Hello to all Prius-ers far and wide,
As you've likely noticed, the content of the blog has gone dormant for some time, BUT the existing content, frankly, is all you need with a Generation II Prius (2004-2009) to get the best mileage possible, and although the screens and visual set ups are different in later model years, the principles remain.
My apologies to the many commenters who never received replies - I did not realize that my settings were "off" and didn't receive any notification by e-mail. I've turned it back on, so will do my best to answer future questions. Feel free to repost your comments requesting info here, and this can be the official random question thread!
Thanks, all. Delighted to see that even after all these years there are hundreds, almost a thousand page views a month from those of you seeking out Prius mileage tips.
The most useful post remains Prius-ing for Dummies, so check it out if you're new, and also find the most useful links on the sidebar to the right.
Happy hypermiling, all!
Sunday, April 20, 2014
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Fill-up, Sunday, October 30, 2011
499.5 miles
7.924 gallons
$3.599/gallon
63.04 mpg
3.73 L/100km
Wentworth's complete fueling history
Nothing exciting to report. Getting very difficult to control mileage with weather getting cold and highway driving...
7.924 gallons
$3.599/gallon
63.04 mpg
3.73 L/100km
Wentworth's complete fueling history
Nothing exciting to report. Getting very difficult to control mileage with weather getting cold and highway driving...
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Fill-up, Sunday, October 16, 2011
499.8 miles
8.612 gallons
$3.619/gallon
58.04 mpg
4.05 L/100km
Wentworth's complete fueling history
It was a low tank, with the MFD reading around 63 of 64 mpg, but I was really surprised by the very low calculated result of 58 mpg for the tank, which I haven't seen in regular (i.e. not a roadtrip) driving since last February in the freezing weather. This was a tank of 60°F weather!
But...it wasn't altogether accurate, as the bladder somehow filled A LOT, and then some, with some fuel spilling out at the end. We'll stick with the official numbers anyway, good motivator to do better next tank!
8.612 gallons
$3.619/gallon
58.04 mpg
4.05 L/100km
Wentworth's complete fueling history
It was a low tank, with the MFD reading around 63 of 64 mpg, but I was really surprised by the very low calculated result of 58 mpg for the tank, which I haven't seen in regular (i.e. not a roadtrip) driving since last February in the freezing weather. This was a tank of 60°F weather!
But...it wasn't altogether accurate, as the bladder somehow filled A LOT, and then some, with some fuel spilling out at the end. We'll stick with the official numbers anyway, good motivator to do better next tank!
Monday, October 3, 2011
Fill-up, Monday, October 3, 2011
494.2 miles
7.73 gallons
$3.599/gallon
63.93 mpg
3.68 L/100km
Wentworth's complete fueling history
Colder weather, shorter trips...
Had a killer 20-mile ride I was excited about somewhere in the tank, looked like this:
Yeah, yeah, it's net downhill :-) Still, on the way there I can get 60 mpg on the uphill, so not bad overall.
7.73 gallons
$3.599/gallon
63.93 mpg
3.68 L/100km
Wentworth's complete fueling history
Colder weather, shorter trips...
Had a killer 20-mile ride I was excited about somewhere in the tank, looked like this:
Yeah, yeah, it's net downhill :-) Still, on the way there I can get 60 mpg on the uphill, so not bad overall.
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Fill-up, Wednesday, September 21, 2011
500.8 miles
7.502 gallons
$3.679/gallon
66.76 mpg
3.52 L/100km
Wentworth's complete fueling history
I have pictures of the tank sitting on my camera, but I've just moved and apparently haven't taken the USB cord with me (EDIT: they're here now!). They'll be edited in soon. Interestingly, the Prius MFD actually read 66.8 mpg, which is exactly what I got. First time for everything!
Mid tank, looking good.
End of the tank, little down.
My new life (read: new location and thus commutes) is full of short, mileage killing trips. The tank started out nicely up in the low 70s and slowly declined to 66.8 mpg as I did short trips between clients' houses and cold starts just to go the grocery store. I participate in a food co-op, so multiple people have jobs to do. I can't just go when the car is warmed up and most efficient, I have to wait for a time to open up with someone else's schedule.
I also have a new trip of about 30 miles or so which will happen roughly twice per tank, of 60+ mph speeds over very hilly terrain. After that part of the trip there is some pulse and glide, but the two times I've done it so far I've gotten 60 mpg and 57 mpg, so it's a huge drain on gas.
I'm certainly not complaining. A commercially available vehicle netting 67 mpg in less than ideal fuel economy conditions? Sounds pretty good to me :-) I just need to mentally deal with the fact that 70 mpg is very unlikely to happen these days with the new commutes. First day of autumn today, too, and those lower temps are eating away a little at every trip's mpg...
7.502 gallons
$3.679/gallon
66.76 mpg
3.52 L/100km
Wentworth's complete fueling history
I have pictures of the tank sitting on my camera, but I've just moved and apparently haven't taken the USB cord with me (EDIT: they're here now!). They'll be edited in soon. Interestingly, the Prius MFD actually read 66.8 mpg, which is exactly what I got. First time for everything!
End of the tank, little down.
My new life (read: new location and thus commutes) is full of short, mileage killing trips. The tank started out nicely up in the low 70s and slowly declined to 66.8 mpg as I did short trips between clients' houses and cold starts just to go the grocery store. I participate in a food co-op, so multiple people have jobs to do. I can't just go when the car is warmed up and most efficient, I have to wait for a time to open up with someone else's schedule.
I also have a new trip of about 30 miles or so which will happen roughly twice per tank, of 60+ mph speeds over very hilly terrain. After that part of the trip there is some pulse and glide, but the two times I've done it so far I've gotten 60 mpg and 57 mpg, so it's a huge drain on gas.
I'm certainly not complaining. A commercially available vehicle netting 67 mpg in less than ideal fuel economy conditions? Sounds pretty good to me :-) I just need to mentally deal with the fact that 70 mpg is very unlikely to happen these days with the new commutes. First day of autumn today, too, and those lower temps are eating away a little at every trip's mpg...
Friday, September 16, 2011
Seasons are a-changing
First autumnal evening in the high 50°Fs tonight, and an immediate and obvious shift in the opening mileage of my trip, with the magic 157°F mark reached slowly and deliberately over a lengthier distance than the summery usual. Achieved around 66 mpg on a trip where I would get around 70 mpg. Small, but a sign of the seasonal drop to come.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Things I don't like about my Prius
Well, I've owned a 2007 model year for 9 months, here we go:
Actual problems
-Poor visibility when looking over your shoulder on the driver's side.
Kinda sorta problems
-Gas bladder is a pain, but it was rectified in newer model years. It doesn't actually affect anything important, it's more a "first world problem".
Hypermiling problems that would not affect normal people
-Very touchy traction control. Again, mostly irrelevant to actual operation, but when hypermiling it's annoying to lose so much regen just from going over a teeny bump in the road and having the car switch almost entirely to hydraulic braking.
-10 seconds of idling under 6 mph needed to switch to full hybrid operation. Probably the worst from a hypermiling standpoint. This has been fixed on the newer models.
I'll update this, but that's all I can think of.
Actual problems
-Poor visibility when looking over your shoulder on the driver's side.
Kinda sorta problems
-Gas bladder is a pain, but it was rectified in newer model years. It doesn't actually affect anything important, it's more a "first world problem".
Hypermiling problems that would not affect normal people
-Very touchy traction control. Again, mostly irrelevant to actual operation, but when hypermiling it's annoying to lose so much regen just from going over a teeny bump in the road and having the car switch almost entirely to hydraulic braking.
-10 seconds of idling under 6 mph needed to switch to full hybrid operation. Probably the worst from a hypermiling standpoint. This has been fixed on the newer models.
I'll update this, but that's all I can think of.
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Fill-up, Thursday, September 8, 2011
520.0 miles
7.748 gallons
3.899/gallon
67.11 mpg
3.50 L/100km
Wentworth's complete fueling history
Surprisingly I got over 67 mpg. I say surprisingly, since I thought the last fill-up was partial, but even if it was, it looks like the summer blend or something is boosting my mileage nicely, since for a couple fill-ups now the actual numbers have been high relative to the Prius display.
This tank also includes some new trips which will become habitual for me, including a weekly several mile jaunt which will probably get me 30 mpg each way (ouch). I have a new 20 mile trip over which I only managed 57 mpg, and that was in warm weather! No way to hypermile around hills other than to find an alternate route, so I'll work on that for this week.
Pictures may or may not be coming, computer was on the fritz, may have lost the data for some time...
7.748 gallons
3.899/gallon
67.11 mpg
3.50 L/100km
Wentworth's complete fueling history
Surprisingly I got over 67 mpg. I say surprisingly, since I thought the last fill-up was partial, but even if it was, it looks like the summer blend or something is boosting my mileage nicely, since for a couple fill-ups now the actual numbers have been high relative to the Prius display.
This tank also includes some new trips which will become habitual for me, including a weekly several mile jaunt which will probably get me 30 mpg each way (ouch). I have a new 20 mile trip over which I only managed 57 mpg, and that was in warm weather! No way to hypermile around hills other than to find an alternate route, so I'll work on that for this week.
Pictures may or may not be coming, computer was on the fritz, may have lost the data for some time...
Monday, August 29, 2011
The results are in...
Summer Road Trippin' in August
2,539.8 miles
42.785 gallons of 87 octane gas
59.4 mpg
$152.41 was spent on all this travel, which included leaving Vermont, passing through Boston and Rhode Island, then NYC for an evening, DC for a weekend, continuing through Virginia down through Knoxville to Nashville, where I hung out for a week, and then the 1100 mile trek back by way of Ohio and Pennsylvania.
I will say that the number of gallons seems off to me by about 0.7 gallons, since I had what was likely a partial fill-up today due to the Prius bladder. Even with that extra 0.7 gallons added in, I'd be at 58.4 actual mpg for the entire, mountainous, hilly, highway trip. Maybe next time I'll get 60...
Some of the more memorable pics, using mostly the Prius display, so numbers below are inflated by an mpg or so:
To DC from New York, 66.8 mpg over 240 miles
Frustrating start to the day in Pennsylvania driving home. Mountains, hills, decrepit panel pavement, winds - my least favorite place to drive. During the entire trip there were plenty of mountains (or at least huge hills) to navigate, taking down entire tanks of gas by several mpgs over just a fraction of the total driving time. The worst was when I arrived at the pump with 57.0 mpg on the display!
After the last fill-up during the trip, I headed to a rest stop in New Jersey right across from NYC (I felt the earthquake!). I was so tired of driving, but even more tired of getting poor mileage through Pennsylvania, so after a little fast food fill-up for myself, I headed home for the final 190 miles or so, completely focused on hypermiling the rest of the way. I was mostly between 55 and 60 mph, sometimes speeding up, sometimes slowing down, depending on traffic. The tank started progressing upwards.
A little more...
And home.
You read that correctly...67.0 mpg for the last 190 miles or so from NYC. A couple things about that. While I did "cheat" and do the last 35 miles on roads that I knew (read: slower, hypermiling), some of those were still 50 mph roads. Secondly, when getting off the highway onto said slower roads, I was already over 65 mpg on the Scangauge. And finally, the Scangauge underestimates quite a bit. We could conservatively say it's really 68-69 mpg for the last 190 miles, most of that highway travel. Thrilled :-)
While it was awesome to see friends and family (especially old friends!), I'll be happy to avoid those long, all-day drives. Also can't wait to get back to getting some good mileage, and the challenge of finding fuel efficient routes from my new place of residence this coming year!
2,539.8 miles
42.785 gallons of 87 octane gas
59.4 mpg
$152.41 was spent on all this travel, which included leaving Vermont, passing through Boston and Rhode Island, then NYC for an evening, DC for a weekend, continuing through Virginia down through Knoxville to Nashville, where I hung out for a week, and then the 1100 mile trek back by way of Ohio and Pennsylvania.
I will say that the number of gallons seems off to me by about 0.7 gallons, since I had what was likely a partial fill-up today due to the Prius bladder. Even with that extra 0.7 gallons added in, I'd be at 58.4 actual mpg for the entire, mountainous, hilly, highway trip. Maybe next time I'll get 60...
Some of the more memorable pics, using mostly the Prius display, so numbers below are inflated by an mpg or so:
Frustrating start to the day in Pennsylvania driving home. Mountains, hills, decrepit panel pavement, winds - my least favorite place to drive. During the entire trip there were plenty of mountains (or at least huge hills) to navigate, taking down entire tanks of gas by several mpgs over just a fraction of the total driving time. The worst was when I arrived at the pump with 57.0 mpg on the display!
After the last fill-up during the trip, I headed to a rest stop in New Jersey right across from NYC (I felt the earthquake!). I was so tired of driving, but even more tired of getting poor mileage through Pennsylvania, so after a little fast food fill-up for myself, I headed home for the final 190 miles or so, completely focused on hypermiling the rest of the way. I was mostly between 55 and 60 mph, sometimes speeding up, sometimes slowing down, depending on traffic. The tank started progressing upwards.
A little more...
And home.
You read that correctly...67.0 mpg for the last 190 miles or so from NYC. A couple things about that. While I did "cheat" and do the last 35 miles on roads that I knew (read: slower, hypermiling), some of those were still 50 mph roads. Secondly, when getting off the highway onto said slower roads, I was already over 65 mpg on the Scangauge. And finally, the Scangauge underestimates quite a bit. We could conservatively say it's really 68-69 mpg for the last 190 miles, most of that highway travel. Thrilled :-)
While it was awesome to see friends and family (especially old friends!), I'll be happy to avoid those long, all-day drives. Also can't wait to get back to getting some good mileage, and the challenge of finding fuel efficient routes from my new place of residence this coming year!
Saturday, August 13, 2011
NYC to DC on the highway, 66.8 mpg
Well, I'm sort of on vacation and had been busy with work...but sometime later I'll have to do an updated highway driving post. Tons of other people have gotten it before me (namely Hobbit), but finally finding it on your own and being able to implement is pretty cool.
66.8 mpg (so about 66 in real life) over 240 miles from NYC to DC
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