GringoStarr, the Prius does routinely get better mileage in town vs hwy: more electric propulsion at low speeds. Also, any pics of dash displayed mpg will be a little high, Toyota's prone to exaggerate. That's a brilliant name, btw.
In town I have to hypermile like crazy to keep over 50mpg. On highway driving I can easily get 50 + mpg, but I am still hypermileing. I have found that there are so many reasons to kill the mileage that it isn't worth the effort to care about it. Sometimes I will chalk it up to "bad gas" or a headwind. Even at 45 mpg I'm killing about everyone else's mileage anyway.
That sounds like you do not know how to hypermile. When I use many of the techniques that are sometimes called 'hypermiling,' in good weather in my Prius (v)agon around town I: Reach over 40 mpg in one mile Reach 60 mpg by 5 miles End up around 70 mpg for trips over 10 miles Hypermiling does not mean "driving in a manner different than I want."
I think I can hypermile OK. I can get 15 to 20 mpg on my 1993 Fleetwood Flair 26 ft motor home. Fuelly.com "The Beast" It may be just the way my 2004 Prius runs. I have Barum tires that came on it when I bought it. Definitely not LRR tires there but decent for now. I inflate to 42F 40R PSI. I just posted about coasting for better mpg in the forum. Switched Oil from 5W30 to 0W20 after 193 miles, watching mileage. #56