[Rmarchena]

After 2500 miles:

Me: 50 to 55 mpg
My wife: 40 to 42 mpg

I drive with Prius style.
She drives with Corolla style.

Conclusion:

The Toyota Prius to acomplish the sticker mpg needs a very exclusive driving style. Prius style.

Prius driving style has been discussed extensively in this forum. Some participants called fun but others distracting.

Prius driving style plus other things (temperature, thermos, tire preasure, enigne oil, exterior accessories, heating and A/C usages, etc.) will make fluctuate the mpg.

Getting 60 mpg is possible when you reset the comsumption at certain driving time (to make yourself feel better) or a certain conditions that I believe never existed on roads but only in a very special laboratory with the real perfect conditions that are impossible to have in the real world.

We have to live with that and that it is until an upgrade is available for the batteries, engines or powertrain.

 

[kirby]

I somewhat agree with you - but only somewhat. I have an '02 Prius which has lower ratings than the new ones and have been getting 52-54 mpg doing my normal driving around the area with some highway driving. My wife who does not pay attention to how she drives probably does about 5 mpg worse. But she has a heavy foot and gets much worse mileage in her SUV than I am able to acheive also. So, I think what I am trying to say is that anyone that can drive a normal vehicle and acheive good mileage will do so on a Prius while anyone that has a lead foot will do worse.

As far as special lab conditions I don't think that to be true. Yesterday I was driving a mix of highway and local and had the air on (mine is engine driven not electrical) and actually managed to get 60.1 mpg with some careful attention. But it is not worth driving that way, I only did it to see what I could do. I am quite happy getting mid 50's by just driving.

 

[hyperion]

Ditto Kirby. I've gone thru one and a half winters and one full summer and since shortly after ownership, started to disregard the MFD and drive the car normally. I've had a year and a half average of 45 MPG. I consider that great but maybe not really worth buying a hybrid for if you have to settle for a midsize Japanese sedan. Before I get jumped by the "greenhouse" folks I believe The Prius meets the same exhaust "standards" required by the state of California as an H2. I know it does much better but it is not required to do so.
If it were not for the requirement of the coolant reservoir and the catalytic converter temperature I'm sure I would be stating 55 MPG average.
(wonder if coastal dave has thought about doing anything about that. And it would eliminate the need of an EV switch)

 

[john1701a]

I have a friend that routinely deals with a 5 MPG difference between he and his wife too.

A difference of 10 MPG without any detail really leaves us hanging. Please describe what is actually meant by "Corolla style". And how does it differ from other vehicle types?

As for the comment about the window sticker, I suggest you read the fine print already there. The typical person doesn't even realize there is detail, they gloss over the big numbers then assume...

 

[kirby]

hyperion -- that is a great point you make about warming up the converter and other things to make the car put out a tiny bit less pollution. We could probably strip all the emission control crap from a Prius and it would probably spew out less pollution per mile than a big Hummer or SUV. Think about how much better our mileage would be. Infact, we would probably be doing more for the enviroment by creating a little more pollution per mile but increasing our mpg by a fairly large margin.

 

[RSnyder]

Before I get jumped by the "greenhouse" folks I believe The Prius meets the same exhaust "standards" required by the state of California as an H2.

The "standards" may have the same name, but since they are for vastly different size and class vehicles, they are actually vastly different standards.

 

[Rmarchena]

Corolla Style

Corolla Style is like my wife used to drive our previous Toyota Corolla, that is like any other standard car in the streets.
Prius Driving Style requires before anything to prioritize the mpg optimization in your mind. Requires also permanent concentration until you create and react naturaly to a new driving habits. The new driving habits do not necesarily fraternize with others normal style drivers and with the natural wave of traffic in terms of speed and turns.
The Prius driving style still is a question related to other cars driving in the same road.

 

[john1701a]

Please provide a description of actions, not just another comparison.