Best Mpg Yet

[Ancient Nerd]

I've just come back from a holiday in the Southwest of Ireland. This really showed what sort of driving suits the Prius.

It was a long trip to and from. Motorway/dual carriageway all the way there and back (around 550 miles each way) Doing 70 mph (speedometer 77 mph) wherever possible. A bit faster in Ireland (120kph, indicated 130). Result around 55 mpg. Great to give that leading one a chance to show itself!

On the other hand I got the best tank mpg to date (64.9, indicated 67.9) while there. This mostly involved a significant proportion of mountain roads, a few passes (long steep up, followed by long steep down) and hilly coast roads, all with more than their fair share of bends. With most cars, this is an absolute killer of mpg figures, but it obviously suits the power regeneration of the Prius.

The T-Spirit satnav mapping, however, makes the archaeological UK data look really good. The motorways from Dublin to Cork and from Dublin to Limerick (M7 and M8)just weren't there. These were obviously new, so there is reasonable excuse.

However, many minor roads also weren't on the satnav. This included the road by the cottage we rented. Many of the roads on the Dingle peninsular also weren't on the satnav at all.

Anyway, I got the system to drop its little dots to show where I'd been, so it doesn't look quite as empty now.

The POIs were also interesting. I only really looked at the petrol stations. With the exception of Esso stations which were mostly correct, it looked as though the brand names were chosen at random. Either most Irish petrol stations have been sold in recent years, or the supplier of the POI data just couldn't give a toss.

It does make me wonder yet again how Toyota can manage to supply two year old mapping data with a new car. I really do feel they should supply updated maps free until the maps at least match the purchase date of the car.

[Lesco]

I've just come back from a holiday in the Southwest of Ireland. This really showed what sort of driving suits the Prius.

It was a long trip to and from. Motorway/dual carriageway all the way there and back (around 550 miles each way) Doing 70 mph (speedometer 77 mph) wherever possible. A bit faster in Ireland (120kph, indicated 130). Result around 55 mpg. Great to give that leading one a chance to show itself!

On the other hand I got the best tank mpg to date (64.9, indicated 67.9) while there. This mostly involved a significant proportion of mountain roads, a few passes (long steep up, followed by long steep down) and hilly coast roads, all with more than their fair share of bends. With most cars, this is an absolute killer of mpg figures, but it obviously suits the power regeneration of the Prius.

The T-Spirit satnav mapping, however, makes the archaeological UK data look really good. The motorways from Dublin to Cork and from Dublin to Limerick (M7 and M8)just weren't there. These were obviously new, so there is reasonable excuse.

However, many minor roads also weren't on the satnav. This included the road by the cottage we rented. Many of the roads on the Dingle peninsular also weren't on the satnav at all.

Anyway, I got the system to drop its little dots to show where I'd been, so it doesn't look quite as empty now.

The POIs were also interesting. I only really looked at the petrol stations. With the exception of Esso stations which were mostly correct, it looked as though the brand names were chosen at random. Either most Irish petrol stations have been sold in recent years, or the supplier of the POI data just couldn't give a toss.

It does make me wonder yet again how Toyota can manage to supply two year old mapping data with a new car. I really do feel they should supply updated maps free until the maps at least match the purchase date of the car.

We are off to Scotland next week for a few days so will let everyone know what we get consumption wise