[ArunK]

How good is the MPG for the first 5, 10min. I get only 25,35 MPG, so even if I travel for the rest of the twenty min at high MPG like 50 the first 10 min pull the average down.
Looks like If I make frequent 10 min trips I am not going to get any better than 33 MPG. but I assume for such shot trips my camary would also suck bigtime.

Any comments?

 

[RSnyder]

That's pretty much correct, unless you make those short, less than 10 minute trips close together. It's also true that many short, cold trips is bad for any car. Be sure to change your oil frequently. The Prius engine can take this abuse better than most, but it is still abuse, and it does drop mileage quite a bit (a bigger percentage drop than in other cars).

 

[mrv]

Yeah, short trips aren't good for any car. The Prius tells you just how bad it is...

You'll probably note that the blue cool engine coolant light is on for about the first 5 min or so of your trip. The Prius was designed as a really low emissions vehicle, and the good MPG is just a nice side benefit. The Prius doesn't know how long you'll be driving, so it assumes when you start it that you'll be driving for a while and first makes sure that the engine, oxygen sensors, and catalytic converter (and probably a few other emissions components) get up to proper operating temperatures (hot!), before allowing the Prius to operate in a high MPG mode (turn off engine at stoplights or going downhill).