[Soyboy]

I went on my first road trip with the '04 last weekend and am just loving this car more and more. I used cruise control much of the way with speeds averaging between 69-74 mph on the freeway. When I got to my destination, the consumption screen showed 51.4mpg. (I did notice that in an area where traffic was heavy-stop & go, the 5 minute bars during those periods were reading in the 70's.) When I filled up at 304 miles, the car took just barely over 5 gallons!!! Could I really be getting that kind of mileage?

 

[funpilot]

60 mpg

That happened to me once as well. What you are experiencing is he different cut off points of where a pump stops pumping gas. Most likely your next fillup will calculate way low on MPG. I have decided to just monitor what the car calculates and give up on actual for my own piece of mind.

 

[mrchildren]

MPG

I drove my new 04 prius for about 250 miles. And my overall MPG is reading 41.5 MPG. 90 % of my driving was on Highway. Does anyone know why is it so low? And I don't drive like racer. I start and stop slowly. I know MPG varies but this is getting bit too much. Where's my 60MPG?

 

[efusco]

It'll get better.
1)It's cold,
2)You're not even broken in yet,
3)Have you adjusted the tire pressure (most recommend 42f/40r or even 44f/42r),
4)Have you checked that your oil is not overfilled even slightly above the full mark?,
5)Most recommend having the alignment checked,
6)Winter gas is in use most places,
7)Don't accellerate slowly--accellerate fairly briskly--the ICE is most efficient at around 4000RPM (best fuel efficiency to power ratio), get up to speed, then set the cruise control.
8)anticipate stops and begin braking early.
9)The EPA numbers are artificially elevated , esp in a car like the Prius (check the Yahoo forums for details).
10)Remember that short trips from cold starts are the least efficient--your first 5 min will always suck, if your trips are only 5-10 miles then you're just getting warmed up when you have to stop and you're just not going to get into the Hybrid's most efficient zone.

Finally, I took all kinds of heat over on the yahoo board for mentioning that I was disappointed in not seeing 55mpg combined (I'm seeing about 45mpg at 1800 miles). Many people mentioned the things above. Those EPA numbers can and will be achieved, occassionally by some drivers and never by others. There are lots of variable involved. Give it time, watch that Energy screen to get an idea what's going on, pay attention to your driving style and You'll start seeing those numbers go up (at least after winter is over). Also, remember that you calculate milage may differ a bit from what the computer claims you're getting.
--evan

 

[moocatdog]

mrchildren wrote:

I drove my new 04 prius for about 250 miles. And my overall MPG is reading 41.5 MPG. 90 % of my driving was on Highway. Does anyone know why is it so low? And I don't drive like racer. I start and stop slowly. I know MPG varies but this is getting bit too much. Where's my 60MPG?

efusco replied:

Give it time, watch that Energy screen to get an idea what's going on, pay attention to your driving style and You'll start seeing those numbers go up (at least after winter is over).--evan

mrchildren,
I agree with efusco. My mpg was lower than I expected at first (mid to upper 30s), but it has improved with each subsequent fill up. I've reached about 1200 miles on the odometer now and it looks like my particular driving patterns, local terrain and climate will result in approximately 47 mpg during winter months. I'm anxious to see what summer weather brings. I don't know that I'll ever see 60 mpg, but I've never averaged the EPA estimates with any car I've owned.
Drive happy,
Moo

 

[funpilot]

Stll getting decent MPG

I just came back up to NYC from Virginia and continue to get about 52 mpg. I have learned that you should train your foot to back off the accelerator to let the engine coast more. That is how I go from 45 to 52 mpg. Leaving it on cruise works almost as well, but not quite.