[jshore]

I know a lot of you early adopters out there claim that your Prius's gas mileage started to improve after several thousand miles but after watching my Prius go through a winter here in Rochester, I am a bit skeptical.

I've seen my screen mileage on a tank of gas drop from the low 50s in the summer down to (barely) the high 30s in the winter! [Part of the reason the drop is this dramatic is that here in Rochester, almost all of my trips are 15-20 minutes or less.] And, this got me to thinking---Maybe you folks who were claiming a mileage increase with age got your car in the late fall or early winter of '03-'04 and then saw the mileage improve when spring came!

At any rate, I know that for my Prius, any gradual improvement in mileage will be more than masked by this very dramatic seasonal cycle, at least unless I compare data from times separated by a full year.

 

[Brian]

You might want to ease up on your driving habits. Myself, being a new driver, 16, got around 41 mpg until I changed my driving style. Right around 9,000 miles I eased up and coasted on electric or no energy at all, as much as I can, while taking advantage of Regen. Braking. My mileage has flew up to 48 now. Just go to priuschat.com and read the article in the knowledge base about MPG.

 

[Tideland Prius]

Well, I'm one of those who got theirs in autumn and I've just reached 4.5L/100kms (52mpg) for the first time ever. I'm at 650kms (406mi) and still going. So while I can't attest to the mileage increase because of break-in, I can definitely claim that temperature and a warm (hot?) engine makes for very efficient driving. I drove 130kms today and dropped the MFD reading from 4.7L/100km to 4.5L/100km (50-52mpg) at 16°C (~60F).

However, the engine does shut off smoother as it breaks in. I remember a Car and Driver article where they mentioned that acceleration times and braking distances shortened after they had the car for 10,000 miles (long term test).

So it is possible that mileage does increase but I'm sure it'll be only a few mpg but hey, that's better than nothing!

 

[hyperion]

Ditto to jshores post! Been down 9MPG since first of December. Nothing has changed except the weather.

 

[DanMan32]

[Part of the reason the drop is this dramatic is that here in Rochester, almost all of my trips are 15-20 minutes or less.]

There's your problem. Especially in winter, that's not long enough for the car to get to optimum temperature. By the time you get there, the car's just starting to get good, and then you have no time to recoup your losses for the beginning warmup.

EV switch might help, as you will delay the warmup for a bit, and then possibly use the excess warmup energy to recharge the battery.

 

[Hep]

I had huge issues early in the winter with short trips and REALLY cold weather. I would get in and hit max-heat and full fan. My mileage dropped into GM range. Now I wear warmer gloves, set the heat at 73 and fan low. It takes a bit longer to warm the car, but my mileage got back in the low 40's.

 

[Sanny]

I'm still under 3000 miles, but DanMan is right. I drive about 40 minutes each way to work, and I find that in my first 5 minutes the gas mileage STINKS! Second 5 minutes is some better. By the 3d 5 minute interval, or the 4th (measured by the tuberculosis/consumption screen) I've reached "cruising mpg" and stay about steady in the near-50 range for the rest of the commute, if I'm paying attention to the way I'm driving. If, after I've driven a few 5 minute intervals, I do some "local" driving, WOW! My in town mpg is even better. :shock:

Unfortunately, the first couple of five minutes are "write offs," as far as I'm concerned. Nasty.

 

[Brian]

Oh yeah, and my trip to school is 2.5 miles away, and when its 50 degrees here, I have the heater cranked up. btw, 50's cold for SoCal. 8)

 

[Sanny]

Oh yeah, and my trip to school is 2.5 miles away,...

Coastal Tech's Reciever Hitch

Since you are in school...
I before E, except after C.

 

[coloradospringsprius]

Oh yeah, and my trip to school is 2.5 miles away,...

Coastal Tech's Reciever Hitch

Since you are in school...
I before E, except after C.

And when sounding "a," as in "neighbor" and "weigh";

And in weird words of foreign origin.

(I made up the last part myself, since I have to spel a lot at work.)

 

[hyperion]

regardless of the reason, your gas milage is going to take a considerable shot in the winter.

 

[PriusPage]

>> Since you are in school...
>> I before E, except after C.

> And when sounding "a," as in "neighbor" and "weigh";

> And in weird words of foreign origin.

> (I made up the last part myself, since I have to spel a lot at work.)[/quote]

Neither foreign sovereign seized the counterfeit on the weird heights. I think that is all of exceptions. You have to find a lot of little helpers like these when tying to make it through public school with dyslexia

 

[Beacher]

would get in and hit max-heat and full fan. My mileage dropped into GM range. Now I wear warmer gloves, set the heat at 73 and fan low. It takes a bit longer to warm the car, but my mileage got back in the low 40's.

This confuses me. We're still waiting for our Prius, so I don't have first hand experience. I was under the impression that the Prius has automatic temperature control. I have it in my truck and I just set the temperature, which I almost never a change, and the truck varies the fan speed as the engine warms up and then as the cabin warms up. The result is that I never mess with the climate controls at all. Well rarely anyhow. In fact when I drive my wife's care, which doesn't have automatic temperature control, I often find myself thinking: "Damn it's hot in here, why is that fan still blowing so hard?" Then I remember that everything has to be done manually on her car.

Is it different in the Prius?

 

[hyperion]

Beacher, you will discover that the Prius is a different kind of animal. They put something called an MFD (multi functional display) in the car for those who like to play and you get a spot to press in the climate mode to select a multitude of temp and fan speeds along with location for airflow. No more simple straight forward controls. You can actually change your milage considerably by what some might consider improper use. (which will probably be your favorite setting)

 

[Sanny]

Beacher, there is an auto a/c setting, which means "set the temp and leave me alone." Or you can 'tinker' with it. Adjust fan speed, temp, blowers. Some say auto a/c gives best mileage, some say manual. you'll have to figure it out for yourself. But either way, it's fun to play with!

 

[jshore]

You might want to ease up on your driving habits.

Brian: But, it ain't my driving habits that have changed since the summer, when I could generally get tanks of gas above 50mpg even with my fairly short commutes. Rather, it is the weather that has changed. I find that it is nearly impossible to get the car to run in stealth mode in these cold conditions. In fact, even getting it to turn off the engine when I am stopped is a challenge. (For at least the first 10 minutes, if not longer, I have to turn the heater off completely at a light to get the engine to turn off.)

I had huge issues early in the winter with short trips and REALLY cold weather. I would get in and hit max-heat and full fan. My mileage dropped into GM range. Now I wear warmer gloves, set the heat at 73 and fan low.

73!?! Heck...I dream of 73. I am keeping it set at around 65 most of the time (which is actually plenty warm when I am all decked out in my winter parka), or I'll hike it up to 68 if I am really have a chill. And, as I noted above, I will sometimes turn the heater off when I am stopped at lights...although my girlfriend will razz me about this if I do it when she is in the car. I've even taken to not turning the heater on at all for the first several minutes when it is not too frigid out. It takes a while for it to really provide much heat anyway.

Anyway, I don't mean to be complaining too much...I still love my Prius in the winter. But, I am looking forward to the spring and summer when I can regularly go into stealth mode again.