Prospective owner

I'll drive 75-80 mph all day and report back. Meanwhile, look up the fuel capacity and EPA highway rating of both vehicles. Using the ratio of these ratings (division), the difference between capacities (subtraction) and a simple multiplication you can figure this out for yourself.

I can do this calculation, and I could even use people's reported fuel consumption in place of EPA numbers. I am sorry that it is too much trouble for you to simply say what the fuel capacity of your car is, and you must live in the east to have no idea of your car's performance at highway speeds.

I live in Minnesota. I drive 55 on the highway even when the posted speed limit is higher. Fuel economy for all vehicles drops dramatically as speed increases, which is why I suggested you use a ratio formed from the two vehicles EPA ratings. You can find Toyota's specifications at

The Prius sold in the U.S. has a bladder inside the tank. Experience has taught most Prius owners that capacity varies with the bladder's flexibility between summer and winter, and seems to be affected by the fill rate. I've never been able to squeeze more than 9.5 gallons into mine even when the fuel gauge was blinking on one bar. To calculate my range I use a common "rule of 10's" whereby I multiply the mileage displayed for the current tank times 10 and fill-up before driving more than the number of miles indicated by that product. My current tank has 70 miles on it and is displaying 54.7 mpg. Using the rule of 10's, then, I have a range on this tank of 547 miles. Of course, if I make a couple dozen 3-mile trips on this tank by the time I'm close to empty it will be reading around 48 mpg and I would want to fill at or before 480 miles. My range, however, is meaningless to you, as will be the range of other drivers who might respond. In order to factor-in your own driving characteristics you really need to use the EPA ratio and tank capacities.

The tank is 11.9 gallons - I have gotten 50 MPG going 60 70 MPH - tank range is over 500 miles with two gallons left in the tank.

I occasionally drive between Jacksonville, FL, and the DC suburbs in Maryland, and these are the only times when I generally drive in the

75-80 mph range (not counting when I'm stationary on the Capitol Beltway). On these trips, I average only 41-43 MPG, as compared to my usual 46-48. I usually fill up when the digital gauge gets down to one tick, taking on 9-10 gallons. So... that's 360-425 miles per tank.

My answer for an 03 Prius, NHW11 model:

On a recent 14 hour trip to Kansas City and the return, I made it a point to pull off and take a break every 2-3 hours. Because of the fuel efficiency, I stopped shopping for gas beyond driving past the first cluster of gas stations at the exits.

The current 06 Prius gets better performance:

Come join us when you pickup the car and we'll share the FAQ.

Bob Wilson

Do you find insulting people an effective way to get people to want to assist you?

I just filled my tank with 52 litres of fuel (13.7 gallons) - perhaps the metric tanks have a larger capacity! ;-) Driving all day NON-STOP at 113km/h (70.214 mph) my car travelled 920 km (571 miles) before the fuel indicator started flashing and could have travelled up to at least 1000km (621 miles) before the tank was empty.

Travelling at 100km/h (62mph) or below however produces MUCH better fuel economy with a tank range in excess of 1100 kilometres (683 miles)

It's not a "metric tank", but outside of North America, the Prius does not have a bladder in the tank, so it can take more gas. Check your manual for the specifications.

I get between 50 and 53 MPG on flat roads at 65 MPH. So, I get slightly more than 500 miles per tank, filling up with about 2 gallons left in the tank.

I did that once and ran out of gas before I could reach the next gas station. The mistake I made is that when driving up hill (in this case the Grapevine on I-5, heading north), the car gets much lower gas mileage than the average mileage to that point.

Just about 400 miles for me. The bladder inside the Prius' fuel tank makes the fuel capacity in practice almost always less than the nominal

11.9 US gallons. I rarely put in as much as nine gallons at a fillup.

You didn't seem to get the joke. Of course there is no such thing as a metric tank, but the rest of the world just can't resist having a laugh at the fact that you're still using the imperial unit system......

The bladder seems to make a hell of a difference to the capacity. I can put in nearly 14 gallons, but with a bladder most people seem to have trouble getting as much as 10. It's a bit inaccurate for Toyota to claim the vehicle has a 45 litre (11.9 gal) tank worldwide. This seems to be an average between the non-bladder and bladder tank capacities.

I found the car has a noisy hissy-fit climbing the Grapevine heading south. The car sounds as though it is in first gear all the way up.

Worse one is try climbing Hwy. 155 out of Lake Isabella, CA. The road is something like a 13-15% incline. I had the battery drop down into the red zone (1 bar) and top speed was 35 mph even in the one passing zone while climbing. Nothing left at the throttle. Least it made up for it going down into Glennville on the other side of the 6600' climb.

Might have to try out Hwy. 4 (Ebbett's Pass) or some other steep mountain crossing to see how it performs...or not.

B~

We went over Wolf Creek pass in Colorado a couple weeks ago - no problem. AFAIK interstate freeways won't have more than a 6% grade, but state highways can be anything. I remember one in California that turned into a single lane road with scattered weeds growing through the pavement.

Mike

I never had that problem on the Grapevine, in either direction--nor on the hill east of Indio on I-10. Nor on I-8 between the AZ state line and San Diego.

It's difficult to take you seriously. Distance between fill-ups?? What's the next question? What side is the filler on?

mark_

America can't resist laughing at the rest of the backward world -

That was my problem with the question. I view the Prius as a tool for reducing fuel consumption and air pollution while getting from place-to-place. It's effectiveness is limited by the user's skill. When I suggested he use a ratio formed with the Saturn and Prius EPA rating I was factoring in his unique conservation skills. I'll admit it's nice to read what other's achieve and to some extent other's success provides incentive to improve. The math is simple and will produce a more meaningful answer than one which relies on someone else's unique conservation skills.