After driving a Prius for over a month, today was the first day that I drove in significant wind resistance. My MPG really took a hit driving into the wind but on my way home the wind at my back gave me an extra 5 MPG easily. I felt like I was gliding on air while driving with the wind.
The Wind Factor
Sep 30, 2005
6 Replies
You too? My MPG were really bad, and I wondered whether the strong winds had something to do with it. Oh well, still better than it would have been in my other car--by far....
It's often windy where I live and yes, it is a huge factor.
Bill
I think the efficiency of the Prius takes it into the range where lesser effects (like winds) start to show up. I've had a lot of cars that seemed to get about the same mileage in hot weather as in cold.
Mike
I've noticed this too. Another thing that kills milage is driving in rain storms. I ran from Oregon to SF in driving rain and had my worst ever milage. It would have been worse in my pickup. :)
Interesting...you'd think such an aerodynamic - looking car would not be affected by the wind as much. The only guess I have is that with such an underpowered gas engine, any extra load takes a toll on it.
I had a '95 Tercel with the same gas engine, no electric motor, obv! But I did notice I had to press the gas harder to 'keep up' in the wind than I did with either my Supra or my Corolla GTS.
Tercel STILL got over 40 MPG, however!
Actually, you did not have the same engine, since the Prius used a modified Atkinson cycle engine. The Tercel uses a conventional Otto cyle.
Second (I know, there was no first) the wind forces always make a difference no matter the aerodynamics of the car. Even streamlined land speed record holders fight wind resistance.
Third, you can't really compare since none of us listed the average speed nor wind speed. In my case, it was a heck of a storm and I had about a 30 MPH head wind. Add that to the 65 MPH I was travelling and you'll see that it's like driving 95 MPH. That's very significant wind pressure. Dropping from 65 to 55 saves 5 to 10 percent. Going from 65 to 95 can eat away at yor milage quickly.
Fourth, if you had to press the pedal further and noticed it, you used significantly more gas. You are stating that your car gets significantly better than 40 MPG? Good for you! On the other hand, it must be running mighty lean so you should have it checked.
Take care,
Dan
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