Mileage Question Again

[Yocas]

Just changed from an Audi A6 to a Prius as a company car, massive change I thought but must say I find the Prius a great car had the 10th anniversary pimped up car I know but dealer did a good deal for the company and I actually like it.

I have left the car almost all the time in ECO using power very rarely on motorway slip roads to blend in. Had the car 3 weeks 2000 miles mpg over this distance is 47.8 mpg thought I might get higher lots of motorway have to say kept driving style as per the Audi but have kept looking at the consumption and Eco indicator.

Love the car and 10% benfit in kind for car and private mileage should be £ 120 a month more in my pocket recommend a Prius lets hope i feel like this 3 years when it will be due for a change with 90k plus on the clock

[Grumpy Cabbie]

47 mpg? lol blimey you must be hammering it.

Check tyre pressures as this makes a big difference as does heating, though there's not much you can do about this in cold winter days. You should easily get 5-10 mpg extra in summer though.

Use Eco when the car is warming up on short runs as it will switch the engine off earlier and also reduces the heater/ac output a little, but on motorways and fast A roads I'd be tempted to stick with 'normal' mode - ie the green eco and/or green power lights aren't lit.

Also, if you've come from a manual you don't need to floor the Prius to get it upto speed. Just adjust your foot to where you judge the speed you want to be at and let the car get there itself. It'll be just as quick as flooring it but the engine doesn't rev as much and thus you'll use less fuel - it works, try it. :)

[ian rooke]

Hi long motorway journeys do lower the MPG because the electric motor is used less

[Chris Dance]

Your MPG will get better as the weather gets warmer, GC is an expert on how to get good MPG he has given you good advice. I am getting about 54 MPG at the moment. In early January I got about the same as you are getting. Last Summer I got high 60 MPG. I only use ECO for town driving. Enjoy your Prius.

[Dacre]

Just changed from an Audi A6 to a Prius as a company car, massive change I thought but must say I find the Prius a great car had the 10th anniversary pimped up car I know but dealer did a good deal for the company and I actually like it.

I have left the car almost all the time in ECO using power very rarely on motorway slip roads to blend in. Had the car 3 weeks 2000 miles mpg over this distance is 47.8 mpg thought I might get higher lots of motorway have to say kept driving style as per the Audi but have kept looking at the consumption and Eco indicator.

Love the car and 10% benfit in kind for car and private mileage should be £ 120 a month more in my pocket recommend a Prius lets hope i feel like this 3 years when it will be due for a change with 90k plus on the clock

If you are keeping the Audi driving style, you may want to back off from tailgating the car in front as it doesn't do the fuel consumption any good at all :-)

I've had my Prius since the end of October - changed from a Chrysler 300C Estate. I've changed my driving style and I'm now getting over 60 to the gallon - I went down to St Ives in Cornwall at the end of last week and got 64.1 on the dashboard which was a true 62.1 on the tank fill up.

I now drive at about 65 mph and reckon I get most places within 10-15 minutes of the time I would get there if I did 80 mph. It may be slower and slightly boring but it save me a good few £££ per month.

[kithmo]

If you are keeping the Audi driving style, you may want to back off from tailgating the car in front as it doesn't do the fuel consumption any good at all :-)

I

Actually, tailgating saves fuel if you get close enough to the vehicle in front.

If you can get into the car (or preferably lorry) in front's slipstream it will pull you along.

[Dacre]

If you are keeping the Audi driving style, you may want to back off from tailgating the car in front as it doesn't do the fuel consumption any good at all :-)

I

Actually, tailgating saves fuel if you get close enough to the vehicle in front.

If you can get into the car (or preferably lorry) in front's slipstream it will pull you along.

So that's why Audi and BMW drivers do it - to save fuel - What do they mean when they keep flashing their headlights at the car in front?

[Yocas]

Love the Audi BMW bashing quite fun, I just asked a simple question but the banter seems good as a previous Audi driver I could say the same previously of Prius and low mileage Eco drivers sitting in the middle lane at 69 miles per hour and then wonder why people flash their lights and then pull in , in front of them to the inside lane on an empty motorway

[Grumpy Cabbie]

Touche :)

Going back to the subject matter. I did a run from North Yorks to Battersea last October, motorway speeds all the way and then an hour getting into central London via all the rat runs. On way back it took hour and a half to queue out of London and then erm, enthusiastic motorway driving on the way home as fed up with driving - I'll never admit my speed in writing! 400 odd miles and 54 mpg.

Driving holiday down to Bordeaux using French motorways, main roads and some less main roads as we drove around enjoying the towns and villages etc. Two week trip and entire fuel consumption was about 62 or was it 64 mpg.

50 mph on average speedcheck areas of a motorway will return no less than 75 mpg on the flat, often hitting 80/85 mpg over the 5 minute average.

Alwoodly Leeds to central Harrogate during the school holidays when it was quiet, 11.4 miles up and down hills, 34 mph average speed and 91.1 mpg! OK, you'd die of boredom getting that but it can be done.

You can get a bit sad with fuel economy with the Prius but it's nice to know it will do these fabulous mpg's. I've driven many cars, many diesels and very rarely got over mid 40's mpg. I often got 49/50 mpg with an Audi A4 manual diesel but only if I really tried on the flats, whereas the Prius would be doing 75+mpg in the same circumstances.

Mpg chasing is a good way of alleviating the boredom on a journey whereas prior to the Prius adventurous driving did.

[timberwolf]

If I recall correctly my OBC is showing an average mpg of 47.1 mpg from the last time I filled up in December.

[Grumpy Cabbie]

But you've got the gen2 which overall doesn't seem to get the same consistantly good fuel economy as the gen 3's. I would add that the gen2 seems more over manufactured than the gen3 and uses the hv less in town, so might have a longer life. Apparantly in Greece the taxi drivers are now avoiding the gen3's because of premature (160k-200k MILE) HV Battery failure (rather than 400k miles gen2). Most people wouldn't ever get there but I'll now be watching out for symptoms like a hawk.

[johalareewi]

Another way to burn up fuel is accelerating hard. Try to keep the HSI just out of the PWR zone when accelerating. Sometimes you have to go into the PWR zone to avoid becoming an obstacle but for motorway driving, just wind the speed up gently and keep the momentum going.

While tailgating can do wonders for your mpg, you might prefer a safer alternative. Lorries, coaches and vans still have a fair amount of drag some distance behind them so you can still get an mpg boost by just following them with a 1-2 second gap.

Your mpg will improve as the car runs in. Get a few thousand miles on the clock. :)

And as MrGC says, keep the tyres topped up. Just a 1 or 2 PSI drop can cause a noticable mpg hit.

[johalareewi]

Apparantly in Greece the taxi drivers are now avoiding the gen3's because of premature (160k-200k MILE) HV battery failure

Is that due to the HV fan getting clogged up with fluff and stuff?

[Yocas]

Must admit I do keep looking at the average mileage on each trip it does get rather addictive hopefully I will push up the mpg, as it is a company and I get private mileage paid it is more of a personal target.

The tax I paid on A6 auto meant that my tax code on my payslip was £3000 negative the Prius when new new code comes through even with private mileage should be £3000 positive that is the difference that the Prius makes to a company car driver happy days hopefully

[timberwolf]

But you've got the gen2 which overall doesn't seem to get the same consistantly good fuel economy as the gen 3's. I would add that the gen2 seems more over manufactured than the gen3 and uses the hv less in town, so might have a longer life. Apparantly in Greece the taxi drivers are now avoiding the gen3's because of premature (160k-200k MILE) HV battery failure (rather than 400k miles gen2). Most people wouldn't ever get there but I'll now be watching out for symptoms like a hawk.

I would expect the Gen 3 to get better mpg although personally I was very disappointed when the Gen 3 was released to see how little improvement Toyota had made in the mpg compared with the Gen 2. I can find examples of the Gen 3 on fuelly.com with consistently poor fuel economy e.g. an extreme example probably Blueberry Pri has an overall average of 46.8 mpg and the owner is apparently in Canada but that car has been getting that mpg in summer if I'm reading the monthly graph correctly.

[Grumpy Cabbie]

Oil and tyres make a difference. Perhaps that Blueberry is using snow or winter tyres for 6 months a year? Also, I understand Toyota Canada recommend 5w30 for the gen3. Weird I know but there have been many discussions on Priuschat about it. Maybe its the cold winters or maybe its so the dealers can change the oil every 5,000 miles. Apparantly it was a big shock to the Americans to change from 5,000 to 10,000 mile oil changes with the gen3 using the synthetic 0w20 oil. Even now some gen3 owners still insist on changing at 5k. Madness lol.

[timberwolf]

The blueberry was an extreme example even by the few other the North American vehicles that I looked at, but I think it illustrates my point that even with a Gen 3 low mpg is consistently possible and it could be for various reasons including all the ones mentioned so far.

I couldn't find a way of filtering on fuelly.com by country. otherwise I would have looked for an example in the UK or Europe.

IIRC the specification of the oil sold in North America is different from Europe.

[Sagitar]

It's amazing what a difference the ambient temperature makes. I have been struggling to maintain consumption in the mid fifties through the winter, but the warm weather in the last week or so has given me an average for a tank of 61+ mpg.

It has turned cold today, so I am expecting it to go down again

[Dave R.]

Speed certainly has an impact - I've been struggling to get up to mid 50's / gallon ... take a look at my fuelly history! (have a 55 mile drive to work down A roads and country lanes). I take care to stick to speed limits, so am doing no more than 60 / 40 / 30 as appropriate. Recently I've got the hell in and simply set the cruise control to 55 - I only have to knock it off on a couple of bends :) (or to slow for the 40 and 30 stretches). It is remarkable how much better the mpg is, and that the 70-75 minute journey takes only 2-3 minutes longer. I'm also trying to anticipate stops a lot better, so am not having to brake that much either.

As noted on another post I've recently invested in a flat cap just to look the part :)

What is REALLY annoying, is that despite sticking to speed limits and not racing, I managed to get caught by a mobile speed camera in a 30mph zone - a downhill stretch entering a village - on that particular morning the school must have been closed because the road was completely clear of parent's cars / delivery vans etc., etc. Yet to find out what the damage is :(

[wass]

As noted on another post I've recently invested in a flat cap just to look the part :)

What is REALLY annoying, is that despite sticking to speed limits and not racing, I managed to get caught by a mobile speed camera in a 30mph zone - a downhill stretch entering a village - on that particular morning the school must have been closed because the road was completely clear of parent's cars / delivery vans etc., etc. Yet to find out what the damage is :(

A good idea is to make sure that you are wearing your coat ( fully buttoned up of course) whilst driving in addition to your flat cap. This helps to restrict your movements and helps you to be slower to react to the changing events on the road. :D :D

Given the amazing lack of speedo accuracy, I recently found myself in a similar situation with a speed camera.. I thought that I was nearly 10mph over the limit but couldnt be sure, however I later found out that and indicated 56 in my prius is an indicated 50 in the son in laws mazda 6 and an indicated 49 on the garmin sat nav. The upshot was that I didnt receive a nasty letter from the local law enforcement community. ( the son in law reckons that not all of the cameras work all of the time anyway) Heres hoping that you escaped unscathed

[Grumpy Cabbie]

Given the amazing lack of speedo accuracy, I recently found myself in a similar situation with a speed camera.. I thought that I was nearly 10mph over the limit but couldnt be sure, however I later found out that and indicated 56 in my prius is an indicated 50 in the son in laws mazda 6 and an indicated 49 on the garmin sat nav. The upshot was that I didnt receive a nasty letter from the local law enforcement community. ( the son in law reckons that not all of the cameras work all of the time anyway) Heres hoping that you escaped unscathed

Apparantly it's a UN initiative in that speedo's should be 10% out (though the USA Prii appear to be accurate), but the trouble is when you realise this and start driving at 33 mph in a 30 zone (so you're doing exactly 30). Most satnav's will give an accurate figure most of the time and enables you to eek out those extra 5 mph on those 50 mph average speed check areas on the motorway.

You might have noticed some of those friendlier 'check your speed' signs in some villages will flash up your speed at 27 mph with a smiley face, even though you think you're going 30. Others however, will indicate you're doing 33 mph when you're do 30. Go figure!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speedometer

[Dave R.]

Speed certainly has an impact - I've been struggling to get up to mid 50's / gallon ... take a look at my fuelly history! (have a 55 mile drive to work down A roads and country lanes). I take care to stick to speed limits, so am doing no more than 60 / 40 / 30 as appropriate. Recently I've got the hell in and simply set the cruise control to 55 - I only have to knock it off on a couple of bends :) (or to slow for the 40 and 30 stretches). It is remarkable how much better the mpg is, and that the 70-75 minute journey takes only 2-3 minutes longer. I'm also trying to anticipate stops a lot better, so am not having to brake that much either.

As noted on another post I've recently invested in a flat cap just to look the part :)

What is REALLY annoying, is that despite sticking to speed limits and not racing, I managed to get caught by a mobile speed camera in a 30mph zone - a downhill stretch entering a village - on that particular morning the school must have been closed because the road was completely clear of parent's cars / delivery vans etc., etc. Yet to find out what the damage is :(

Just to finish the story - I was offered a "Speed Awareness Course" for £10 more than the price of a fine, and no points. Took the course - it was actually quite good, and made a compelling argument for sticking to 30mph in a 30 zone (all down to stopping distances and the potentially fatal speed you'd be doing when comparing 35 mph with 30mph). But - on the topic of fuel consumption - I don't know if it is something changing on the car (my consumption took a massive nosedive a year or so ago following a service and new tyres) or it is because I have dropped my speeds by a further 5mph, but consumption is now in the low 60's when it was struggling to get into the low 50's a few months ago. The only thing I can think is that, having slowed down that little bit more, I now barely accelerate or decelerate at all....(in fact, I just use cruise control all the time) and STILL end up arriving at junctions / lights etc. just behind the guys who shot off into the distance! (and yes, I know the warmer weather will help - but not to the extent that my consumption has improved recently)