Archives

Happy monday.

Got started off on the right foot despite 23F temps. My back roads were nearly deserted at 6:15 so I got to play with looong slooow glides for the first time. I think I finally understand what P&G is supposed to look like, and it's amazing how quick the car sheds speed from 40-->30mph but just keeps right on going from 30-->20mph. I'm sure it's partially an illusion due to the low speeds but the distances were still impressive. Brought the tank up from 43.9mpg to 45.6mpg for an estimated 55.4mpg segment. Gotta try and do that every morning...

Hi Tim:

___Ahhhhh, those long Prius II glides and the resultant FE that comes with it … I cannot wait until you see your first bout of pegged 5-minute bars this summer on one of those deserted roads when the only battle you will have is between your right foot and the FCD :D

___28 – 32 degrees and a std. 46.0 over 60 miles for those kind of temps. At 04:00 - 04:45 AM, I don’t have to worry about traffic to much either ;)

___Good Luck

___Wayne

It was sitting right at 32ºF this morning. I had to run the defroster so I could see, but I still managed 50.9MPG on the way to work.

76mpg at 35F - par for me.

Still nursing the tank that started with the double-accident, sitting-still-draining-the-hybrid-battery morning. However, 27ºF on the commute this morning and I've gotten the tank average up to 49.5. There are still three bars showing on the fuel gauge. This might be the first winter for me with tank averages no lower than 50MPG.

Pulled a 56 MPG this morning (30F), bringing the tank up to 53.5 MPG.

Brick,

Try starting your glide from 35 MPH instead of 40 MPH if you get the chance. My experience is winter temps seem to cause some extra drag from the HSD, starting at the lower MPH seems to give a longer glide.

Wayne

I agree with FireEngineer on that one. The cold fluid in the gearbox makes the car feel like it is driving through a foot of water.

My expectation levels are getting too high with the colder weather. I was "upset / frustrated" this morning with my "paltry" 71.2 mpg this morning at 39F; 14-18 mph winds. Where the h@#L are my 80+ mpg segments?

This tank is in serious danger of slipping below 70.0 mpg on the MFD. Currently 70.1 mpg after 466 miles. I know, cry me a river. My only consolation is that it shouldn't be a problem to go 800+ on this tank. Maybe, I can go all year with a 800+ mile tank, each month, all year?

I noticed that I have been letting traffic dictate how fast I should be driving too much lately. I have been trying to push too much on a glide when others are passing me. Note to self, slow down.

I am getting really pi$$ed by all the people that rush around to save 5 seconds at every light. Well, I guess its worth it. Lets see; if I save 5 seconds at every light, I will have saved about 170 seconds. That works out to about to be just under 3 min. Yeah, that's worth it. Why can't they make bluetooth communications between cars possible. I would be cussing like a sailor at some people and telling others to take it easy; I am trying to time the lights. Maybe, I should take it easy; I can feel my blood pressure rising.

BTW, 57 Days until spring ~ 38 driving days.

Chris, you were still less than 5mpg shy of what I got in a 5-speed Insight.

I confess to evil fantasies of 007-devices that shoot out the tires of some aggressive drivers.

Brick, I really envy the deserted back roads you have. P&G all the way!! :)

VABeachPrius, that is insane - you must have an awesome route! Of course not being below freezing helps too. :cool:

50.8 MPG for 6.1 miles into work this morning starting from 37F garage, air temp 23F/clear/calm. Roads 70-80% clear from this weekend's snow, couldn't take corners and downhills at full speed yet. Axed the extra 1-2 MPG I get from minimal EV taxiing around the parking garage because of an awesome spot I found that should let me start at >40F ambient. ;)

This evening I need to run some errands - trip chaining! I hope to break 70 on the first leg.

Hi Tim, Tony, Wayne, Chris and Jerad:

___Instead of absorbing the 400W continuous hit at every stop, have any of you watched via VOM the current draw to boot up the Prius II to ready from dead with the EV switch engaged? I would like to see a comparison between Ready status for maybe a minute w/ the Prius II’s normal – non-moving 400W draw and booting her up from scratch if you were to take her from Ready to the dead state at a long light or parking to ready again? Just thinking out loud and looking for an edge as usual ;)

___Good Luck

___Wayne

58.x mpg and 590 miles on the last tank - this with a 63 mile/71 mpg segment and a 31 mile/71.5 segment. Oh well.

Drove down to the Outer Banks during the weekend. My wife was with me, and she has no patience when I try to do "the gas thing", so it was 61.5 mpg going down. Coming back the temps dropped into the 30's and a pretty stiff headwind resulted in 52.x mpg. I can hardly wait for this tank to come in.

I had 42.1 mpg showing on the SG by the time I got my wife to work this morning and 52.0 by the time I got to work. This afternoon, I got 48.0 going back to pick up my wife and 53.7 by the time I got back home.

Last 2 trips in more detail than most people would probably care about: ;) (OK, so I was a little too optimistic about 70MPG for that first leg, at 40 or 50F it is certainly possible...)

- 61.2 MPG for 11.2 miles (all city), starting ambient temp 37F, air temp 27F, roads clear, light winds, moderate traffic, slightly downhill overall

- 54.4 MPG for 5.3 miles (all city), air temp 27F, starting coolant temp 110F (about 30 minutes after above trip), uphill overall

current tank - 54.9 MPG / 231 miles (showing 5/10 fuel "bars" remaining)

My tank is "up" to 46.3mpg as of this morning. I lost my fourth fuel gauge pip at only 125mi or so. The next fill is going to be uuuuglyyyyy.

I had an acceptable 56.5 MPG on my morning commute with temps around 36ºF.

Wayne

That won't work in the winter temp's. Even if you can re-start and jump into EV, the Prius wants to start the ICE as soon as possible after re-booting because cooling of the engine coolant and cat would require an engine run. And the entrance into EV is more difficult in winter temps because the battery temp and /or SOC may not be in the right range for the battery ECU, especially if the batteries have cold soaked at night temperatures and your running minimal cabin heat.

Wayne

Agree with FireEngineer about the kill/restart at a long light. If starting under about 25F ambient it's hit or miss to get the EV button to engage EV at any point in the first 5-10 miles, much less a true ICE-off glide without an EV button. Also, even if you're in warm temps, won't the restart cause an ICE restart/horribly inefficient open loop period anyway? I thought that was one reason why it's better if you have an errand of less than about 10 minutes to leave the car on rather than take that hit when you're probably already warm. I don't think there's an edge to be gained here. :(

51.6MPG for 6.1 miles into work this morning (37F starting, 18F air temp, light wind). This is slightly better than yesterday at 23F. A possible difference? I was consciously trying to get my pulses up to the bottom of that 1500-2000RPM range that Hobbit has referred to. This results in a throttle pos of ~25 vs my usual ~22/~1300 RPM, and an IMPG roughly 0.8 * MPH vs about MPH. It seems like it should be worse for overall MPG but if the ICE is more efficient in this band....

76mpg at 35F - par for me.

This morning did it again. ;)

I had to run out at lunch. Round trip at 56 MPG with highway driving.

I'll be reporting my tank in the next few days, but it looks like the last one was 46. Thats with about 25F average temps and about 1/3 of the tank being highway. I'm barely able to keep it above 40 for each trip lately though.

My last 3 trips, all city driving...

51.0 / 6.1 miles, starting temp 36F, air temp 23F, clear/calm
68.4 / 11.6 miles, starting coolant temp 100F, air temp 25F, clear/calm (40 minutes after above trip)
57.5 / 11.6 miles, starting coolant temp 82F, air temp 25F (parked outside), clear/calm

tank avg 55.4 / 267 miles / 4 gg bars remaining - for 15-30F winter temps I'll take it! :cool:

Been doing a lot of highway, and it's *finally* gotten cold
around here. I thought I'd land my first sub-50 tank last
weekend after a wikkid-headwind trip to NY state and back
when it was like 16 degrees out, but yesterday some local
errands eked it back up to 50.2 just before the fillup.
Well, with the 1.3% tire error it's probably still sub-50
real life, but at least the visible number didn't start
with 4. Because as I evangelize at people at the shows,
the difference between 49.9 and 50.0 makes or breaks peoples'
days once they drive a prius!
.
_H*

I would be the wrong person to go out and evangelize, then. I'm at about 155mi, only half a of my fuel pips remaining, and the tank is now up to 47.2mpg after this morning's reasonably good trip with the temps lingering around 20F.

Oh, and my anti-frost tarp worked great last night...right until I removed it. I had to pull into a parking lot at the bottom of the hill to defrost for a few moments because it went from clear to dangerous in a matter of 30 seconds. Not good! On the bright side, the defrosting process was very quick without the thick built-up layer so I still think the tarp is worth something. It just isn't the "magic bullet" as I had hoped.

32F this morning. 18.2 miles to work. 70.3 mpg. I started with 70.3 on the MFD and ended with 70.3 mpg on the MFD.

My lifetime average should be up to about 65 mpg after this tank (fill up on 1/31/07). :D

Brick,

I am at 600.4 miles on this tank with three pips remaining. :D

My trip home yesterday was 55.6MPG at 42ºF.

I had to use the defroster this morning with temps around 31ºF. 52.5MPG for the morning commute.

My tank is at 56.8MPG on the MFD. I'm hoping I can get it back over 57. I may have to take some long slow drives. Sunday driving any day of the week!

This morning was better - 78.4mpg. :)

This morning 25F temp and surprisingly little traffic, pulled a 57.3 MPG. Brought the tank up to 54.4MPG with 300 miles.

Wayne

Brick,

I am at 600.4 miles on this tank with three pips remaining. :D

Yeah, you and your stinkin' magic fuel tank. ;) My car is just empathizing with its owner's hatred of cold weather.

57.6MPG with 36ºF temps. Tomorrow morning it's suppose to be 19ºF, so it'll probably be lower. Oh well. My tank is sitting at 56.5MPG right now.

Got 75.4mpg at 35F this morning.

Just squeaked past 48.0mpg for the tank at 199.6mi this morning and just barely hanging on to the fourth pip. That means an estimated 54.0mpg for this morning's segment despite temps in the 20-22F range. Positively frigid weather (single digts and teens) predicted for tonight through tomorrow.

I have been using a different technique for the cold weather, which tends to result in a very high SoC due to extra ICE running. That is, I just go ahead and stealth whenever I'm on terrain where a glide won't quite work. (Level terrain or shallow down-hill segments, generally with traffic behind me.) The extra distance covered without the ICE running (we're probably talking a 25-50% increase) appears to more than make up for the conversion losses under these conditions.

Temps in from single digits to low 20's all week.
This morning it was 6 degrees. My car is always parked outside and I do not have a block heater. Brrrr.

to back
work home
m 69.3 67.2
t 70.5 78.0
w 72.3 73.5
th 72.1

52.2 MPG into work this morning... at 11 degrees! (It got cold again :( ) Starting from garage at 36F, otherwise good conditions. I'm working on timing EV activation (that whole 2 second delay thing with the CoastalETech switch) more closely to when I've started a non-ICE-off glide, instead of going to glide, THEN hitting the switch and getting "true glide" 2 seconds later.

I got 44 at 20F. Blehh. 6 more weeks or so until warmer weather.

I have been using a different technique for the cold weather, which tends to result in a very high SoC due to extra ICE running. That is, I just go ahead and stealth whenever I'm on terrain where a glide won't quite work. (Level terrain or shallow down-hill segments, generally with traffic behind me.) The extra distance covered without the ICE running (we're probably talking a 25-50% increase) appears to more than make up for the conversion losses under these conditions.
Help me out, please, Tim. It may be just a terminology issue. I refer to stealth as electric-only. That would explain longer periods of no-ICE driving as your last sentence describes. But in your previous sentence you say your technique "tends to result in a very high SoC due to extra ICE running." What am I missing?

Filled up this morning with 649.6 miles and 10.095 gal. I was shocked at these results, but then remember being so dissapointed with the last tank coming in at 58 mpg. Then I remembered having to fill up at a different pump than I usually do at the last fill. I'm wondering if the different nozzle at that pump was slower at shutting off than the one I usually use? Averaging both tanks mileage and fuel quantity seems to give a more reasonable result.

Anyone have similar experiences?

Thanks all,

Bob

Averaging both tanks mileage and fuel quantity seems to give a more reasonable result.

Anyone have similar experiences?


Yes, pretty regularly in fact. Variance between gas pumps seems to be pretty large. I've seen one tank be ~50 calculated and the next ~65 with the displayed average in the high 50s for both. Per tank, displayed average is much more consistent, although over ~30 tanks, my overall displayed avg comes out within 2% of overall calculated avg.

Help me out, please, Tim. It may be just a terminology issue. I refer to stealth as electric-only. That would explain longer periods of no-ICE driving as your last sentence describes. But in your previous sentence you say your technique "tends to result in a very high SoC due to extra ICE running." What am I missing?


Sorry, I kinda wrote that backwards...or maybe inside out.

When I start up in the morning it takes a while before the engine will shut off, so it seems to put energy into the pack. For example in warm weather I'll get down my hill and out onto the main drag without the state of charge changing, but if it's below freezing I've seen it charge the battery all the way to its maximum while it idles. Later in the drive everything gets up to temp and it will shut down the ICE when load is sufficiently low. Even though some of that high charge has been used to assist the ICE, there tends to be quite a bit of juice available for electric-only driving at that point. For a little while I'm using up the energy that was stored during warmup. In general I run off of the battery only in situations where power demand is very low. One stretch in particular allows me to stealth at a straight 35-40mph for darned close to a mile without taking much out of the pack since I only need to apply power intermittently to maintain speed.

I have noticed that this seems to work OK later in the drive, too. I'm sure a straight P&G would be better but I have had some success stealthing under low demand conditions (35-40mph down a slight grade or across a brief flat stretch to get to the next downhill) and then using DWL over the hills to keep the drivetrain in such a state that it's driving the wheels and simultaneously trickle charging the battery when demand is higher. This **should** result in worse mileage than trying not to draw off the pack at all, and yet my 5 minute bars tell me a completely different story. I have a feeling that this is the same kind of phenomenon experienced by some of our high-FE Escape pilots who do best when they use the battery for all it's worth. The theory is that using the battery to maintain this kind of gas/electric/gas cycle allows to run at a greater specific fuel efficiency, making up for the conversion losses when you run the wheels with stored electricity. It's almost like Toyota meant for the system to work this way. ;)

I'm sure this is not the right thing to do when you want absolute maximum fuel economy. But it seems like the best approach for maintaining or slightly beating the EPA figures when traffic is a concern. In my case that's 85% of the time.

I was hoping for another decent (40+) tank. The weather has gotten cold here, temps in the 30's and 40's. But a co-worker backed into my car last evening and took the front bumper and right front fender out badly. So, the next couple of tanks are going to be all messed up with me driving with a loose bumper and visits to the body shop, etc. :(

Oh well, got to take what life throws at you with a smile! :)

Hi Tim:

___It sounds like you are DWL downhill under EV attempting to minimize current draw and a hit to the SoC. Very good technique from your description of just that portion of the drive.

___Had a terrible 23.4 mpg segment letting the wife take the Accord to the doctor, lunch, the store and wherever else for 35 miles :( I had to do something about that to help bring the tank back and pulled a wonderful 62.1 mpg - 70 mile segment in 26 – 29 degree F temps with an NPR station director in the passenger seat during a clinic/interview. The route included a quick drive around the outskirts of and then into the bowels of Chicago looking for some bumper to bumper to play some “Dice and Slice” and then back. I was really pushing her hard for that particular passenger I guess ;)

___Way into work this afternoon in 26 - 28 degree F temps and a 10 mph side wind, resulted in a 47.8 mpg segment.

___Good Luck

___Wayne

Sorry, I kinda wrote that backwards...or maybe inside out....
OK, that makes sense now. I try to do things much the same way, although the first leg of my morning commute is a fairly steep (albeit short) uphill, so it usually pulls from the battery despite my best efforts. Once the ICE is warm enough to allow it, I P&G if traffic and road conditions allow. I drive in stealth mode for short spurts (e.g., in parking lots or between closely spaced red lights) if the SoC is high enough.

If traffic doesn't allow true P&G, I sometimes use a modified version by shifting the range upwards a few MPH. In other words, I pulse past the 42 MPH threshold to whatever traffic and safety (and speed limits) allow, maybe even pulling away from the pack to create more gliding room. I'm continually watching my RPM to maintain that "sweet spot." I then warp-stealth and glide down to whatever traffic and safety allow. If gliding down to 30 slows traffic excessively, I again may employ a short period of stealth mode as allowed by terrain and SoC to maintain speed at about 39-40, much like you're describing. Fellow motorists in a 45 MPH zone seem a lot more tolerant of that than 30 MPH.

Thanks for the clarification.

Today started out ~22F. Since I've been parking in my garage that's heated to 45-50F, I decided I may as well start P&G right away. Today, I also started trying to limit my TPS to a max of 10 and it looks like it may have helped. This morning's trip to the wife's work was 51.2 and from there to my work was 53.3. This afternoon the temp was up to 26F and the trip to pick up the wife was into a 10-15 mph headwind:( and I had to work it hard to get 50.7. From there back home the tailwind was good for 56.7. If the trip from her work to home was as long as from my work to hers, I may have been able to crack 60.

3 more trips today:

52.7 MPG / 6.1 miles, start from 36F, air temp 21F
68.5 MPG / 11.6 miles, starting coolant temp 98F, air temp 20F
54.1 MPG / 11.6 miles, starting coolant temp 78F, air temp 20F

overall MPG for these 3 trips 59.6 vs tuesday's 60.5... some poorly hit lights on that last segment brought today's avg down.

OTOH, tank is up to 55.7 for 303 miles. :cool:

Hi Jerad:

___For as cold as it is and the short trips you are taking, you are doing spectacular!

___45.1 in 21 – 24 degree temps as I parked her this morning.

___Good Luck

___Wayne

I've lost a little ground on the tank, starting off from 47.8mpg this morning and winding up at work with 47.7mpg on the clock. Of course, it was 1F and my rough estimate still says I was in the mid 40s. Could be worse! Good chance I'll lose my third pip this afternoon and go in for an early fill to start fresh for the slightly warmer weather.

This was almost the 1st cold weather morning to get an 80mpg+ run.

79.6mpg at 34F.

50.7MPG at 17ºF. I'll take it.

45 at 24F. Now I'm just counting down days until spring ;) Hey, when is the summer blend due out? I want to put it on the calendar.

70 mpg to work at 40F, 50 mpg back home at 55F. 24 miles round trip. Current tank at 54mpg. I am starting to have visions of 60, and then 70 mpg tanks by April. By then, I should be broken in (currently at 2200 miles) and it will be 70F. I'm thinking I can maybe do 85 going in and 55 coming back. Family & weekend highway driving, though, always seems to push it down.

My commute going in is just sickly good now. 12 miles, 4 miles of pulse, 8 miles of coasting, all stop lights. At one point I'm coasting non-stop for nearly 2 miles, waving at all the gassers alongside me from my kick butt soap box derby car. :D I drop 500 feet over those 12 miles.

We have two seasons in Texas, January & Summer. Let season #2 begin! :)

Wayne,

You have set the bar pretty high to have a "wonderful 62.1 mpg - 70 mile segment in 26 – 29 degree F temps with an NPR station director in the passenger seat during a clinic/interview".

Should we scoff at your 55 mpg segments when we know you can do 62.1 mpg? :D

Good work.

Chris

Hi Chris:

___Those super segments don’t come around that often unfortunately :( Her normal is 45’ish in the winter but there are glimpses of greatness when the stars and planets align … Actually it was a drive from 10:00 to 11:45 AM and traffic was flowing so wonderfully through downtown Chicago I could have cried! Given the wife’s little jaunt the day before, the two average out to only 40 mpg and I can see it on the fuel gauge :(

___You, Jerad and Larry are the guys I am watching this week as 50 + in a Saturn and 60 + in a Prius II with < 12 mile drives in below freezing temps + your daily WunderBar commute at 70 + make me look like a gas guzzler … And I am ;)

___JimboK and Skwyre7 are asking good questions and starting to pick it up as well!

___And of course all the Insight’ers kicking all of us in the keester :D

___46.7 with temps from 38 - 44 degrees and 15 -20 mph head/sidewinds this afternoon. I hope the winds hold up and temps stay above freezing for the ride home later tonight to make up for it?

___Good Luck

___Wayne

I drop 500 feet over those 12 miles.

That is just sick. :D You'll have no problem hitting 85 once we get to season #2. What do you do on the way back to still manage 50 - find a different route where it's steeper uphill to begin with, rather than a gradual uphill the whole way?

Today started out at ~17F. I had 50.3 for the first leg of my trip this morning and 50.7 for the second leg. This afternoon, the temps soared:rolleyes: to 39F and I had a decent tailwind on the way to pick up my wife and managed a 58.7. From there, I had to run some errands and unfortunately, they were back into the headwind. After 11.0 miles I barely squeaked out a 50.5. From there back home I had 58.* showing by the time I got backed into my garage. It was at 60+ before I started backing in.:(

Wayne, I still think if you drove my car on my commute the numbers would be 60+. :)

That is just sick. :D You'll have no problem hitting 85 once we get to season #2. What do you do on the way back to still manage 50 - find a different route where it's steeper uphill to begin with, rather than a gradual uphill the whole way?

That's about exactly right. I endure a fairly brutal first 10-15 minutes up a steep incline, and then can consistently hit mid-to-upper 50s segments over the next 20-25 minutes P&Ging over (nearly) flat surfaces. The route back home is about the same distance, about 5 minutes longer, a bit more residential, with significantly less traffic. The early steep incline feels like ripping off a bandaid quickly instead of pulling slowly.

If anybody lives in SW Austin............Davis to Westgate to Lamar is a beautiful thing. :D

Also, I find this page to be extremely helpful.

http://www.earthtools.org/

Choose "Find Elevation/Height Above Sea Level" to plot out your optimum route by elevation change.

That is just sick. :D You'll have no problem hitting 85 once we get to season #2. What do you do on the way back to still manage 50 - find a different route where it's steeper uphill to begin with, rather than a gradual uphill the whole way?

Also, I have yet to compare the "moderate incline" route with the "steep then flat" route, but am anxious to do so sometime soon. The ridiculous amount of traffic on the former route at the end of the work day makes it a bit apples to oranges though. Maybe on a weekend.

Your 55mpg Prius tank in a Madison January gets my tip of the cap. We had Wisconsin weather for one week last week down here, and the 50mpg tanks for me all of a sudden went from "expected" to "hope and a prayer".

http://www.earthtools.org/

Choose "Find Elevation/Height Above Sea Level" to plot out your optimum route by elevation change.

Ohhh... point elevation and contour maps. :woot: I've been looking for something like this for a while. I bet I could almost hack up something to give a one-dimensional elevation graph for a given commute with the data provided here. :cool:

Your 55mpg Prius tank in a Madison January gets my tip of the cap.

Thank you. The most significant difference-maker (and the reason I'm at 55 and not <50) I think is controlling starting temp - it's SO much better to start from even 35 or 40F in a garage than parked outside (assuming it's 20 or colder out). Those 20 degrees do all sorts of nasty things. You'll get in a mode where the slightest tap from a stop will restart the ICE, even though you're at >150F coolant temp and supposedly "fully warmed up". A bunch of us up here are planning to get together for a group block heater install as well - I'm willing to bet that could turn 55 into 60+ even in these temps. I could go on about how cold weather kills you, but I'm sure many here already know this all too well. :(

This has been an interesting week. As reported last week (IIRC) my last tank started out in the mid-60s. Predictably, the temperature drop and my relatively short full-time commutes dropped it. The MFD showed about 57 MPG when I filled up Thursday night. With the cold temps I expected the bladder to take less fuel and produce a higher calculated MPG (which is what I use for the CleanMPG and GreenHybrid databases). But surprisingly it took more than expected, producing a calculated MPG of 54.7. Darn it! I was looking forward to my CleanMPG database average inching past the Hypermiler threshold. Oh, well, it will get there. It still was my fifth 500+ mile tank in a row. And I've managed so far to maintain a goal I've set for myself for the winter: keep each tank's MPG higher than my lifetime average. Last winter after I first got the car I was getting tanks in the low to mid-40s, so whether it's 55 or 57, I'm pleased.

One of my full-time commute routes is from my fiancee's house. She lives on a hilly two-lane road in what just a few years ago was a rural part of the county. Her immediate "neighborhood" still has a rural flavor, but the road carries a moderate volume of commuter traffic from subdivisions further out. Out of her driveway, I turn right and then face a short but moderately steep hill. Looking to the left before turning, there is a hillcrest maybe 300-400 yards away. With the volume of commuter traffic, I always stop completely at the end of the driveway to make sure no vehicles are coming over that crest; I want as much time as possible to crawl up the hill after pulling out of the driveway and I don't want to impede traffic. I watch my mirror after I turn to check for vehicles cresting the hill. If I see any, I pick up the acceleration rate moderately, not flooring it but not driving like grandma (the latter being my usual style these days!).

Well, Thursday morning as soon as I turned onto the road, a large van (E350, I think) appeared in my mirror. I did my usual acceleration routine, but that apparently was insufficient for him. He rapidly approached and seemingly braked only at the last minute. He rode my a** until I crested the hill, then passed me. (Legally; there is a broken yellow line on the downhill side.) Good, I thought, let him be on his way. Well he apparently had taken great offense at my pace. As soon as he passed me and pulled back into my lane, he braked hard and almost stopped. That's the first time I've had to seriously test the Prius' ABS system, and it worked like a charm. My immediate thought was, he wants to get out and seek revenge with his fists (or worse). So I'm quickly thinking, I hope there's no oncoming traffic in the opposite lane, because that's my only escape route. But I can't see that lane due to the size and proximity of the van. Fortunately, he quickly picked up his pace again and sped on his way. I'm convinced now that he was trying to make me rear-end him. It was an old van, and he probably thought he had little to lose and everything to gain: feigned neck injury, lawsuit, new vehicle, revenge, etc.

OK, a couple more items and then I'll shut up. After Thursday evening's fillup, I made a cross-town drive to one of my part time gigs. With a warm engine and favorable route, that trip was over 70 MPG. The commute home later in the evening was with a cooler engine of course, but it was fun afterward to see the tank MPG in the mid-60s in the midst of some of the coldest weather of the season. Friday was another cross-town commute to a different part time site. A little less favorable route, but my daily MPG was still in the high 50s.

This was almost the 1st cold weather morning to get an 80mpg+ run.

79.6mpg at 34F.

Lunchtime made up for it. A co-worker decided to go out to lunch but he drove his motorcycle. It was only 2-3 miles away and the mpg was 43. Funny - His Harley has a 1200cc engine - 205cc more than my Insight. :D

Hi JimboK:

___Great description of your route and experiences! That hypermiler status is now just a single tank away if you can keep up the intensity.

___46.1 home last night in 32 - 35 degree temps. A wicked 42.6 coming into work with 20 - 25 mph side winds the whole way :(

___Good Luck

___Wayne

Great description of your route and experiences! That hypermiler status is now just a single tank away if you can keep up the intensity.

Thanks, Wayne. I thought it was just a single tank away after this last fillup, though. Now I think it's not so much my intensity but that of the cold weather that dictates. We had a brief break yesterday - daytime high of 64 - but winter is due back tomorrow.

The timing of yesterday's respite was good. I ran several errands during the day, and my fiancee and I drove across town to take my parents out for dinner last night. She would not have tolerated my limited use of cabin heat in sub-freezing temps!

Anyway, the current tank sits at about 59. It will drop this week with my short commutes.

Speaking of commutes, I have several and have never fully described them. I won't take time now; I'm headed out shortly to the trails of the nearby state park to try to work off some Christmas dinners (some from years ago!) from around my midsection. Later this afternoon I'll see if I can post some route descriptions in the "Start Your Journey Here" forum.

Hi All:

___I had one of those rare battle for every drop runs last night. 20 + mph head and side winds, snow squalls and 16 - 17 degree temps when I left work last night. I was not even over 40.0 by the time I approached O’Hare from the south. Then all of a sudden the wind shifted 180 degrees but slowed while the snow picked up. The car picked back up and I was like WTF? That lasted all of 7 or 8 miles and then the strong side winds took over again … Pulled into the drive at 40.4 mpg and barely made that. Tank is shot but boy was that segment close to my absolute drop dead minimum … That was close!

___Good Luck

___Wayne

Ugh, similar-type day for me, with a number of short trips that I can usually break even on... but not today.

- 47.0 for 4.6 miles, not driving anywhere in 2.5 days prior meant for a truly cold start... but I also seemed to miss every light, including one at the start of an uphill.

- 58.0 for 6.1 miles, on a fantastic route I've pulled 85 on in the summer and should've been able to get near 70 even at 20F. Unfortunately I needed to defrost for the first 3 minutes of this trip. :( Here's the route profile to give you an idea of how much I like it - it's a 100-foot drop over those 6 miles. :)
http://jdp.sent.com/elev2.jpg

- 40.7 for 0.6 miles where EVing the whole thing was possible, except I only started from 4 bars, once I hit 2 the EV auto-canceled. Ugh. Still better than the 25-30 it would've been without the EV button.

- 43.6 for 5.3 miles, this one is usually low 50s due to a net uphill, but of course I was (re)charging from 2 bars to start with.

Tank now at 55.3/320 miles, still hanging on to 3 pips.

Got my cats (and foster cats) vaccinated today at the mobile vet - five of them.

You would think "with a tiger in my tank" the FE would be great, but my Insight got 52mpg on a round trip of two or so miles.

http://www.spencerthelion.com/images/spencer-roar.jpg

Spencer, my boss cat did not go in a carrier, but he was not as pictured. Instead of being like Mustafa, he was like the cowardy lion of Oz. :o

Hi All:

___Had tail winds for some of the drive in this afternoon but not enough to make up for the times when it was blasting me from the direct side. At least it was 22 – 23 degrees F. Result was a lousy 42.6. What the hell is going on in Northern Illinois right now w/ these 20 + mph winds??? It is supposed to be around 10 degrees F and 10 – 15 mph head/sidewinds when I leave tonight. Oh how I cannot wait to deal with that all over again :(

___Good Luck

___Wayne

My wife and I took a trip up to Silver Spring, MD to visit friends this weekend. We were pressed for time getting up there (and getting back, actually), so I was forced to drive like the rest of the drivers on I-95. There were times when I could slow down to the speed limit, but I was quickly pushed back to speeding by traffic. ~270 miles round trip (using the heat) was about 51.5 MPG. I was a little surprised to be that high, but I'm definitely not complaining.