Thanks for all this data! I'm impressed the '16 prius can glide up to 70. Do all trims do that? also, any chance you've posted a comparison/overlay of data for all prius generations?
Hi Wayne, WOW, that is impressive mileage with the 16 Prius. Compared to my 2010 the 16 is running ten mpg over at 55, five to six mpg over at 60 and three mpg over at 65 mph. Al
Charlie , who cares what "normal" drivers get ! That's not an issue. And difficult to determine , cuz then you'd have to define "normal".
Hi Charlie: I had high hopes but given the third generation was a letdown on the efficiency side, my enthusiasm was tempered. Within 10-minutes of driving the all-new 4th gen along a city/suburban route, there was enough here to say they did something very interesting. Completed the first 20+ mile drive while climbing 220' and she ended up at 94 mpg indicated and this was the Prius II base with the older NiMH pack. That afternoon on an all-highway route, a II Eco ended up in the low triple digits indicated over a 20 mile all-highway route with a a drive down a dirt road for pics and another stop at Vista Point over the Pacific for the same. There were more variables and I will cover all the minutia in the final write-up. With that crazy @$$ high result while another journalist was on-board, I thought maybe there was something really fishy about these Prius' displays. I asked Toyota if I could perform an overnight full calibration drive to San Diego and back. They set it up and said have at it! The calibration drive revealed the aFCDs were short!!! Indicated aFCD*1.009 = mpgUS actual. With that in hand, the following day we were introduced to the 2016 Toyota RAV4 Hybrid - great efficiency story here too. That night I asked if I could take out the same II Eco for a Speed vs Fuel Economy test. Toyota set it up and the results are shown above. But that is not all... With the calibration, highway, city and steady states in hand, why not attempt an all-out assault on its upper boundaries? Our last night in after all the journalist had had their fill once again, I performed a max effort city route near San Diego. The results were mind blowing for a first drive. Essaunders, here is the 2016 Toyota Prius trim and equipment breakout. Al, wow is right! I will upload a lot more over the coming days. Wayne
Steady Gen3 state speed graph was made with 17" wheels wasn't it? 5 MPG difference at 70 mph is expected (engine efficiency + rolling resistance + smaller tweaks). But I like the enthusiasm about everything else new Prius has to offer including real world MPG. Keep up the good work.
Those are impressive numbers. Converting things for my metric brain working in L/100km made me realize that when MPG gets high, it really starts to make differences between vehicles look bigger than they are. For example, at 55 mph: 2016 Prius = 72.1mpg 2012 Prius = 62.1mpg 10mpg difference looks huge! But in terms of consumption, it's a difference of 0.52L to drive 100km, or 0.22 gal/100 mi. We're really starting to get down to the decimal points here. Beating your 2010 Prius by 10mpg may sound huge, but it's not really as big of a consumption difference as it first appears. With the slightly lower achieving HR-V at 55mph: 46.9mpg for the MT, and 42.5mpg for the CVT. This is only a 4mpg difference, but it saves the same 0.22 gallons for every 100 miles.
Sef Right-with $2 gas(REAL USA $ ha,ha eh) the difference between 60 mpg and 70 mpg- less than 1/2 cent per mile- 40 cents per 100 miles But since we are efficiency nuts-a car that a normal person can put in CC at 60 mph and get over 60 mpg-wow-and safe bet normal people will get 50 mpg city-no effort hell typical USA driver-foot on one pedal or the other ALL THE TIME-will average 55 mpg in mixed driving In the late 70's when all GMs poor V8's had been choked-and they were getting perhaps 12 mpg mixed-doing 14 second 0-60?? Who saw a 55 mpg 10 second roomy-ish comfortable safe driving appliance in out future-granted 40 years in our future But the BIG 3 flat said that was impossible The japanese did deliver 35mpg cars(with MTs) then-but they weighed 2000 lbs-and were death traps(relatively speaking) Wayne-yes it is beyond belief 40 mpg full sized pickups at 60 mph-and cheap 30 mpg pickup(3.6 spark) 65 mpg car at 60 mpg Never saw that coming No one would have made those guesses in say 1995 before the first honda hybrid and a 40 mpg full sized pickup-even less likely than a 65 mpg car Edwin-you are right-we sure as heck aren't "normal drivers" hell not NORMAL period!
Well said, Mike. It is still true that we have most to worry from the vehicles out there that cannot muster 20 MPG average because they're sitting in traffic all the time. Highway MPG is getting to be mostly for bragging rights, short of the drivers hypermiling the heck out of them to get their overall averages closer to the highway rating. I'm of course referring to the non-hybrids. I really like this 2016 Prius. Cheers, Bill
That's a good point about the 20mpg vehicles. I hear a lot of people say things about trucks "this truck only gets 2mpg better than that truck, they’re pretty much equal". But when you're only getting 17mpg, 2mpg is huge! It's 0.62 gal for every 100 miles, almost 3x more fuel saved than going from 62mpg to 72mpg. Lots of people seem to think that a mile per gallon has some fixed value, when it doesn't.
To me it is a big deal over the long term. If I take my 2010 and a 2016 to Florida and back, the difference is a half a tank of gas, 5.25 gallons. 1170 miles at 55 mph the 10 would use 18.87 gallons and the 16 would use 16.25 gallons. Basically the 16 would use 86% of the gas the 10 would. I'll take that 14% difference in fuel mileage any day. At 2.05 a gallon the savings would pay the tolls both ways on the WV Turnpike.
Cheapest to keep a good Gen2 or Gen3 running, but my Gen3 is 6 years old and I'd rather not be responsible for a car beyond a certain age, 'cause I'm, well, beyond a certain age, maybe well beyond it. At some point in the next couple of years, I need to find a good home for the 2010, and the 2016 Prius is for sure on the short list. Why not go for a 5 seat gasser with triple digit mpg potential...
Go for it! We need more good, used cars out there. I'm pleased to see an increase in the number of gen2 Prius around town, gen3's too. We're all doing our bit for various reasons. It certainly doesn't hurt if you can justify it financially as well! Cheers, Bill
Wow! If I can get over how the exterior of the new Prius looks, I think I might have found my new car! 70 MPG at 60 miles an hour is absolutely amazing. I've driven a gen2 extensively and I always able to get 55-60 MPG out of it; I'm sure I can coax some more out of this gen4!
Hi All: As PST approaches the new day it must be time for the steady states. Expecting a lot from the 21/28 mpg rated 15 Nissan Murano Platinum despite the 20's early this morning. Following is the 2015 Nissan Murano Platinum FWD - Speed vs Fuel Economy graph. Wind was out of the East at 5 to 10 mph during my measured NB and SB drives. Temps from 63 to 72 degrees F. EPA highway crossover occurred at 71.5 mph. @60mph = 1,200 - 1,350 RPM given the CVT vs. a calculated minimum of 1,200 RPM. Wayne
Hi All: This weeks ride is the 2016 Nissan Maxima Platinum trim. A little time with the Goodyear Blimp in Carson, Calif. 2016 Nissan Maxima Platinum Speed vs FE Winds out of the west at 5 to 10 mph on the NB/SB segments with temps between 51 to 59 degrees F EPA Highway crossover occurs at 78.0 mph meaning the Maxima was highway under rated by more than 2 mph! This should be a 32 mpg highway rated car, not 30 mpg. I bet there is a nice bump for the 2017 MY with nothing changed yet the consumer will benefit from the time they drive the car off the lot to the time they trade it in. Speedometer at 50, 60 and 70 mph was dead on with the CC setting and Garmin. Saw 1,560 RPM@60 mph vs. 1,520 calculated with up to 300 RPM variance with small overpass climbs as expected. Wayne
Wayne Did the Maxima feel "sporty" The V6 Maxima used to be considered a Q SHIP a real family sedan rocketship Very quick-hard accelerating Harder accelerating than ANY 1960's 1970's muscle car-and much higher speed potential(if not governed it would do 150 mph probably) Yeah the Maxima was a SLEEPER at one time Nissan makes sweet motors trans-like Honda so did it bring out your latent motor head?
Hi Charlie: The Ride was softer than most but an inch or two of compression to one side or the other and she stiffened up and rode flat. 0 to 60 in 6 seconds. It has a throaty growl that only comes on when you start it and when you punch it. It is not really a sports car today. It is a very quick Tourer. And the efficiency is far beyond the Monroney. I would own a Platinum trimmed Altima instead however. It breaks 60 without breaking a sweat. The Maxima can reach 50 but just barely. Just to much motor and the final drive is to short. Wayne
