I have a logbook of the past 13,000 miles of fuel purchases and the computer display which I manually reset with each fuel purchase.
The computer display runs about 5% optimistic.
Bladder, bladder, blah, blah. I get pretty consistent fills. Sometimes a
46 MPG measured for that tank, sometimes a 56, usually 52 to 54 when 56 is showing on the display. Its not really much different than my 2001 Sonoma which "got" 27.5 MPG the last tank. I don't really believe it as I'm out of practice filling the truck having not bought gas since January. 25 MPG would have been reasonable.
Wouldn't it be great if one car had it all? Much as I love my Prius I, too, am a little aggravated by the seat height adjustment, which mostly just lifts the back of the seat, reducing long leg thigh support in the process. The blind spots on the front door pillars are very prominent and I just haven't gotten used to them yet - oh! and in Europe we don't get heated door mirrors or the vacuum flask engine coolant reservoir (Somebody must have told the Japanese that it ain't cold in the UK!) but we DO get a really irritating reverse beeper that we can't disable without invalidating the warranty and a speedo which reads exactly 10% over at all speeds (to comply with other European legislation that says that it can be "right" or up to
10% fast). I would prefer it to be right. And, yes, the real-world fuel consumption gets nowhere close to advertised (although it's still pretty good!).
Having said all of that these are really just niggles and the benefits of the car far outweigh them. I just wish there was an aftermarket outfit in the UK that could put them right (with the exception of the door pillar, of course). I would pay good money for the mods, which would make a really great car perfect!
Drive long enough to warm the car up if you can. Those who commute 15 or 20 miles each way report mileage in the 50's. Those that typically travel only a few miles per trip get in the 40's. So, yes, it is driving style related, but no necessarily a style one can easily control. You don't have to drive in a manner that irritates other drivers to get good mileage. (This was a general response to many posts and a few other threads... not just the previous poster).
This is one of the most-asked questions on PriusChat.com. Unless the UK version has this option blocked-out (which I've never heard mentioned), you can turn it off an on, and it does not invalidate the warranty:
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Mine happens to read exactly right, as checked both against GPS units and timed measured miles.
BTW, my MPG (2007) is in the mid 50's in mild/hot weather, and drops to about 50 during the coldest winter days. That's measured from actual fill-ups, though the MFD computer agrees with that pretty closely.
To some degree, yes, but I think the average temperature in Phoenix is a bit higher than in NJ. I think that is the biggest factor based on observations of how low it drops in the winter due to the extra warm-up time.
Well, you've heard it now! The UK reverse bleep cannot be disabled, except by physically cutting a wire in the loom. The software switch is disabled in the UK version.
As far as the speedo goes, I'm not the least surprised that yours reads accurately. Given the sophistication of the car in all other respects I would be very surprised if it were inaccurate - unless by design. As I said in my earlier post, the UK Prius has a Speedo that DELIBERATELY reads 10% fast to ensure that it complies with European legislation in respect of speedo accuracy (which says a speedo can be up to 10% fast but must NEVER be slow) so they err on the "safe" side, I guess.
For me, it drops in the Summer because the AC is always going, and even though the AC is powered by the traction battery, that means that the battery gets drained faster, so it continually needs to be recharged.
I too live in Central NJ (Flemington - Somerset drives). Over the winter months we were getting 52-56 MPG using the best foot techniquing (overtly getting it to use battery for stretches as much as possible). I also used grille blocking to keep the engine warm and this accounted for a change upward of about 5 MPG when we put that in. Tomes
I filled the tank (and reset the computer) last night and drove about 40 miles around town today, to work, to the dentist, back to work, and home. The 5% generous computer is indicating 61 MPG tonight. This included 70 MPH interstate where I didn't always drive 70, but everywhere else drove at or above the posted speed limits.
My usual commute is 10 miles in 25 minutes on slow roads for about 52 MPG average. Today's longer trips more than countered the high speed segments.
Well, I DID say it was a niggle, so I don't care that much - but nevertheless, if you have the aftermarket reversing proximity detectors fitted that adds ANOTHER beep to the reversing process and the result is a cacophony of beeps at different pitches and rates. I'm not sure why there needs to be a reverse audible warning anyway - I usually know when I'm in reverse because the car goes backwards! There might be a case for it if it were OUTSIDE the car, so that pedestrians could hear it (as is required by law for commercial vehicles). We all know that the Prius can be deathly quiet in reverse and this lack of engine noise could mean that some pedestrians - especially in car parks - might not notice the car moving towards them. But it's INSIDE, so THAT can't be the reason - or can it? Maybe the need for a compulsory reverse warning beep on SOME European vehicles (i.e. trucks, with limited rear visibility) has been muddled in translation by Toyota and the result is what we have here. Who knows?
I am using the car's computer to determine my "overall" average over a number of tankfuls, the more the better. That figure is generally in the low to mid 40's in the winter and upper 40's in the summer. I don't reset it very often, maybe seasonally or if I'm dusting off the LCD screen and accidentally press the reset button.
It seems that in a lot of cases people are reporting their "per trip" averages. In those cases, I do see higher numbers, but I don't consider that a useful figure. The MPG averaged over multiple tankfuls is a more accurate representation of the actual fuel efficiency. If I reset the computer for every trip, I would probably see the higher numbers people are reporting here.
When it comes to driving style, I don't use extreme foot techniques, but I do coast to stop lights and try to maintain the pulse-and-glide method, so I am conscious of the things that are needed to increase efficiency. Pulse-and-glide is difficult on Route 1 in the Princeton, NJ business corridor during the morning commute, though. I still maintain that the biggest hit to long term average efficiency is the cold temperatures, especially considering that the car is kept outside at night. In the summer, even with the AC running at all times, the mileage goes up. For me the other big hit is that the majority of my driving is shorter trips. Perhaps "summer gas" vs. "winter gas" has an effect, too, although I'm not clear on that.
But people are obsessed with and/or caught up in reporting large numbers, in some sort of dick size contest, so they report the mileage figure given on screen in that last mile and a half home, downhill, from the gas station where they just filled up and reset the meter.
My sentiments exactly. There's a reason why Consumer Reports says real world mileage is 44 mpg give or take. Given that, I'm satisfied getting 45.8 mpg lifetime. No need to obsess about it or drive like like a dillweed. Be happy - you're getting better mileage than most everyone out there who's not on a bicycle.
Does anyone remember the Mobil Economy Run? They had rules--no coasting while declutched, no free-wheeling devices. This was when all American cars were either a straight 6 or 8, or else a V8. No coasting declutched or in neutral, no free-wheeling devices, but essentially, any other driving technique was permitted. They had to average more than 40 mph on a cross-country drive. In 1965, the 49 entrants achieved a combined average of 20.3472 mpg over the 3266-mile route,
If you're in reverse with your foot on the brake, you may not know you're in reverse. Heck, with the ICE not running, you may not know that if you take your foot off the brake, you'll start moving.
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