Prius--my view - Page 8

lillucas · 09-09-2004, 10:00 PM

The average is now 49 MPG (from greenhybrid.com)

greenhybrid · 09-09-2004, 10:04 PM

Ah. Aaaaah. AAAACHOOOO!
http://greenhybrid.com/compare/mileage/
*sniff*

greenhybrid · 09-09-2004, 10:13 PM

Only 1 driver out of 73 fails to average over 40 MPG.

mauleskyrocket · 09-10-2004, 07:12 AM

Guys, the mileage you quote is NOT the mileage promoted on the car. 60 is not 48! My TDI could get mileage in your league and it was WAY OVER the promoted mileage. Stop dreaming.

VARedDevil · 09-10-2004, 02:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mauleskyrocket

I hope I do not anger because it is not my purpose. Here are facts re my car:
1) The mileage figures are nonsense. If you use the air (90F) and if you do not become a road hazard---you get about 38 mpg.
2) You only get the advertised mileage if you use no air --stay under 60--and accelerate so slowly that the CVT hits its highpoint very early and you are a road hazard.
3) With an 11 gallon tank--aside from fuel cost--your range is not as good as a Lexus with a big tank and a 22mpg cruise.
4) A VW TDI is definitely better if you want good mileage with normal driving.
5) The fuel consumption readout drives one crazy.
6) People with Kerry stickers think you are like them.
Well I own one---but!

I have to recommend that you take your Prius back to the dealership and have it looked at. Here's what my wife's Prius gets on her 132 mile round trip commute, in vehicle temp set at 75 degrees (air comes on when necessary): 51.7 mpg. Her commute consists of approximately 30 miles I-95 at 65-70 mph, and 36 miles of 4-lane parkway at approx. 45 mph until the last 5-7 miles, then it's rush-hour stop and go. (Washington DC area). She uses a tank of gas a week...not too shabby, I'd say.

Don't have any Kerry sticker, you couldn't pay me enough to put one on anything I own. Don't care for greenpeace treehuggers either. Got the car for the gas mileage and for the fact that you can take the HOV lanes in Viginia with a hybrid car. Saves my wife about 30-45 mins in her commute.

mauleskyrocket · 09-10-2004, 04:20 PM

I think that your figures make sense and I agree that 50 mpg is a very nice average if someone is driving in a normal manner. If the air conditioning were set to 68 in a hotter more southern climate---my guess would be 48-49. That is still very good.

VARedDevil · 09-10-2004, 06:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mauleskyrocket

I think that your figures make sense and I agree that 50 mpg is a very nice average if someone is driving in a normal manner. If the air conditioning were set to 68 in a hotter more southern climate---my guess would be 48-49. That is still very good.

I agree. Although "normal" driving is subjective. I probably wouldn't get the same gas mileage that my wife gets. I'm used to that V-8 I have in my Avalanche. So my medeocre gas mileage of 16/18 mpg that I get is more then offset by what she gets. I still recommend you take yours in though. The A/C is not operated by the gas motor, but electrically. Our temperature in the Northern VA region averages right up around 90 during the summer. They call this the south...definitely not the deep south though. I think you should be getting much better than 38 mpg even setting your temp at 68 and driving in 90+ temps outside. IMHO.

Hot_Georgia · 09-10-2004, 08:08 PM

Hi, this is my first post on this site.

I've owned an 04 Honda Civic Hybrid since January and given the real owners data of all 3 hybrid cars at greenhybrid.com there is a large difference in individual performance.

All the regular ICE cars I've ever owned had a ~10MPG difference if driven hard Vs. conservatively. My Grand Caravan spread is about 7MPG.

Now my HCH is very much different....I can drive like a bat out of hell and get about 35MPG, or on the other extreme I've gottem about 66MPG which is a whopping 30MPG difference. I always average 55-59MPG ~730 mile tanks.
I assume Prius is similar in regards to the MPG spread.

I think some people who buy hybrid cars expect the car to magically do it all...just hop in and gass it like we always did.

I see alot of parallels with the diet food industry.
Someone can spend money on the expensive diet food.
But they don't do their part...they don't exersize or seek advice, and they still remain fat.
They begin to blame the food, write letters to the FDA and publish articles slamming the diet food industry about false claims.

On the other hand someone else buys the same diet food, does his part with exersize and advice...He has wonderful results.

No, you don't have to drive as a road hazard as slow speed is not where great MPG is found. It is a technique that can be learned and even transfered over to your regular ICE vehicles.

Although in that case you'll gain far less MPG than you would in a hybrid car

Thanks for your time.

mauleskyrocket · 09-10-2004, 09:01 PM

You are obviously from the South. Your post is the most accurate on this Board. It was why I started the thread. I was trying to say that my TDI could be driven normal (normal to me means---pass occasionaly--drive in the passing lane---cruise a little above the limit---etc) in short drive my car and enjoy and RESPECT it but not let it drive me. My Prius was a disgrace. Yes I could get excellent mpg but I had to let the car drive me! Light on the pedal so the cvt shifted up quick so the damned guage showed good mileage---watch the air--don't cruise at 80----in short a bore . I am not knocking the car but I feel it is for a an odd driver (no anger here but like Arnold would say a "girlie man") And then those idiotic Kerry stickers. If I did not personally know the guy it would not bother me so much. He IS a jerk.

VARedDevil · 09-11-2004, 07:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mauleskyrocket

You are obviously from the South. Your post is the most accurate on this Board. It was why I started the thread. I was trying to say that my TDI could be driven normal (normal to me means---pass occasionaly--drive in the passing lane---cruise a little above the limit---etc) in short drive my car and enjoy and RESPECT it but not let it drive me. My Prius was a disgrace. Yes I could get excellent mpg but I had to let the car drive me! Light on the pedal so the cvt shifted up quick so the damned guage showed good mileage---watch the air--don't cruise at 80----in short a bore . I am not knocking the car but I feel it is for a an odd driver (no anger here but like Arnold would say a "girlie man") And then those idiotic Kerry stickers. If I did not personally know the guy it would not bother me so much. He IS a jerk.

You're right, Kerry is a jerk...but that's another thread..LOL

The Prius is not a "normal" car and therefore it isn't driven "normal". You're right, in order to get close to the mpg figures, you have to drive the car the way it wants you to drive it, and that could be boring...but then again, unless I'm driving my HOG to work, the daily commute is boring no matter which car/truck I'm driving. My wife is actually having fun driving it. Unfortunately, people put too much into the EPA figures. The way they derive those numbers are not real-world. The run computer simulations based on gaseous output from the exhaust at various RPMs and "speeds". They need to do real-world, get out and drive the vehicles, but I fear their staff is not big enough to do that, so they use the computer simulation labs. Whenever you buy a car, no matter what it is, always use the EPA figures as what they are, an estimate. If you get close to them, consider yourself lucky, if you go over them, consider yourself really fortunate, but if you go under, don't sweat it. It doesn't mean the vehicle is bad...I don't put much faith in the EPA numbers anyway. Like I said, if I got close to them, I'd be very happy, but mainly I got the car because they are allowed to use the express lanes in Viginia without having 2-3 people in the car.

lillucas · 09-13-2004, 12:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mauleskyrocket

Guys, the mileage you quote is NOT the mileage promoted on the car. 60 is not 48! My TDI could get mileage in your league and it was WAY OVER the promoted mileage. Stop dreaming.

60 isnt the promoted mileage

its 60 city, 51 highway
48 is pretty close to the highway estimate... and i believe the EPA's highway value is 50mph. Sooo... we'll have to see what the average is that most people drive around in. For me.. most of the roads here are 45 MPH. That would mean my mpg would be closer to the EPA's highway estimate even though I consider myself not to be on the highway at all. Therefore, 48 mpg is not so far away from the EPA's 51 mpg.

lillucas · 09-13-2004, 01:01 AM

"Vehicles are driven over identical driving patterns by professional drivers in controlled laboratory on a dynamometer. Road forces and aerodynamic forces are theoretically accounted for in the test. The city test is 7.5 miles long and is a stop and go trip with an average speed of about 20 miles per hour (mph). The trip lasts 23 minutes and has 18 stops. About 18 percent of the time is spent idling, as if waiting for traffic lights. A short freeway driving segment is included in the test. The engine is initially started after being parked overnight. The highway is a 10 mile trip with an average speed of 48 mph. The vehicle is started "hot" with little idling and no stops. Fuel economy values are calculated from the emissions generated during the tests using a carbon balance equation after measuring the carbon compounds expelled in the exhaust."

So its not that people don't get the EPA's Values. It depends on what speed you are going at. 80 mph on the highway is different than 48mph on the highway.

mauleskyrocket · 10-03-2004, 05:11 PM

Oh baby! You could have been at Taladega today. No electric mobiles or Kerry voters there!

mauleskyrocket · 11-24-2004, 08:12 AM

This amplifies a similar prior post. I just returned from a 1,000 mile trip in my SAAB (32mpg) and 80 mph most of the way. Again I must have seen 50 Prius(s)---ALL---I mean ALL driving in the right (slow lane) and below traffic speed. Why?????They are trying to get the mileage on their sticker and can't do much better than my SAAB if they go 80. What a complete farce. A car for the Liberals.

CaptainApollo · 12-04-2004, 05:40 PM

I think you've taken this waaay to much politically and personally. It's not fair to bash the Prius when you think its supported so much by liberals and you yourself are conservative. My friend has seen Prius flying at 90 from Columbia to St Louis so I doubt the validity of your statements as you are incredibly biased and right-winged. This will be the last post I will bother to write regarding this topic, which is a complete farse. Regarding your own mpg and your own experiences, you never brought forth evidence that you took the necessary precautions to improve fuel economy by carefully inspecting all the factors that lead to poor gas mileage. Who cares if all the other Prius are in the slow lane? They'll still be using less gas than you (www.greenhybrid.com) and polluting a lot less. yay conservatives.. only care about money and nothing else, like our environment or future.

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