abcdpeterson
01-09-2009, 01:48 PM
Our Florida vacation was Great. The info I got from people here helped a lot with our vacation.
:Banane27:
I wanted to share some of my Vacation Prius experience. And besides not too many of my friends and coworkers want to hear about the Prius and hypermiling. (chuckle)
That Free Beer in the title get your interest? lol
I started with:
Anyone have vacation advice for south Florida? (http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18171)
Along with other tips, that is where the tip for the Free Beer came from. :D
So, if you find yourself in Sea World or Busch Gardens head for the Hospitality building, you can try what Anheuser-Busch has to offer for Free.
The car:
This car is worth the price.
-It had over 30k miles and was holding up great.
-Just the right amount of smooth ride with firm handling.
-Fairly quiet,
-Lot more cargo space, more then you would think.
-Lots of great compartments for storage.
-Surprising amount of power.
I was comfortable but the car is not ideal for a taller person. I am just over 6ft.
Visibility could have been better if I could have lowered the seat.
Even if you’re not a hypermiler I think many people would be happy with this car.
A non-hypermiler may be happy getting close to the cars EPA mileage.
But… With a little understanding the workings of the car and how to use it to achieve better FE, everyone should be able to meet or beat EPA
This car would make a great example of the need to making FE driving a required part of drivers education.
We were able to hit mid 50’s for mpg quickly and easily. I can easily see a hypermiler familiar with the car could constantly get much better mileage.
The car changed the way I look at hybrids.
I used to look at hybrids as a way to get some of the benefits of an electric car.
Now…
I see hybrids as a car that helps put hypermiling techniques to work for everyone.
Examples of hypermiling techniques a Hybrid can do for you:
-turn off the engine during a glide.
-turn off the engine when stopped.
-help run engine at it’s optimal speed for FE.
And if there is not a hypermiler at the wheel a Hybrid attempts to
-recoup some of the energy most drivers thrown away during breaking.
Here is us and Our luggage for the week. Everyone was comfortable for the week. All the luggage fit behind the back seat without blocking my view out the back.
Also important to note, All our MPG numbers were with the car loaded down.
http://i416.photobucket.com/albums/pp242/abcdpeterson/Web%20Posts/floridarental.jpg
ya not a flattering photo is it.
More about My experience in the Prius:
When we got to Florida I was pleasantly surprised to find Alamo rental had a Prius and I was able to change our rental to the Prius.
I was not prepared for the Prius so I posted asking for advice.
On Vacation and Looking for quick (beginner?) advice for the Toyota Prius. (http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18416)
Advice came quick, even a phone call just as I was pulling into a rest stop.
This Post from Wayne ended up being the best advice.
Hi Allen:
___Not only were you lucky, you are going to have more fun driving the Prius than you are probably going to have on vacation. I am saying that meaning in 10-years, I bet someone will ask about the vacation and the first thing that comes to mind will be “I drove Prius” :D
___Stay away from B. Learn to glide off the energy screen (no arrows). Since you are probably not SG-II equipped, when you know its warmed up, stop fully somewhere until the ICE shuts down and you know you are in a solid S4.
___Around town, gently P&G. During any acceleration, do not allow Loop currents by avoiding the small MGSet mimic to show power to the wheels on the energy screen. Only engine to the wheels and engine through the MGSet back to the pack and you will find it golden :)
___Good Luck and enjoy your week long vacation in the warm weather!
___Wayne
Once I had found out what “S4” and “mimic” was referring to, this became the foundation I worked off.
It is unbelievable how far this car will go during a glide.
-Tank #1 (8.758 gallons)
I thought I was doing OK with the first trips getting about 48mpg.
Then those tips came in.
My daughter and I got to work with the tips. Advances came quickly.
Mileage went up steadily, and at the end of the 2nd day most every trip was hitting over 50mpg and we were closing in on 60mpg on some trips.
1st tank ended up at 51.724mpg
-Tank #2 (9.402 gallons)
We hit some tough traffic around Miami and Key Largo. Also had to keep to a closer time schedule, so we were hitting speeds closer to the posted limit, even when posted was 70.
On the plus side we were starting to hit segments in the 70+mpg range.
We thought that was great. But then at the very end of that tank we got out of traffic and our time schedule lightened up a bit.
We started seeing segments in the 90+mpg range!! (See photo’s :D )
2nd tank ended up at 54.361mpg, but we now knew there was much better to be had.
I found this trick helped with FE at higher speeds. Anyone know what technique I might have been hitting on?
**I was surprised to finding at 66mph and using the cars energy screen I could get the car to settle in at 65mpg for a several miles.
What I was doing – I would hit 66mph with the ICE sending power to the wheels and the battery pack. Then, back off slowly until the electric power going to the wheels would start cutting in and out (kind of flickering). Once I hit that point I found I could even give it just an ever so “tiny” bit of gas and it would hold speed and mpg until something happened. Unfortunately the “something” that would happen did not have to be much. A small hill, a large draft from a truck would knock me out of that sweet spot.
Points of pride during that 2nd tank:
Thought I had done good with this segment.
http://i416.photobucket.com/albums/pp242/abcdpeterson/Web%20Posts/Allen-1-2-9-ap-2.jpg
Then!!! I was tired and had a couple beers, so My Daughter drove us to the hotel.
She did a great job of dealing with the Friday night traffic on the island of Captiva, and easily turned out this segment.
http://i416.photobucket.com/albums/pp242/abcdpeterson/Web%20Posts/Beth-1-2-9-ap-2.jpgI just now found you can see the tank mileage in the photo.
At that point we had almost 300 miles at almost 60mpg.
Here we are proud of our achievement. :)
http://i416.photobucket.com/albums/pp242/abcdpeterson/Web%20Posts/DSC00459.jpg
-Tank #3 (1.619 – top off before returning the car)
Last chance to hit it.
141.8 miles with only 1 or 2 stops.
87.585mpg!!! :D
That is not much gas in the last top off tank, so you could easily argue the MPG number could be off. I definitely feel it is in the right range. I was turning in more and more segments in that range, I just needed one good shot to prove I could turn those segments into a full trip.
http://www.cleanmpg.com/garage/images/2750.png
Fueleconomy.gov thinks that 87mpg is an error :D
http://i416.photobucket.com/albums/pp242/abcdpeterson/Web%20Posts/Priusfueleconomygov.jpg
:Banane27:
I wanted to share some of my Vacation Prius experience. And besides not too many of my friends and coworkers want to hear about the Prius and hypermiling. (chuckle)
That Free Beer in the title get your interest? lol
I started with:
Anyone have vacation advice for south Florida? (http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18171)
Along with other tips, that is where the tip for the Free Beer came from. :D
So, if you find yourself in Sea World or Busch Gardens head for the Hospitality building, you can try what Anheuser-Busch has to offer for Free.
The car:
This car is worth the price.
-It had over 30k miles and was holding up great.
-Just the right amount of smooth ride with firm handling.
-Fairly quiet,
-Lot more cargo space, more then you would think.
-Lots of great compartments for storage.
-Surprising amount of power.
I was comfortable but the car is not ideal for a taller person. I am just over 6ft.
Visibility could have been better if I could have lowered the seat.
Even if you’re not a hypermiler I think many people would be happy with this car.
A non-hypermiler may be happy getting close to the cars EPA mileage.
But… With a little understanding the workings of the car and how to use it to achieve better FE, everyone should be able to meet or beat EPA
This car would make a great example of the need to making FE driving a required part of drivers education.
We were able to hit mid 50’s for mpg quickly and easily. I can easily see a hypermiler familiar with the car could constantly get much better mileage.
The car changed the way I look at hybrids.
I used to look at hybrids as a way to get some of the benefits of an electric car.
Now…
I see hybrids as a car that helps put hypermiling techniques to work for everyone.
Examples of hypermiling techniques a Hybrid can do for you:
-turn off the engine during a glide.
-turn off the engine when stopped.
-help run engine at it’s optimal speed for FE.
And if there is not a hypermiler at the wheel a Hybrid attempts to
-recoup some of the energy most drivers thrown away during breaking.
Here is us and Our luggage for the week. Everyone was comfortable for the week. All the luggage fit behind the back seat without blocking my view out the back.
Also important to note, All our MPG numbers were with the car loaded down.
http://i416.photobucket.com/albums/pp242/abcdpeterson/Web%20Posts/floridarental.jpg
ya not a flattering photo is it.
More about My experience in the Prius:
When we got to Florida I was pleasantly surprised to find Alamo rental had a Prius and I was able to change our rental to the Prius.
I was not prepared for the Prius so I posted asking for advice.
On Vacation and Looking for quick (beginner?) advice for the Toyota Prius. (http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18416)
Advice came quick, even a phone call just as I was pulling into a rest stop.
This Post from Wayne ended up being the best advice.
Hi Allen:
___Not only were you lucky, you are going to have more fun driving the Prius than you are probably going to have on vacation. I am saying that meaning in 10-years, I bet someone will ask about the vacation and the first thing that comes to mind will be “I drove Prius” :D
___Stay away from B. Learn to glide off the energy screen (no arrows). Since you are probably not SG-II equipped, when you know its warmed up, stop fully somewhere until the ICE shuts down and you know you are in a solid S4.
___Around town, gently P&G. During any acceleration, do not allow Loop currents by avoiding the small MGSet mimic to show power to the wheels on the energy screen. Only engine to the wheels and engine through the MGSet back to the pack and you will find it golden :)
___Good Luck and enjoy your week long vacation in the warm weather!
___Wayne
Once I had found out what “S4” and “mimic” was referring to, this became the foundation I worked off.
It is unbelievable how far this car will go during a glide.
-Tank #1 (8.758 gallons)
I thought I was doing OK with the first trips getting about 48mpg.
Then those tips came in.
My daughter and I got to work with the tips. Advances came quickly.
Mileage went up steadily, and at the end of the 2nd day most every trip was hitting over 50mpg and we were closing in on 60mpg on some trips.
1st tank ended up at 51.724mpg
-Tank #2 (9.402 gallons)
We hit some tough traffic around Miami and Key Largo. Also had to keep to a closer time schedule, so we were hitting speeds closer to the posted limit, even when posted was 70.
On the plus side we were starting to hit segments in the 70+mpg range.
We thought that was great. But then at the very end of that tank we got out of traffic and our time schedule lightened up a bit.
We started seeing segments in the 90+mpg range!! (See photo’s :D )
2nd tank ended up at 54.361mpg, but we now knew there was much better to be had.
I found this trick helped with FE at higher speeds. Anyone know what technique I might have been hitting on?
**I was surprised to finding at 66mph and using the cars energy screen I could get the car to settle in at 65mpg for a several miles.
What I was doing – I would hit 66mph with the ICE sending power to the wheels and the battery pack. Then, back off slowly until the electric power going to the wheels would start cutting in and out (kind of flickering). Once I hit that point I found I could even give it just an ever so “tiny” bit of gas and it would hold speed and mpg until something happened. Unfortunately the “something” that would happen did not have to be much. A small hill, a large draft from a truck would knock me out of that sweet spot.
Points of pride during that 2nd tank:
Thought I had done good with this segment.
http://i416.photobucket.com/albums/pp242/abcdpeterson/Web%20Posts/Allen-1-2-9-ap-2.jpg
Then!!! I was tired and had a couple beers, so My Daughter drove us to the hotel.
She did a great job of dealing with the Friday night traffic on the island of Captiva, and easily turned out this segment.
http://i416.photobucket.com/albums/pp242/abcdpeterson/Web%20Posts/Beth-1-2-9-ap-2.jpgI just now found you can see the tank mileage in the photo.
At that point we had almost 300 miles at almost 60mpg.
Here we are proud of our achievement. :)
http://i416.photobucket.com/albums/pp242/abcdpeterson/Web%20Posts/DSC00459.jpg
-Tank #3 (1.619 – top off before returning the car)
Last chance to hit it.
141.8 miles with only 1 or 2 stops.
87.585mpg!!! :D
That is not much gas in the last top off tank, so you could easily argue the MPG number could be off. I definitely feel it is in the right range. I was turning in more and more segments in that range, I just needed one good shot to prove I could turn those segments into a full trip.
http://www.cleanmpg.com/garage/images/2750.png
Fueleconomy.gov thinks that 87mpg is an error :D
http://i416.photobucket.com/albums/pp242/abcdpeterson/Web%20Posts/Priusfueleconomygov.jpg