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Hello ALL,

I just purchased a 2007 Prius. My first tank I averaged a little over 41MPG. I tried the P & G technique with little success. What other techniques can I try?:confused:

Check the air in your tires.

What is your commute like? What is the terrain like? How long is your drive. Any details of your commute will be helpful.

My commute is mostly city driving on flat roads with lots of lights. Short trips mostly between 1 to 5 miles with an occasional 20 mile drive. Air pressure I have set for 42 PSI in fronts and 40 PSI in the rears.

Sounds like distance is the killer for you. Your car won't even be warmed up by then. Depending on the temperature a block heater might help you get your car warmed up for the drive.

Can you combine your trips and go to the farthest location first and hit the others on the way back?

That is what I thought. I don't always have long distances. Maybe once a week. I guess I am goint to have to live with that. Is there a way to boost the MPG on the highway?

Try to slow down. The slower you can go the better. I try to ride between the minimum and maximum speed limits, but many people feel that is extreem. Try to drive as close to the speed limit as you can. Keep the windows rolled up.

Drive with load. That is when you are going up hills don't accelerate, keep the gas pedal in what ever spot it was at when you were cruising and let the car slow down if it has to. You will pick up speed after you go over it to get back to your cruising speed.

Welcome! Tom has already given you some very good advice. Given your 1-5 mile trips in the city, I would say your first priority should be not to stress too much about the first few tanks. You CAN improve your fuel economy using these techniques that Tom has described. Just keep at it and give it time for both car and driver to "break in."

City driving in a Prius is pretty straight-forward in concept. The goal is to minimize the number of times that you have to use the brakes (this means planning ahead for lights and traffic), and minimize your use of the internal combustion engine (we generally just use the acronym ICE) at times when it won't run efficiently. Your Prius will pretty much handle the last bit for you, so you can focus on lights and traffic. P&G is one way you can step in and do the Prius' job better than it can, but I think that can come later. You really should be comfortable with light and traffic timing before you add that level of complication, at least in my opinion.

Highway driving in a Prius is fairly straight-forward too. The lower your speed, the better your fuel economy. 55mph is better than 65mph, 65mph is better than 70mph. One very experienced Prius driver, krousdb (Dan Kroushl), has said that on a level road you can pretty much expect a Prius to do 65mpg at 55mph, 60mpg at 60mph, and 55mpg at 65mph. That's not exact, but a good rule of thumb. Fuel consumption increases precipitously above about 70.

Things get a little tougher when you encounter major hills on the highway, but there are ways to handle them, too. Tom mentioned Driving w/ the Load (DWL) which serves to keep the engine from working too hard while you climb the hill. It's efficiency is consistently high in the lower RPM ranges but you start to burn more fuel for less benefit as it gets out of that zone. I installed a tachometer to keep tabs on it but your certainly don't have to. As a good rule of thumb, if the engine sounds "happy" (relatively smooth, not strained) then you are probably just fine. If it sounds "angry" (raspy, rough, loud) you are most likely pushing it too hard to get decent efficiency.

If you have the will to learn, the fuel economy will come naturally. Just keeping track and glancing at the instant FE number on your display is a great start. (Just don't forget to pay attention to traffic from time to time. ;) ) As always, stay safe and don't forget about the other drivers on the road!

Thanks Tim and Tom for all your input. As of now I only have 415 miles on my Prius and I have to keep in mind that there is a BREAK-IN period. I will practice all the tips that the both of you have given me and if there is more I would love to hear about them. Hopefully as I become experienced I will be able to contribute as the both of you do. If there is anything more I can do please let me know. Thanks again!:) !!

Focus on one thing at a time. Sometimes trying to do everything all the time is a bad idea. Pick a technique and find out when it works and doesn't work in your commute. Then pick another technique.

Remember, all these techniques are tools. You have to familiarize yourself as to when they make sense to use.

Welcome to CleanMPG!
I have to keep in mind that there is a BREAK-IN period.
For the car AND the driver. For me, the driver has taken a lot longer to break in. I'm still refining techniques I started applying a little less than a year ago, and results continue to improve. Be patient as you practice, and good luck!