Yay!!! Averaged just shy of 40 mpg today!!
03-13-12, 05:52 PM
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Yay!!! Averaged just shy of 40 mpg today!!
Hi all,
So, I've had the car 8 days, filled up for the first time today. Car took 11.3 gallons. Hard to tell the average mpg b/c I don't know if the car was really "full" or not when I picked it up. I drove 355 miles since I picked it up, which means about 32 mpg.
However, I had a 53 mile trip, each way today just after the fill up. I averaged 39.5 mpg!!! speeds as hight as 78-80 at times. I must admit I was trying to sip rather than gulp, and I'm getting the hang of taking advantage of hills, etc. This was a very mountainous drive, but the downhills really even out the gulping uphill. I hit 40 mpg for a few minutes...even a few tenths above here and there. Then, town driving upon my return, still averaging 39.3...so I'm really thrilled with those numbers. I love when the car operates on battery only....but it does drain after a mile or so on flat terrain causing the motor to kick on.
How on earth are people getting 60 mpg??? Must be getting out and pushing the thing for pete's sake!! Kind of annoying when it appears as tho I'm getting under 20 mpg on the "current" meter when barely hitting the gas...ugh!
So, I've had the car 8 days, filled up for the first time today. Car took 11.3 gallons. Hard to tell the average mpg b/c I don't know if the car was really "full" or not when I picked it up. I drove 355 miles since I picked it up, which means about 32 mpg.
However, I had a 53 mile trip, each way today just after the fill up. I averaged 39.5 mpg!!! speeds as hight as 78-80 at times. I must admit I was trying to sip rather than gulp, and I'm getting the hang of taking advantage of hills, etc. This was a very mountainous drive, but the downhills really even out the gulping uphill. I hit 40 mpg for a few minutes...even a few tenths above here and there. Then, town driving upon my return, still averaging 39.3...so I'm really thrilled with those numbers. I love when the car operates on battery only....but it does drain after a mile or so on flat terrain causing the motor to kick on.
How on earth are people getting 60 mpg??? Must be getting out and pushing the thing for pete's sake!! Kind of annoying when it appears as tho I'm getting under 20 mpg on the "current" meter when barely hitting the gas...ugh!
03-14-12, 12:32 PM
#2
Hi all,
So, I've had the car 8 days, filled up for the first time today. Car took 11.3 gallons. Hard to tell the average mpg b/c I don't know if the car was really "full" or not when I picked it up. I drove 355 miles since I picked it up, which means about 32 mpg.
However, I had a 53 mile trip, each way today just after the fill up. I averaged 39.5 mpg!!! speeds as hight as 78-80 at times. I must admit I was trying to sip rather than gulp, and I'm getting the hang of taking advantage of hills, etc. This was a very mountainous drive, but the downhills really even out the gulping uphill. I hit 40 mpg for a few minutes...even a few tenths above here and there. Then, town driving upon my return, still averaging 39.3...so I'm really thrilled with those numbers. I love when the car operates on battery only....but it does drain after a mile or so on flat terrain causing the motor to kick on.
How on earth are people getting 60 mpg??? Must be getting out and pushing the thing for pete's sake!! Kind of annoying when it appears as tho I'm getting under 20 mpg on the "current" meter when barely hitting the gas...ugh!
So, I've had the car 8 days, filled up for the first time today. Car took 11.3 gallons. Hard to tell the average mpg b/c I don't know if the car was really "full" or not when I picked it up. I drove 355 miles since I picked it up, which means about 32 mpg.
However, I had a 53 mile trip, each way today just after the fill up. I averaged 39.5 mpg!!! speeds as hight as 78-80 at times. I must admit I was trying to sip rather than gulp, and I'm getting the hang of taking advantage of hills, etc. This was a very mountainous drive, but the downhills really even out the gulping uphill. I hit 40 mpg for a few minutes...even a few tenths above here and there. Then, town driving upon my return, still averaging 39.3...so I'm really thrilled with those numbers. I love when the car operates on battery only....but it does drain after a mile or so on flat terrain causing the motor to kick on.
How on earth are people getting 60 mpg??? Must be getting out and pushing the thing for pete's sake!! Kind of annoying when it appears as tho I'm getting under 20 mpg on the "current" meter when barely hitting the gas...ugh!
On your question how people get 60 - not sure. I guess if you properly mix inner roads, uphill and downhill roads - may you can
- I have never been able to get more than 45 in my 2 years in the car 
03-15-12, 02:17 PM
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rajeev6,
I think you are on the right track as far as getting 60mpg.
It can be done, but you have to really work on it.
jbripps,
Do you usually have such a mountainous trip? If so it's going to be a challenge to offset those long uphills.
Some thing people do are:
- Increase tire pressure or change tires altogether to one with less rolling resistance.
- slow down. There is no way you'll ever get 60mpg at speeds of 70-80mph. There is simply too much wind resistance. To really see a dramatic increase in mpg you'll have to stay 5 or 10 under the speed limit, depending on the legality and traffic around you.
- Always park facing out. That way you never have to waste gas backing up.
- Try to time lights as much as possible. Better to not have to stop at all. Even starting from 3 mph is a lot different than starting from a dead stop. Think about how you'd do it if you were on a bike.
- blocking the grill. Better to have warm air for mpg than cold air.
But after all is said and done, are these things you really want to do, just to get more mpg?
It holds it own just as it is. What other car can you drive and have this much fun in and still get above 35 mpg no problem?
I think you are on the right track as far as getting 60mpg.
It can be done, but you have to really work on it.
jbripps,
Do you usually have such a mountainous trip? If so it's going to be a challenge to offset those long uphills.
Some thing people do are:
- Increase tire pressure or change tires altogether to one with less rolling resistance.
- slow down. There is no way you'll ever get 60mpg at speeds of 70-80mph. There is simply too much wind resistance. To really see a dramatic increase in mpg you'll have to stay 5 or 10 under the speed limit, depending on the legality and traffic around you.
- Always park facing out. That way you never have to waste gas backing up.
- Try to time lights as much as possible. Better to not have to stop at all. Even starting from 3 mph is a lot different than starting from a dead stop. Think about how you'd do it if you were on a bike.
- blocking the grill. Better to have warm air for mpg than cold air.
But after all is said and done, are these things you really want to do, just to get more mpg?
It holds it own just as it is. What other car can you drive and have this much fun in and still get above 35 mpg no problem?
Last edited by EVPowers; 03-15-12 at 02:21 PM.
03-15-12, 05:42 PM
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EV....thanks for the tips! No way am I going to attempt most of that stuff...I'm perfectly fine flirting with 40 here and now...remember, I just came from 14 mpg....so I'm thrilled, even with 33!!!
Best,
J
Best,
J
03-16-12, 07:57 AM
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The cool thing about these cars is the fact that you can actually see what you gas mileage is in real time.
Ask most people and they might have a general idea, but they probably don't really know.
As much as I might want to rant about speeding (I'll save that for another time) the reality is that I do not want to impede traffic either. I'm pretty lucky that most of my driving is on roads where the people doing 15+ over the speed limit can just go around me in the left lane.
Given the amount of technology and safety in these cars it's great to begetting anywhere near 30 in places like NYC.
Ask most people and they might have a general idea, but they probably don't really know.
As much as I might want to rant about speeding (I'll save that for another time) the reality is that I do not want to impede traffic either. I'm pretty lucky that most of my driving is on roads where the people doing 15+ over the speed limit can just go around me in the left lane.
Given the amount of technology and safety in these cars it's great to begetting anywhere near 30 in places like NYC.
03-17-12, 04:51 PM
#7
rajeev6,
I think you are on the right track as far as getting 60mpg.
It can be done, but you have to really work on it.
jbripps,
Do you usually have such a mountainous trip? If so it's going to be a challenge to offset those long uphills.
Some thing people do are:
- Increase tire pressure or change tires altogether to one with less rolling resistance.
- slow down. There is no way you'll ever get 60mpg at speeds of 70-80mph. There is simply too much wind resistance. To really see a dramatic increase in mpg you'll have to stay 5 or 10 under the speed limit, depending on the legality and traffic around you.
- Always park facing out. That way you never have to waste gas backing up.
- Try to time lights as much as possible. Better to not have to stop at all. Even starting from 3 mph is a lot different than starting from a dead stop. Think about how you'd do it if you were on a bike.
- blocking the grill. Better to have warm air for mpg than cold air.
But after all is said and done, are these things you really want to do, just to get more mpg?
It holds it own just as it is. What other car can you drive and have this much fun in and still get above 35 mpg no problem?
I think you are on the right track as far as getting 60mpg.
It can be done, but you have to really work on it.
jbripps,
Do you usually have such a mountainous trip? If so it's going to be a challenge to offset those long uphills.
Some thing people do are:
- Increase tire pressure or change tires altogether to one with less rolling resistance.
- slow down. There is no way you'll ever get 60mpg at speeds of 70-80mph. There is simply too much wind resistance. To really see a dramatic increase in mpg you'll have to stay 5 or 10 under the speed limit, depending on the legality and traffic around you.
- Always park facing out. That way you never have to waste gas backing up.
- Try to time lights as much as possible. Better to not have to stop at all. Even starting from 3 mph is a lot different than starting from a dead stop. Think about how you'd do it if you were on a bike.
- blocking the grill. Better to have warm air for mpg than cold air.
But after all is said and done, are these things you really want to do, just to get more mpg?
It holds it own just as it is. What other car can you drive and have this much fun in and still get above 35 mpg no problem?
And the higher the cost of gas, and the more you utilize some of these tips, the quicker your cost recovery rate is on the purchase price of a hybrid as opposed to a normally aspirated car. So the answer to your question " are these things you really want to do"?, in my opinion... Yes.
Just remember to remove that grill block when the temps start to get near 60 again in your area. Don't want to overheat it.
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03-18-12, 07:13 AM
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Another idea is a warm-air-mod where you route the air intake so that it pulls from somewhere behind the engine or, if possible near the catalytic converter. This way the intake always has warm air, as opposed to ramming in cold air from in front of the car.
03-18-12, 05:27 PM
#9
Also remember that warm air is less dense and it requires more air to make the same power as cool air.
03-18-12, 07:49 PM
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Thanks all....very interesting stuff. On my old 911 that was air cooled, I had to worry about overheating when the ambiant temp. was 95 or higher. Do I really need to worry about that on such a new car?
Also, is there any way to see the engine temp on this car??
Best,
J
Also, is there any way to see the engine temp on this car??
Best,
J
03-19-12, 09:53 AM
#11
) - I haven't tried engine temp on that - I've Instant MPG and Average MPG on the display but it does say more than 70 gauges available thru the OBDII port. I'll try it tonight and see if I can see the temp and I'll post back.I bought it for $70 but just realized that they've bumped it to $80 (you can get $9 back if you take a quiz after installing the device
- I didn't even bother but I guess its a marketing ploy).However, even if we know the temp, how do we know what the optimum range - anyone?
03-20-12, 08:19 AM
#13
[QUOTE=EVPowers;7089466
- Always park facing out. That way you never have to waste gas backing up.[/QUOTE]
Maybe I'm missing something but it seems logical that you will use the same amount of gas backing out of a parking space as backing into it.
Another fuel saver is to use an engine block heater in cold weather.
- Always park facing out. That way you never have to waste gas backing up.[/QUOTE]
Maybe I'm missing something but it seems logical that you will use the same amount of gas backing out of a parking space as backing into it.
Another fuel saver is to use an engine block heater in cold weather.
03-20-12, 05:34 PM
#14
Knowing what you can do and when you can do it is all dependent on the engine temperature.
Here is some good info from the Prius board. The HS warm up stages are similar, and I'm trying to get the exact numbers for the HS with my Ultragauge, but it's not easy. Give this a quick read and you'll get an idea on what your computer is looking for.
http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii-...ml#post1068435
03-24-12, 04:31 PM
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I am now getting about 34 mpg on both of my cars (based on the cars computers), without making any serious effort to optimize the MPG. I have a 2010 and a 2011 HS250h, each with about 12,000 miles on it. I seriously admire the hypermilers, but I think I lack the patience needed to succeed at that task...
With gas going through the roof (thanks to our government leadership and some perhaps intentionally uncontrolled speculators - but that discussion is another thread for sure...), I am sure glad I got rid of my gas guzzlers and got these cars. The payback may come a lot sooner than I ever anticipated.
With gas going through the roof (thanks to our government leadership and some perhaps intentionally uncontrolled speculators - but that discussion is another thread for sure...), I am sure glad I got rid of my gas guzzlers and got these cars. The payback may come a lot sooner than I ever anticipated.
