[Weedo]

So we're at about 300 miles on the first tank. I reset the MPG indicator when we left the lot. We're at 38mpg right now. I'm not complaining as that is still great, but well, you know...

After reading all the posts here for a while, I try to average a few tanks before I throw my arms up in the air!

As far the driving; we've done a mix of city and freeway, with the AC on all of the time.

My biggest compaint?? The seats.... they're horrible. (We're coming from a 2006 330i so that part is a tough comparison). Other than that, we're digging it!

 

[DanMan32]

Take a long leisure ride down a country road at not more than 50MPH on a morning when the cabin is not superheated, then you'll see numbers in the 50's.

 

[hyperion]

And you can look forward to better milage figures as the weather cools. As for the seats, they'll never get better as you can find by scrolling back even for several years. Some find them acceptable but if you find them uncomfortable now don't expect to ever get used to them. Your going to discover that you will accept a lot account of the cars technology. If you are coming from a "beemer" you may want to purchase a "scanguage" from the outfit in Phoenix that will at least give you an ammeter, tachometer, and coolant temp guage. http://www.scanguage.com
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.(not sure what you meant by "330i")

 

[efusco]

Some important reading regarding fuel economy...
http://priuschat.com/index.php?autocom= ... ticle&id=3

Almost everyone's first tank has fairly low mileage for a number of reasons....the tires are brand new and need a couple thousand miles to break in. You're driving the car like your last car with no idea how to really take advantage of the hybrid system, you're spending time 'playing' with the various functions and features.

38's not great...pretty bad really, but you've got a big upside coming.

 

[Phish Phood]

And you can look forward to better milage figures as the weather cools. As for the seats, they'll never get better as you can find by scrolling back even for several years. Some find them acceptable but if you find them uncomfortable now don't expect to ever get used to them. Your going to discover that you will accept a lot account of the cars technology. If you are coming from a "beemer" you may want to purchase a "scanguage" from the outfit in Phoenix that will at least give you an ammeter, tachometer, and coolant temp guage. http://www.scanguage.com
.
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.(not sure what you meant by "330i")

Hyp, I'm guessing he means a BMW 330i

 

[HIVOLTAGE]

So we're at about 300 miles on the first tank. I reset the MPG indicator when we left the lot. We're at 38mpg right now. I'm not complaining as that is still great, but well, you know...

After reading all the posts here for a while, I try to average a few tanks before I throw my arms up in the air!

As far the driving; we've done a mix of city and freeway, with the AC on all of the time.

My biggest compaint?? The seats.... they're horrible. (We're coming from a 2006 330i so that part is a tough comparison). Other than that, we're digging it!

Also be advised that you will be under Prius induced driver training. You will then see increases in your MPG as you progress from novice to skilled. In addition if the car is new then you have somewhat of a breaking in period to contend with.....and I feel your pain as far as the seats go..

 

[Weedo]

My wife went out with a couple clients today and it's now up to 39.5. It seems to be creaping up each day. We're now at 340 miles. Good to know it will continue to climb. And yes, the cooler weather is coming (not soon enough!) so we'll be able to kill the A/C more.

I drive the car knowing how to eek out the extra MPG's. My wife, on the other hand, is used to taking off quickly and not breaking when she can. She usually waits until the last minute. But the last thing I want her to do is have her hate driving it, which she would if I told her she "had to" drive it differently! :wink:

On the seats... Has anyone tried the "washer" trick? I've owned over a dozen Toyota's and they usually benefit from dropping a 1/4 inch of washers underneath the front seat bolt/bracket. Then again, I'm 6'3" and can ALWAYS use the extra thigh support.

 

[DanMan32]

Someone had done that. Might have been on PriusChat. It might have also been lost after the crashes that they and we have had.

 

[mrv]

The washers under the front seat bolts is an old recommendation from Classic Prius owners... I don't recall hearing it done/recommended recently, though.

 

[kirby]

I've got a 7 series BMW and don't hate the Pri seats in our pair of '02's. Its hard to compare the two cars as they are in totally different classes and price ranges. We use the Pri's in town and for trips under 50 miles or so - the Bimmer goes on all the long trips.

 

[Weedo]

I've got a 7 series BMW and don't hate the Pri seats in our pair of '02's. Its hard to compare the two cars as they are in totally different classes and price ranges. We use the Pri's in town and for trips under 50 miles or so - the Bimmer goes on all the long trips.

I may be extra picky on the seats though. My wheelin' machine ('00 Jeep Cherokee) now has a pair of '03 Grand Cherokee seats in it.

 

[Picasso Moon]

We're at 38mpg right now. I'm not complaining as that is still great, but well, you know...

Hang in there. The sooner you can turn off the A/C or just raise the temp and maybe teach the wife some of the finer driving techniques the sooner you will see the your mpg rise.

Through about 900 miles I'm averaging just under 55 mpg (calc) with the current tank at 57 on the MFD. That is driving the speed limit, almost exclusively on the surface streets in Chandler and Tempe. But I have a couple of advantages over you in that I'm the only one driving the car and I never use the A/C (except a couple of minutes a week to keep things lubed up). The hot weather is great for mileage as long as you can limit the A/C usage.

 

[Hummius]

I've got a 7 series BMW and don't hate the Pri seats in our pair of '02's. Its hard to compare the two cars as they are in totally different classes and price ranges. We use the Pri's in town and for trips under 50 miles or so - the Bimmer goes on all the long trips.

I may be extra picky on the seats though. My wheelin' machine ('00 Jeep Cherokee) now has a pair of '03 Grand Cherokee seats in it.

what do you have on the jeep?

i think that others might find the prius's seats to be great and so forth, but i really share this basic complaint as well - the seats are really not comfortable. In addition to not having a nice supportive shape, they don't have much in the way of cushion.

A seat-swap might be in order when i can figure out how to go about it!

 

[Mr. Reaper]

First tank MPG

My wife took her new Prius for the first fill. It only took 4 gal. The screen said she was getting 42 mpg average, but from the amount of gas in the first fill and calculating mileage, she got 64 mpg. I don't think the computer is that accurate when calculating the mpg. Just my .02.

 

[DanMan32]

You can't go by one tank. There's no way for you to know that you filled the tank to the same level you started with.

Ex. You received the car from the dealer with 11.5 gallons. You drive it and then fill it so that now there is only 11 gallons in the tank, since you didn't want to fight with the auto-shutoff. So now you aren't accounting for 1/2 a gallon you used to travel with.

I had trouble this morning filling up. It clicked off at 8.5 gallons, and there was no way that was full, since I was now blinking. I was able to get 11 gallons in, .2 gallons at a time, and even within .2 gallons it was shutting off once or twice.

 

[Weedo]

Just an update...

The 2nd tank she got around 42mpg, 3rd tank was around 43mpg, and 4th tank around 45mpg. Still with the AC on 95% of the time. This also includes one mile trips to drop our daughter off then back to the garage.

I still need to check the tire pressure as I can see it's visiably lower than it should be (although they're not "low"). Watching her driving style, knowing the tires are lower than they should be, and having the AC on I'm sure is lowering the MPG's. Fixing these should put her closer to, say, 48mpg without trying to get good mileage. I think that's actually pretty good!

 

[Marlin]

Are you reseting the MFD calculation after each tank? I have a 2005 and it resets automatically, but I understand that you have the press the reset button on the 2006 to reset the MPG calculation.

If you don't reset it for each tank, then the low MPG of your first tank is being added into the averages and you won't really get a feel for how you are currently doing. If you never reset the MPG calculation, then after several thousand miles, the value will become so stable with the cumulative weight of the previous miles, that it you could go 100 miles at 10 MPG with barely a drop in your MPG average.

 

[Pinto_Girl]

You've prob'ly heard this before, but 42/40 in the tires has been known to help with MPG.

Most of all, though, just enjoy the ride, so to speak; be sensitive to what your Prius is communicating to you...and I'm not necessarily referring to the MFD.