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Aaaaaannnndddd.....go

My week started off with a massive waste of fuel. Not the kind you get from driving poorly or getting caught at too many red lights, either. No, instead I decided to take my laptop home with me on Friday since I left early and didn't want to short-change my employer on time. Bad move. I was up half the night because our new kitty is either having too much fun or no fun at all...hard to say...and kept running around making a racket. So, after arriving at work and placing my badge on the card reader, it dawned on me that I was missing something: the one device that I rely upon. So I went in, told our admin that I would be back in an hour, and commuted again. What a waste of time. I was so p**** at myself that I nearly didn't go back.

Other noteworty events: Saw a coyote up close for the first time in my life. Right before he decided that it would be fun to run directly into the road. He got through but only just. Really pretty animal, though.

I learned that a Prius can out-accelerate a Nissan Versa if necessary.

And I learned the fastest way to get a Prius from S3 to S4: pull a hill at 75 and don't stop until the minivan on your tail is but a distant memory.

On a much more positive note, I learned that there is intelligent life in my town. There's one woman...she must be in her 70s...whom I've seen riding her bike in the morning during warmer weather. Today it was 25F and I saw her riding again, albeit not until the sun had come up. I hope she lives another 70 years.

I've been very consistent these last couple of days

43.6MPG - 9.8 miles
41.4 - 9.9
43.8 - 41

Off to a rough start with 140 miles of Interstate Driving in cool (~40 degree) weather. I was sitting at 52.3 MPG at 146 miles on the tank to start.

After 2 round trips on my regular commute I'm up to 54.3 mpg and am optimistic I can get it up to my lifetime average by the end of the tank. A lot of rainy but warmer (60s) weather predicted for the week, so we'll see.

edit:
As of this afternoon I'm showing 55.9...4 pips left on the gas guage so I'm optimistic I should be able to get up to 58-60mpg depending upon how the rest of the week goes.

49 mpg for the drive into work this am. 65f, very slight tail wind.

psy

83.4 to work. Tank is sitting at 68.4 / 610 miles / just hit 1 pip. 70 ain't gonna happen this time around, but I am extremely pleased with 68ish.

My first tank driving blindly out of the gate 3 months ago was 41.6 in 60F temps. After 3 months of learning, my mileage is up 64% in the same 60F temps. By my calculations, that's a savings of $350+ a year. To whom do I send my check? :)

100mpg to work is gonna fall soon. Got 95 last week.....oh so close :). I have my camera ready. I may have to go into work sweaty to do it. A small, small price to pay. :)

mparrish,
You've made some excellent improvement in your gas mileage. Since Wayne is probably too modest to accept that $350 check, you can instead send it to: Eric Powers at ...... :)

I can't wait to see that 100mpg photo of yours!

o.k. on to my commute.
No car pooler this morning and probably won't have one for a while. Good for mpg, not so good for the environment. :(

Pulled a nice 83.6 mpg driving the 30 miles into work. I think the tank is somewhere in the 70's I'll have to check later.

Temp was in the high 30's this morning and now it's 47 degrees and sunny. Should be a nice drive home tonight!

Hi Mparrish:

___I have not heard of a 100 + mpg work commute in a very long time and my fingers are crossed for you. Is there any advantage to coming in a half hour earlier and leaving a half hour earlier if that is at all possible? Anything to extend two or three more glides and your in!

___I was watching the 20 - 35 mph tail wind while at work all night (same one I battled coming in) although there was an almost continuous medium rain to go along with it. Still salivating until I checked the hourly and saw the wind speed would drop as soon as the rain cleared and it would shift almost 180 degrees over the next 12 hours. Oh how I was drooling though :D I departed with my car pooler and pulled a 46.7 in light rain and 41 - 42 degree temps to the Park and Ride. Had a wonderful 3.5 hour nap and started home. 52.8 to show for the second half in 49 – 52 degree temps but a side wind of maybe 10 – 15 mph :(

___Another positive note, the two mid-60 and low 70 degree commutes certainly helped out the Accord. I had enough fuel to punch her through 1,000 miles but chickened out. 985.4 miles. 51.7 top off to top off w/ another .4 gallons still left to drink. Shoulda, woulda, coulda :(

___Still holding the 8% negative offset with the SG-II showing 49.7 for the tank. I think some of you should give this a try this as it gives you something to fight against when things are going to smoothly?

___And then the Insight’s come in and slap us all back into reality. Eric, your 100 is probably coming in the next 2 or 3 weeks :)

___Good Luck

___Wayne

FE-wise, today was fairly good. Battery, that's another story.:( At lunch time I always go out and start my car and move it so the "today" trip doesn't re-set. Today, I almost didn't get it started so I let it idle for about a minute before shutting down. When I went to go home tonight it just barely turned over. I heard about Wayne's good luck with an Optima so I went and got one. Unfortunately I had to pay a tad more since I didn't have time to wait to have one delivered.:( The only trouble I had making it work was getting the negative cable attached. I had to tip the battery slightly to get the bolt started. I'll have to fab up a different hold-down too but I have a fresh battery now. I'm fairly certain that my battery was only the second one that's ever been in the car. I forgot to unplug my SG before switching batteries and I lost everything and have to start over.:mad:
Now for the FE.
1)59.0-5.8 miles(wife's work)
2)55.7-9.6 miles(my work)
3)64.8-9.6 miles(wife's work)
4)63.5-6.3 miles(home)
5)66.0-7.8 miles(get battery)
6)68.1-8.3 miles(home)
Average for today: 61.5 Temp was ~32F this morning and got up to 57F.

A day of contrasts today.

It started lousy. One segment of the commute from my fiancee's house is ~4 miles on a rural road. It has a 55 MPH speed limit, but it has few cars on it at 6:30 a.m. so it's great for P&G. There are two stretches where I can glide for close to a mile. A lot of this segment is through the state park, with fire road access points every half mile or so. When I do encounter the occasional vehicle from behind, I pull into the fire road entrance to let it pass. I often can make it with no stops, and rarely do I have to pull over more than once.

This morning, a car approached from behind as I approached the first fire road. And then another. And another. Spaced just far enough apart to completely ruin that segment. Ugghh! I was able to salvage 53.2 MPG for the 9.5 mile commute.

A much different story this afternoon. The first leg was rather mediocre; it was to the park to stop off and do a walk/jog around the trail. But the trip from there was awesome. Admittedly it started off with a fairly warm engine, but that was offset somewhat by the fact that the park road is mostly uphill coming out, about a mile and a half.

Once I hit the main roads, except for a few fairly steep uphill legs, I was able to P&G for virtually all of the 10 mile trip home. That's unheard of; the routes are all two-lane with a mixture of 35, 45, and 55 MPH speed limits, and at least moderately traveled this time of day. Today, only once was there a car behind me to prevent P&G, for about a half mile on one of the 45 MPH legs. I ended up with 79.6 MPG for the commute from the park to home.

Hi All:

___48 – 52 degree F temps and a nice 5 - 10 mph tail wind with a 52.8 to the Park and Ride showing. My car pooler drove so I can sleep on the way back to my car in the morning ;)

___Good Luck

___Wayne

A B commute. Segments of 29, 37, 47 MPG for 40.5 total for 15.4 miles at 38°F. Tank's up to 34.5 from Friday's snowstorm and errands yesterday, but I have a midday appointment scheduled that will pull it down because it won't get warmed up on the trip.

I was doing 55 MPH on the expressway and passing others this morning. Weird.

Filled at 283 miles with 54.2mpg showing, 55.8mpg calculated. This morning's commute was relatively warm (37-39F) a little damp, but entirely painless. I caught my two prime P&G opportunities plus all of the usual down-hill glides and my initial EV down the big hill, making for 58.9mpg to get the tank started. This commute get's Bricks seal of approval: EPA-rated and drama-free.

Yesterday to work 35.1 - 4.8
return from work 38.1 - 4.9
today 38.7 - 4.8


Just cant say it enough some day it feels sooo easy and some days it feels like i'm pushing the car.

Yesterdays drive home netted 45 mpg with a brisk head wind. This morning drive in was good for 51 mpg with a slight tailwind. The tank is setting at 45 mpg by the SG. My gut is telling me the tanks closer to 46 mpg. We will see at fill up time later this week. The weather is going to get worse. Forcast is rain for the next 4 to 6 days.

psy

Well, that was easy. How about 110? :)

https://webspace.utexas.edu/mparrish/misc/DSC02161.JPG

I received my PriusChat groupbuy SGII last week (thanks Danny!), and monitoring coolant temperature was just what I needed for a "duh" (slap forehead) moment to kick in.

I normally get around 85+ going to work, and have been able to get as high as 95+ on those days in which I had an earlier morning trip. But in every one of those cases, the early morning trip ended at least 15-30 minutes before the commute began. While the car might indeed still be "warm", I was not starting out at 180F. The SGII made this apparent.

So how do I do leaving home at "stage 4" after a quick trip for coffee? Pretty doggone good. That first bar makes all the difference.

So the new goals are:

(Starting cold in stage 1): 90 mpg, and maybe 100 mpg one day.
(Starting warm in stage 4): 120 mpg, and six full bars.

Still working on an optimal route back home to hit 60 mpg, but the hills don't want to cooperate and keep knocking me down to the mid to upper 50s. If my commute were a boxing match, the trip in would be a Tyson 2nd round KO, and the trip back home would be a "Thrilla in Manila" grueling 15 round grudge fest.

SGII also helped to answer a lingering question for me. Why is my first bar so poor even though I'm doing a significant amount of gliding with the MFD showing 99.9? Because I'm still in an early stage using gas for warmup. SGII doesn't show 9999, it shows 110. Ahhhhhhh....................

68.5 mpg / 637 miles / 1 pip. I'll be filling up at 650 near home today.

Still having fun................................. :Banane03:

mparrish Way to go :woot:

I have to admit, I was hopeful that I might catch up to you while you had your dastardly highway driving. Not this time... I am stuck at 0x42, aka the FE of the beast.

Moved my car into the garage and I'm looking at adding a SGII, EV, and EBH.

If that doesn't work, I'll have to call my friend at TxDOT to turn all the lights green for me :cool:

Or.. and this one seriously has me thinking... Lay down a solar array in the hatch back and wire it to the EBH once installed. Keep the block nice and toasty while I'm driving to work, though from Hobbit's analysis, think the EBH peaks at about 40C, a far cry from the 85C goal. I'll need the SGII to verify, but I don't think I ever hit operational temp (85C), I think I'm stuck in the high 70s.

Way to go, and I'll keep on your trail.

Ohh... almost forgot. Last RT (work-home-work) came out to 70.7 mpg :D

11011011

An (unusual) mid-day report: I slipped out of the office at lunchtime to get a haircut. It's 70F out there! The trip to the barber shop is 7.8 miles, ~4 of which are @ 55 MPH, ~3 @ 45, and ~1 @ 35. It's 4 lanes the whole way with several stop lights. Some surprisingly light traffic and luck with the lights helped me get about 70 MPG (can't remember the exact number) for the trip up, and 90.6 MPG for the trip back. Spring time, I welcome you ... for the second time this year!

Just had to make a run for work. had to go see a cust. and run by a vendor. 50/50 city, hwy was good for 45 mpg on the 25 mile loop. tail winds going, head winds coming back.

psy

I might have to keep the digicamera in the car. Since the weather's been warming up sans a few relapses, I'm seeing more segment bars above 50MPG and yesterday evening I arrived home with all of them up. Current tank mileage: 55.5.

Biggest issue this week has been the due South wind just KILLING me on my due North, slightly uphill commute. I mean, my evening commute is when I'm just trying to hold on to my morning gains and maybe even pick up a 0.1 or 0.2. But when you add cold weather and stiff, constant winds, it's tough.

This week has been kind of frustrating for me so far as our unseasonably warm weather has been replaced by a cold front strong enough to dump some light snow (and my MPG rating) above 7,500 feet, it was a fill-up week and the MPG numbers I got yesterday are well below what I anticipated, and I used our Tacoma (which usually stays parked nowadays) to haul our boat (4,800 pounds with fuel and the trailer) out to a lake for fishing for the first time since I started hypermiling and I feel guilty about it.

The MPG reading when I filled up yesterday shows me that the Yaris' fuel gage is really only useful to let you know when the tank is close to empty. Every other reading from full to that point is pretty well useless. I say this because calculating the MPG at each pip drop after the first one consistently showed somewhere between 48.9 and 49.1 MPG but the actual number at fill-up time was just 44.86. What a letdown.

Well, I guess I shouldn't complain too much as it's still my best tank so far, and is a 1.5 MPG gain over the last tank. :cool: My ScanGauge II from the Prius Chat group buy should be here in a few more days as well, and that will help me dial my style in.

With hauling the boat... it's just kind of a culture shock for me now. For nearly a month I was busy eking MPG out of the Yaris and getting up into the mid 40's with it, but then I take 10,000 pounds of vehicles out fishing and burn dinosaur juice at the rate of just 13.3 MPG. This is still higher than my Father-in-law's Tahoe, which gets only 6-9 MPG when hauling the same boat. The boat itself isn't much better with its 225HP 5.0L carbureted engine. :(

This presents me with a conundrum. On one hand I am trying to go green in all aspects of my consumerist lifestyle but on the other I just love my boat and fishing, wake boarding, tubing, etc. with it. It significantly adds to my family's quality of life here in the Reno/Tahoe area and has gotten us involved with some really neat folks ("boat people"). In other words I'm just not willing to give it up yet even though it makes me feel guilty when I use it.

We only take the boat out around a dozen times per year so maybe I'll just get TerraPasses for both it and the Tacoma so I can sleep better...

I've found on my Civic that the gas needle goes over the top by about a gallon. In other words, when it's right at full, that's 1 gallon down. When it's at half, that's half (5 gal) + 1 gal = 6 used.

Still waiting on my Scangauge from PriusChat. Any day now... :woot:

Edit for clarity: I have a 12-gal tank. At empty, it fills up with 11 gallons, so there's one gallon there. There's also an extra gallon at the top end. That makes the sweep of the gauge 10 gallons. It's still a really rough guesstimate, but it's closer to the truth.

Hi Mparrish:

___Congrats on that kick-@$$ segment! If you could. Do not reset the tank FE until refill so I have a better idea of offset wrt the SG-II’s real world track of FE vs. the FCD. I really need this from a Prius II hypermiler to finalize an SG-II article.

___I took a 4 hour nap first then started on my way. A nice 50.3 home to show in 37 - 43 degree temps and a 10 mph headwind from the Park and Ride early this afternoon. I was hoping to see the A380 land at O’Hare but was about 20 minutes late :( With the winds out of the NE, it had to come in from the SW which is the opposite end of the airport from the Interstate. There is a short section along the Southern Edge that would have been prime but I simply woke up to late :( By the time I passed O’Hare, there was a heck of a backup on both the Tri-State (I-294) and Mannheim road (the parallel to the Interstate that runs right along O’Hare’s eastern periphery). That plane is a monster and at least I got to see it from a distance while cruising by in a very dense and heavy back up for the 1-mile gaper. It was worth the loss in FE to see it :D

Here is the vid!

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/2/Airbus_A380_lands_at_O_Hare.jpg

Airbus lands at O'Hare (http://video.wgntv.com/global/video/popup/pop_playerLaunch.asp?clipid1=1311132&at1=News&vt1=v&h1=Airbus+lands+at+O%27Hare&d1=159867&redirUrl=http://www.wgntv.com&activePane=info&LaunchPageAdTag=homepage)

___Good Luck

___Wayne

Another great commute home, 78.4 MPG. Total for the day, 72.3 MPG.

I kind of messed up today.:o On the way to pick up my wife at work this afternoon, I looked out my mirror and saw a friend of mine passing the car behind me and attempting to pass me as well. He was driving an early 90's Chevy 4X4 with a V-8. I dropped down to 3rd and stomped it until I hit the rev-limiter and we were running door to door. I hit 4th and pulled ahead up to about 100 then did a killer FAS for what seemed like forever. I feel sooo dirty.:o :D On the 9.6 mile trip I still got 44.* and ended up with 56.6 for the day. It's been over 6 months since I did any racing and it's out of my system now.:) The high
segment for the day was 72.2.

110MPG... insane. :D Awesome segment!

More bike commuting this week as highs have been in the 40s. Tomorrow we might hit 60!

A round trip tonight:
82.7 / 11.6 miles / 41F
65.1 / 11.5 miles / 36F

According to Bruce's grading scale that makes the first one an "A-" (149% of 55.5) and the second a "C+/B-" (117%). ;)

Here's a shot taken after the first trip. Can't match mparrish's brag screen though - only a matter of time before someone posts 6 pegged bars! :woot:

http://tripprofile.com/images/070320-totkd.jpg

Tank avg is at 70.8 / 138 miles / 9 pips.

Hi Jared:

___Although I will have to re-upload this onto the CleanMPG server, does this qualify? You guys and your Prius’ kicking our @$$'es day in and day out :D

http://www.greenhybrid.com/share/files/1/5/0/1155.JPG

___Strong side winds from the east (very unusual for Chicago) this evening in temps from 34 -39 degrees F. 48.3 to show :(

___Good Luck

___Wayne

70.8 avg in 40 degree Wisconsin. Now that is insane :).

58.4 on the way home. I'm closing in on 60, which quite frankly is much more work than the downhill 110.

Filled up near home. A new tank means new days of endless possibilities :)

Hi Mparrish:

___Congrats on that kick-@$$ segment! If you could. Do not reset the tank FE until refill so I have a better idea of offset wrt the SG-II’s real world track of FE vs. the FCD. I really need this from a Prius II hypermiler to finalize an SG-II article.

___Wayne

Wayne, not a problem. I reset both the SGII tank trip FE & the Prius FCD after fillup this evening.

I earlier set up my SGII with the following data:

Engine size: 1.5L
Type: Hybrid
Tank size: 10 gallons

The first two I'm confident about, but that last one I'm a bit uncertain. While the bladder is technically 11.9 gallons, I seem to recall reading somewhere that setting up SGII with 10 gallons is more accurate, since 10 gallons is something fairly close to a de facto full bladder. If this is not the ideal tank size for setup, somebody let me know.

I'm following the SGII help manual instructions on how best to calibrate tank trip FE for maximum accuracy. To do so (as you probably know), I'm going to have to drive a full tank and then make a gallons adjustment on the SGII on my next fillup. So while hopefully the following tank will be fairly accurate vs. the FCD, I'm guessing that this new one may be less so. I'll still send you the results for both the SGII & FCD for this tank anyway just for the heck of it after this tank is done.

Let me know if this is not exactly what you are looking for.

creeping up....57.2mpg at 320 miles on arrival home tonight. Should have another 100 miles and might be able to reach 60mpg with ideal conditions...but I'll be going out of town on Friday and probably won't finish the tank until early April.

17-23F this morning, but no frost! I also left a little late...I think I need a new mattress...but didn't encoutner the expected traffic madness. (Even recited my mantra..."I will not get angry, I will not get angry..." :rolleyes: ) I'm down to 56.0mpg at 54 miles, but looking forward to morning temps returning above freezing for the rest of the week. The only snag is the threat of freezing rain tonight.

44mpg for yesterdays drive home. 48 mpg for the drive in tis morning....

psy

Filled up last night for 42.3 mpg over the last 2 weeks. Our van was in the shop, I was driving the rental, and my wife was driving this car. I have no idea how much of this was me / her / car setup / weather / some voodoo factor.

... and no report on the van's mileage from the trip. We filled up somewhere along the way with some amount of gas and didn't record it. Something about a screaming 2-year-old makes you forget a few things. :(

I apparently caught a cold from someone which knocked me on my, um, backside. I'm still only about 60%, but that was enough to come in to work. I'm not sure why, but it was. I didn't really try this morning. I just drove on autopilot. My autopilot has learned quickly. 56.3 MPG at 46ºF.

Filled up yesterday resulting in about 55 mpg on the tank. We had a few teaser spring days in the last week or so, but the home gas bill showed colder than normal temps lately. This last tank shows it. The van was in the shop which had my wife driving the HCH more than usual - with the resulting "benefits". The only person I know who turns the heat on when it's 60 degrees and runs the air conditioning when it's 65??? ;-)

Anyway, on my way home yesterday the temps were nice and mild. Had an opportunity to draft a slow moving school bus on the interstate for a few miles that brought the segment up to 77.6 mpg.

Just trying my best.

Hi Jim:

___Just another great commute home at 78.4 mpg? That is one outstanding commute home!

___Larry, you know you are not supposed to play with the V8 equipped Chevrolet 4x4’s. Even after teaching him the ways of your Saturn, you still ended up with a respectable result! I bet the Glide after that high speed jaunt caused by the short term loss of cognitive motor function felt good. Kind of like repenting for sin or something :D

___Mparrish, thanks! I do not really need to know about the tank size setup due to the Prius II bladder messing with you as that is not really where the FE calc’s are completed. What I am looking for is the type of error you have been seeing over a tank(s) as you input your actual gallons consumed from the pump vs. the gallons shown via the SG-II as well as actual calculated FE over that tank vs. the SG-II. Lower right Button --> More --> Fillup --> “Input your gallons filled” and compare to gallons and FE shown. A quick paragraph or two on a short term run with a ton of P&G from the FCD vs. the “Current” FE from the SG-II’s std. display would be helpful as well.

___Evan, finishing off a tank until April sounds like a great way not to be consuming anything and sounds great to all of us!

___Tim, a few more weeks and all this winter garbage will be a fond and distant memory! When those 50 + degree temps and 60 + mpg segments start arriving again, I am sure your motivation will be renewed :)

___Psy, best darn non-hybrid 8th gen Civic driver in the country today as usual!

___PaleMelanesian, when a 2-yr. old is involved, even achieving the EPA combined can be an insurmountable mountain to climb no matter the vehicle sometimes :(

___Michael, autopilot and 56.3 to work in 46 degree temps? I think more should be driving their Prius II’s in Autopilot if that is going to be the daily result ;)

___And Bob, “That brought the segment up to 77.6 mpg.”. Ho hum ho hum, just 77.6 your HCH-II? That is Insight Territory!

___My ride home this afternoon was far less significant to those above! Dropped my car pooler off in heavy rain and low 40 degree temps. A lousy 41.6 to show :( Took a nice long nap to let traffic subside and started driving in 53 - 54 degree temps with a nice 10 - 15 mph tail wind although a light rain the whole way home. Finished off at 51.3.

___Good Luck

___Wayne

A couple of things to report here.

44.1 MPG over 44.9 miles - Very happy
NEXT

I jsut filled up and accomplished two personnel bests

1. I got 402.833 miles on the tank - I blew away my previous best - 379
2. I averaged 38 MPG for this tank - my all time best tank.
:Banane44: :bananapartyhat: :bananalama: :Banane21: :Banane22: :Banane54:


as you can tell i'm very happy:) :D :) :D

http://www.cleanmpg.com/garage/images/294.png

Hi CoasterToasterXB:

___44 + in an XB? I can bet Toyota never expected anyone to achieve that in one :D

___Good Luck

___Wayne

Yesterday was headwind going in, but a tailwind coming home. 93.1 mpg on the way back.
And today another 93.1 mpg with a slight tail wind and 60 degrees on the way home.
(going in both days was in the mid 60 mpg range.)
The tank is at ~74.4 mpg.

thsnkd for the kind words - I try to make the tank good to the last drop:D

Larry, you know you are not supposed to play with the V8 equipped Chevrolet 4x4’s. Even after teaching him the ways of your Saturn, you still ended up with a respectable result! I bet the Glide after that high speed jaunt caused by the short term loss of cognitive motor function felt good. Kind of like repenting for sin or something


Unfortunately, I couldn't take full advantage of the glide. Dead end road, trees, steep embankment into creek.:eek:

Today's FE report:
1)51.3-5.8 miles
2)49.3-9.6
3)60.7-9.6
4)57.2-10.8
5)54.8-2.2
6)67.2-14.4
7)55.0-12.6
8)70.4-5.1
9)54.3-5.2
10)50.5-1.2
11)93.5-6.4
12)59.2-5.2
13)83.3-5.3
Average for today: 60.2 SG is set at 18% correction.
I have a picture of the SG readout of the one segment but, since I don't fully know how to work my camera, the flash went off and made it almost impossible to see. :(

Winds killed me this evening. @0 and 30 mph head winds wiped me out. Best I could do was 42 mpg. :(

Tank off to a good start. 69.1 / 41 miles. 70mpg is a harsh mistress.

Stopped by Academy (big regional sporting goods store) to ask about ice vests. They looked at me like a slack-jawed gawker. Needless to say, they didn't have one.

Looking forward to Wayne's pics & writeup.

Hi All:

___Eric, I can almost smell that 100 mpg segment coming your way ;)

___Psy, I was blasted by those same #$& *!)@ winds tonight :mad:

___Mparrish, you are placing some pressure on me now. Nothing that Tom hasn’t been doing for what seems like forever now :)

___Light headwind and rain with temps of 59 - 60 degrees F for the first half. Rain stopped and the temps climbed to 62 - 63 degrees F. Winds took off as well at 20 - 25 + right down the hood :( Pulled into the Park and Ride w/ a 47.8 showing and boy was I glad to get it. The guy I ride with had his F-150 sitting at 55 mph down I-55 for the rest of the drive in tonight and I just know he was sitting in the 15 - 16 mpg range at best! I should have probably drove even if it was not my turn to save the consumption for another day …

___Good Luck

___Wayne

Up to 58.3 at 360miles....shoulda been better but the winds heading home were brutal and I had to stop at the drive-through for some dinner and they were a bit slow. 2 Pips left.

A B commute...around 41 MPG this morning for 15.4 miles at 36°F.

This is a toilet tank compared to the last few, with the snowstorm and a lot of driving in traffic. I'm up to 35.2 MPG as of this morning. It appears from the graph of my tanks that I'm better off with colder rather than warmer weather...part of it's just my learning curve, but part of it is also from not having any snow (and resulting traffic standstills) when it's really cold.

Very light drizzle and temps in the 38F range, traffic wasn't too bad. Tank is up to 56.3mpg which I'll gladly take.

62.8MPG at 48ºF. No autopilot this morning. I got some really good glides and timed some lights well.

There is one problem section of my commute that I'm still working on. 40MPH limit on a three lane bridge, slightly uphill. I would, of course, like to P&G across, but people don't want to pass me for some reason. I guess I could put on my flashers and P&G, but that might draw some unwanted attention. Any suggestions?

52 mpg for the drive in today.

There is one problem section of my commute that I'm still working on. 40MPH limit on a three lane bridge, slightly uphill. I would, of course, like to P&G across, but people don't want to pass me for some reason. I guess I could put on my flashers and P&G, but that might draw some unwanted attention. Any suggestions?

I have one trouble spot on my commute that's like that, too. If it's up-hill enough that the engine is turning in the 1500-2000RPM "sweet range" then I would say you would do fine to abandon P&G and climb steadily at roughly the speed limit. You can rest assured that the ICE is giving you the greatest bang for your gallon as you gain potential energy, and you would be driving in a relatively traffic-friendly manner on that stretch. Up-hill P&G is a PITA in my limited experience. Is there any room to glide down the back side of that slight grade? Even some low-current stealth travel to maintain speed would be an efficient way to get a few ticks back. I generally avoid sustained electric-only travel, but battery depletion tends to be minimal when you only use it to make up for a grade that just isn't **quite** steep enough to hold speed.

Just my two cents. If it weren't for the traffic I'd tell you to hit the flashers and P&G to your heart's content. ;) But sometimes it's worth a compromise.

Thanks, Tim. I don't recall the exact numbers, but I believe I'm only pulling about 1250-1400 RPM on the bridge. It isn't very steep at all, only enough to slow me down on my glides quicker than I would like. Maybe tomorrow I'll try to steadily accelerate in the sweet spot to 45-50 MPH (that's what traffic wants to do) and then maybe warp-stealth into a glide as I come off the bridge. As soon as I come off the bridge the speed limit drops back to 35, so this might work out.

I drove straight into a 15-20 mph headwind yesterday afternoon to work. Last night, the wind was blowing 10 - 15 mph all evening. I left work at 11:30 an it had turned into a gentle breeze.
86.2 mpg for 46.9 miles home
Roundtrip was 74 mpg for 98.2. This was on a full tank so I had max load.

___Eric, I can almost smell that 100 mpg segment coming your way ;)
___Wayne
I'm geting closer. 93.1 coming home last night.

Busy morning. I had to stop by three docs offices before coming to my downtown office. I managed a solid 89 mpg, which is great, but I would have been in the 90s if I could have taken my regular route. Dang!

Hi Jim:

___Mparrish, thanks! I do not really need to know about the tank size setup due to the Prius II bladder messing with you as that is not really where the FE calc’s are completed. What I am looking for is the type of error you have been seeing over a tank(s) as you input your actual gallons consumed from the pump vs. the gallons shown via the SG-II as well as actual calculated FE over that tank vs. the SG-II. Lower right Button --> More --> Fillup --> “Input your gallons filled” and compare to gallons and FE shown. A quick paragraph or two on a short term run with a ton of P&G from the FCD vs. the “Current” FE from the SG-II’s std. display would be helpful as well.

___Wayne

Wayne,

Here are some preliminary numbers.

(1) IMPG on the SGII appears to always be between 3-4 mpg LOWER than IMPG on the Prius FCD when pulsing.

(2) SGII reports a 74.9 for my commute this morning (lots of rain & traffic :(). The Prius FCD showed 69.1 / 41 miles at start, and 71.3 / 53 miles at end. My spreadsheet yields a likely 79.0 for the trip, which means that SGII was 4.1mpg LOWER.

(3) The tank MPG on the SGII so far is roughly 4-5 mpg LOWER than the Prius FCD. I'll have exact numbers at the end of the tank for you. I don't know how much stock to put in this tank, given the need to "calibrate" at the end of this tank.

I'd be interested in what other Prius owners with SGII say. Maybe this underreporting is typical, maybe not. More numbers to come........

Hi Mparrish:

___Thanks for keeping track of the SG-II’s data vs. the Prius’ i and aFCD’s. I will definitely use what you have posted so far. Once you have your first tank cal input, I would be interested in hearing back about the next tanks data in terms of i and aFCD matches and of course the overall tank at fill #2.

___I see you are still slicing and dicing with the Insight’s. Chuck and Eric are going to have to step it up a notch in order to keep the Insights virtue intact :)

___Wonderful clear and blue skies after my nap in the Accord this morning but the westerly winds are killing us in Chicago yet again :angry: 56 - 58 degrees F w/ 15 - 20 mph side winds and slow but moving traffic patterns much of the way home. 51.8 to show.

___Good Luck

___Wayne

Needed to drive today due to an errand this morning.

73.7 / 7.0 miles / 46F (B+)
70.8 / 11.7 miles / 48F (B)
80.2 / 11.6 miles / 50F (A-)

Pulled the tank average up to 71.6 / 168 miles / 8 pips.

3 more segments tonight... is 72 within reach? :bananajump:

I've been off this week and behind on my projects.

While I look forward to posting next week again, just want a few of the lurking hypermiler-detractors know posting here does not lead me to feel more important than Napoleon or more famous than John Lennon in 1966 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_lennon#Christianity). :p (as a few of their rants have suggested)

Seriously, this is a support system like Weight Watchers, a place for self-improvement.

Turned in a tank today for 44.5 mpg.... OOOO wellll.

Oh man, where was my camera tonight.

64.9 / 6.1 miles / 55F
101 / 11.5 miles / 55F :eek:
68.7 / 11.5 / 48F

Today's average was 76.4 over 59.6 miles.

Tank average is now 72.4 / 197 miles / 8 pips.

Glorious, glorious spring.... :D :D

Hi Jared:

___Your the second one posting here that received a 100 in his Prius II this spring. I have no doubt this is just the beginning for those of you with the kinds of roads to P&G to your hearts content ;)

___Decent 50.1 to the Park and Ride w/ a light 5 + mph head wind. Picked up my carpooler and then it started to rain … again :( 49.7 as I coasted to a stop in the parking lot. 553 miles out and still > ½ a tank by just a tick. Should be the 1,000 miler if all goes well this weekend while heading to the Chicago Prius Group Meet and a few more commutes next week too :)

___Good Luck

___Wayne

...
86.2 mpg for 46.9 miles home
...

And ericbecky:
I'm geting closer. 93.1 coming home last night.

You guys are smokin' !!

Today coming in to work - 82.3 when I arrived - warm spell with no wind.
Tank average hanging at 84.6 MPG with 732 miles, two ticks left on gauge.

59.3mpg at 390miles....2 pips. 60 may be possible, but It'll be sometime after the end of the month before I drive the car again....

Ride home at 1:30 in the morning - roads were deserted!

62 deg. and light fog.

msirach and ericbecky are raising the bar higher.
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/500/medium/fcd3-23-07.jpg

Hi Don:

___You aren’t just “Raising the Bar”, you “Are the Bar” :D

___Good Luck and excellent segment!

___Wayne

A couple of B commutes. 38.5 MPG last night for 15 miles at 48°F.

Nice, low-resistance conditions this morning -- 48-52°F, 100% humidity, a mild tailwind. I came up with segments of 31.5/38.5/49.9 MPG for a total of 42.8 MPG for 15.4 miles. The first segment is the best I can recall seeing; charging the battery and keeping the engine off as much as is practical seem to have helped. Gliding on level roads is getting a bit more practical with the warmer temperatures.

BTW, I have noticed the significant difference in rolling resistance warmed-up tires can have...I usually glide out of my garage to the end of the street, and with all the sand currently on it I'll often need to give the car a push on the street to keep it going when it's cold. With warm tires, it'll coast to the end of the street with plenty of speed to spare.

Tank's up to 36.0 MPG after 181 miles.

Catching up for a couple of days, been kinda busy ...

Spring continues to creep in. I had to make two trips across town Wednesday for two different part time jobs. Can't remember the total for the day but it was over 70 MPG.

This morning's commute (through the state park) was great for 9.4 miles: 70.3 MPG.

The tank's sitting just shy of 62 MPG, ~450 miles, 3 pips left. MPG would be even higher if not for the highway trip last weekend. Still, it should be another personal best, MPG-wise, and maybe total miles-wise.

I see 70 MPG tanks in my future!

Picked up a couple of ticks to 56.5mpg due entirely to much warmer temps than I expected (46F). The fog at the very beginning was unreal, though. I was crawling at 15mph under electric power and that was about as fast as I could go. After that cleared up I was stuck holding steady-state at the limit plus a few due to tailagers galore for pretty much the entire ride. Only got flipped off by one guy, but at least this time he passed me out in the open rather than in the school zone like last time.

64.4 MPG at 61ºF this morning. I tried steady acceleration over the bridge followed by a warp-stealth. I don't know if it turned out any better than my micro P&G's that I've been doing (pulse from 35 to 40 and glide back down). I got hit by some unexpected lights elsewhere in my commute, so I'll try it again another day.

Don:
You are holding the bar!:Banane31: The race is on!!!:bananalama:
Last night:

84.8mpg @ 49.2 miles home.
75.4mpg @ 97.5 round trip.

More fun to report! :Banane09: I hope everyone enjoys reading these missives as much as I enjoy writing them.

Every commute has a story:

So my commute this morning went by way of my in-laws' house. They live 3 miles further from downtown than me, at an elevation 100 feet higher than my house. Needless to say, given the longer distance, higher drop, and stage 2 start, I expected and got another great run as I left their house for the 35 minute (instead of 30 minute) trip to work.

But I didn't think about something else I might be able to pull off until near the end of the trip. As I was approaching the river crossing into downtown, I took a glance at the Consumption screen. Holy @#!@!!!!!!! What I saw was a typical warmup bar, followed by 5 (instead of the normal 4) full bars. That warmup bar is going to go away! And it will be replaced by my downtown bar!

Oh, but the downtown bar sucks. 50 usually, 75 tops. I've got to climb after that river. I'm screwed.

Or maybe not. Maybe I can pull out all the stops this one time and peg that last 100.

So I crossed the river. I started EVing like there was no tomorrow. I drove with the loadiest load that ever loaded. I extended my glides as far as possible. Cars were passing and frowns were provided free of charge. Come on people. Can't you see I'm going for 6 bars? This is the only time I promise.

As I finally turned into my downtown lot, I figured I had fallen just short because of the climb. Oh well.

But NO!

https://webspace.utexas.edu/mparrish/misc/DSC02166.JPG

Miraculously, I seem to have pulled off something like a 100.2 on that last 5 minutes. Six bars! Holy Cow. Glad I had my camera.

The fun continues............... :woot:

mparrish, congratulations! :bananajump:

Oh boy nothing's going to wipe that smile off your face today, CONGRATS!!!!

Miraculously, I seem to have pulled off something like a 100.2 on that last 5 minutes. Six bars! Holy Cow. Glad I had my camera.

The fun continues............... :woot:

WOW! You are starting to make it hard to decide between a Prius and an '05 HCH 5-MT:confused:

Hi Mparrish:

___I see you are practicing for HF2007’s FE challenge, aren’t you ;) Excellent job!

___Simple hard rain to the Park and Ride with a 42.0 result. Dropped of my rider and then “nappy” time. A lighter rain but traffic was heavy through all the construction bringing everybody down to a bumper to bumper 40 - 55 mph. I absolutely love that kind of bumper to bumper traffic :D 48 showing just 12 miles out when the first of 2 nasty stop and crawls appeared … Lost ~ 2 mpg in each but pulled into the drive at 50.7. I may have lost the 1,000 mile tank with the last 2 commutes but to touch 52 in the rain is a lot more satisfying then a lousy 39 in – 10 degree temps just 6 weeks ago!

___I can see it in everybody’s numbers that spring has definitely arrived. Another 5 weeks and we get the good fuel for yet another bump. Bring in the 70’s and “Oh my God” will CleanMPG members be saving fuel and reducing those emissions for the rest of the masses like nobody’s business! Please keep up the great segments given you are all really making me proud!

___Good Luck

___Wayne

46 mpg over 2 miles

mparrish, :D :D :D WOW! Congrats on the first 6-pegged-bar pic of the season.

Thanks for pushing us all - and getting into Insight territory. ;)

WOW! You are starting to make it hard to decide between a Prius and an '05 HCH 5-MT:confused:

i miss driving 5spd sometimes...


SOMETIMES.... but under 7 degrees C weather (60F?) i'm managing to keep it pegged at 4.2L/100km. (55mpgUS?) sometimes i get lucky with 2.5L(93 mpgUS?) 5 minute segments but its not as consistant as some of these guys here (mparrish), rock on for the NWH20 crew.

hm although the nhw20 is a boat going around corners... maybe a stiffing plate will put the fun into cornering again ;O!

Just refueled. The good news is that I finished the tank at 57MPG even. The bad news is that I paid $2.55/gal.

I have found a new route to work and was able to raise my tank average from just above 55MPG to 57 in the last three days of the tank. If I can do that at the end of the tank, I can't wait to see what this whole tank will look like.

Note: For previous weeks, look here, and for later weeks, look here.

Here's the place holder for this weeks stats.# Notes Start End mpg_ Trip T 50W Er±
== ========= trip mpg_SoC trip mpg_SoC avg mi °F car_mpg
01:Drive in Mon 3/19 532.8 64.1 4 547.1 64.1 4 64.10 14.3 70.0 1.5 3.8
02:Drive home 547.1 64.1 4 561.5 64.3 4 72.95 14.4 76.0 3.0 4.9
03:Drive in Tue 561.5 64.3 4 575.8 64.4 4 68.59 14.3 71.0 4.0 4.5
04:Drive from work to gas station 575.8 64.4 4 585.7 64.4 3 64.40 9.9 80.0 3.0 5.9
05:Gas station to home 0.0 81.8 3 4.7 81.8 5 81.80 4.7 71.0 1.0 0.1
06:Drive in Wed 4.7 81.8 5 19.0 69.5 4 66.23 14.3 75.0 2.5 0.1
07:Drive home Wed 19.0 69.5 4 33.2 68.0 5 66.09 14.2 76.0 2.0 0.2
08:Trip to Krogers Wed Evening 33.2 68.0 5 38.6 68.4 3 70.97 5.4 76.0 1.5 0.7
09:Trip back Wed Evening. 38.6 68.4 3 43.8 68.0 4 65.17 5.2 76.0 3.0 0.8
10:Drive into work Thur 43.8 68.0 3 58.3 67.8 4 67.20 14.5 72.5 3.0 0.3
11:Drive home Thurs (took frontage) 58.3 67.8 4 72.9 68.1 4 69.32 14.6 80.0 5.0 0.5
12:Drive into work Fri 72.9 68.1 4 87.3 68.1 4 68.10 14.4 73.0 3.5 0.6
13:Lunch RT (didn't hypermile) 87.3 68.1 4 97.2 65.2 6 47.40 9.9 82.0 ? 0.6
14:Drive home Fri 97.2 65.2 6 120.2 65.0 4 64.17 23.0 72.0 ? 0.5
15:Grocery Store RT 120.2 65.0 3 130.9 64.9 5 63.80 10.7 73.5 2.5 1.1

Weeks stats:
Current city 84.33% Goal EPA_mpg for current city/hwy split = 58.59_mpg
Current hwy 15.67% Current_mpg for current city/hwy split = 65.65_mpg

Difference = 112.05%Key:
Start_Trip = The trip/tank mileage when I started the drive.
Start_mpg = The tanks mpg via the FCD at the start of the drive.
Start_SoC = The number of bars on the battery icon at the start of the drive.
End_Trip = The trip/tank mileage when I finished the drive.
End_mpg = The tanks mpg via the FCD at the end of the drive.
End_SoC = The number of bars on the battery icon at the end of the drive.
mpg_avg = The calculated mpg for this drive.
Trip_mi = The length of this drive.
T_°F = The average temperature for this drive
50W_car = The number of green regen cars that show on my consumption screen
Er±mpg = The range of error associated with mpg_avg

11011011

Ok... hadn't posted much to the grind this week, but here are the highlights.

Scored a life's best trip on the way home Monday of 72.95.
Filled up with Tuesday with a life's best tank of 62.9
Scored a lifes best RT (work-home-work) ending Tuesday at 70.07.

On the downside, I had to take a hit on MPG today for the sake of principle. I set out on my mpg quest with my primary goal to use myself and my influence to "reduce gas consumption and GHG production as much as possible". In that vein I had to insist that as many people as could fit in my prius, ride in my prius for our companies group lunch. The trip was a cold start, all highway, and very short. Landed me a sad 47.4, but I kept 2 SUVs from getting driven through my actions. Ahh the sacrafice.:o

Those following my attempts to perform an exorcism on my car to purge the demonic infulence keeping me at 66.6 mpg now know why this week was only a 65.8.

Keep up the Clean MPG'n.

11011011

Finished this tank off on the ride home this morning - no bars showing on the fuel gauge!

By the numbers:
on the FCD - 841.8 miles, 84.3 MPG
fueled with Exxon regular -10.086 gallons.

One of these days a 900 mile tank will come up - one of these days!

Hi All:

___Besides all you Prius guys grabbing the glory this week ;), I have to say CoasterToaster had an excellent 2-mile segment in his XB today. Nice job Coaster!!!

___Don, I would say you have that 900 miler locked within two or three weeks if you can keep punching out the 90 mpg segments!

___Good Luck

___Wayne

... all you Prius guys grabbing the glory this week ...
Here's another to report: I did my cross-town part time commute this morning. I tried a new route for the last segment. Got 82.0 MPG for the trip. I don't think all the difference was in the new route; there was probably some luck with lights and traffic thrown in the mix.

I got some pics of the ScanGauge and the MFD I'll post this evening or tomorrow.

EDIT: Pics added to the Gallery: Scangauge (http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/500/medium/SG_3-24-07.jpg)and MFD (http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/500/medium/MFD_3-24-07.jpg).

I have to say some days i get real jealous with all these huge segments by the hybrid drivers. You guys put up some real awesome numbers:Banane31:

Thanks for the kind words.:Banane40:

A bunch of short trips today, but only pulled down the tank average by 0.1 due to the INSANE summer-like temps! :D

66.4 / 4.7 miles / 63F
60.0 / 2.1 miles / 77F (I think this is the best I've ever done for a 2-mile trip starting semi-cold :cool: )
91.7 / 6.4 miles / 77F (some downhill involved ;))
57.5 / 5.3 miles / 77F (back uphill)
79.3 / 2.6 miles / 77F (no shutdown from previous trip)
79.9 / 3.4 miles / 73F

Tank average is at 72.3 / 222 miles / 7 pips.

M'lady and I did a Sunday drive into town to enjoy the beautiful weather: mid-70s, perfectly clear. 77.9 MPG for the complete trip. Probably would have been 80+, but we made a couple of stops, including our destination at one of the local parks.

Here's the MFD when we reached the park:

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/500/medium/MFD_3-25-07.jpg

Hi All:

___48.7 to the meet this morning into a 10 mph headwind. Circled the Mall twice which dropper her down to 46.6 trying to find everyone :angry: 53.8 on the way home with a 15 - 20 mph side for 1/3 and tail wind the rest of the way home :)

___Good Luck

___Wayne