving technique, or is there a problem with the car?

Yesterday the computer said I'd done about 55mpg on my trip to work... today was more like 52 - even though I felt I was still taking it steady. (though today I had a passenger.... but surely 1 person's added weight won't make that much difference!)

Any suggestions????

Dave R.

I drive a Gen3 T3 and do 10miles each way in heavy traffic (central London) everyday and have once done a 160miles motorway/A road round trip (just put on 1200miles and the car is 2 months old) and irrelevant of how I drive or at what speed I get to I get 52mpg average like you.

Of recent (just last two days) with the cold weather, it has drop to 50mpg as the engine kicks in often when idle in traffic and if the heating is on. It doesn't seem to matter whether I use internal circulate, full aircon or just warm air mode, the engine kicks in frequently as long as the system is on.

[avensis99]

i have a gen 3 t-spirit with @ 2500 miles on and 2 months old, i am also getting high 40's to low 50's on my daily commute.

i work for a dealer and when i asked one of our sales team i was told don't worry about it as all the hybrids do less to the gallon in winter because the main Battery is working a lot harder and it is less efficient when cold than when the temperature is warmer (this must mean than we will all get excellent economy in summer then??)

i have also tried the eco/power/normal/aircon on off routine and i cannot get mine any better.

i got my car at the end of september and did a couple of 100 mile plus jaunts in it and the best i got was a very good 62 mpg on a trip reading of over 400 miles to a fill up.

just started using the fuelly site to record my mpg, the first one was within a couple of points but my last one said 57mpg on the car and the fuelly site mpg was more like 54mpg, so am going to monitor this closely over the next few months of winter and see what it behaves like??

[Sagitar]

my last one said 57mpg on the car and the fuelly site mpg was more like 54mpg, so am going to monitor this closely over the next few months of winter and see what it behaves like??

I wonder how many people are simply quoting the in-car computer figures rather than checking longer term averages based upon total mileage and total consumption recorded (as in Fuelly). I have pretty much given up looking at the overal in-car figures because they are always well over-optimistic.

[Grumpy Cabbie]

I've had similar problems with fuel economy and I have found that turning the heating down from 22 to 20 can make a bit of a difference. I have also noted that having headlights and heating on (as one does in winter) also knocks the mileage down about 5 mpg. Check out my fuelly stats by clicking the link below. You notice that my consumption dropped when I started my night shifts.

[Mkuk0]

I would agree that the cold weather would make a difference, my Gen 2 figures have also got worse over the last few weeks, trip computer now showing 49.7mpg (note to self, must update my fuelly figures!)