My GF's has a 2001 prius and it regularly gets over 50 mpg even though it's rated about 42 mpg.. maybe it's related to her driving style. With everything else constant, could I expect substantially higher MPG in, say, a 2010 or 2011 Prius even though its EPA rating is only 50 mpg? In other words, 50 vs 42 mpg, that's a 20% increase.. would it be reasonable to expect a real-world MPG of 60 on a Prius rated at 50 mpg?
If she is driving her normal commute, yes. I know the Gen 3 was better above 60 MPH and better below 60 MPH than the Gen 2, but no real improvement if you only drove 60 MPH.
That revised EPA estimate is way off and not a good basis for comparison. I owned a 2001 and certainly didn't see that as an average. Here's my post-breakin (year 2) data... And year 2 for my 2004... And year 2 for my 2010... . Nope. See above. .
if your g/f is driving a genI... and getting that good of gas mileage then she would get better mileage with a genII or genIII the question is... value... if her current prius is dying (hypothetical) then it's cheaper to get a used genII that will still get better mpg for only 10 grand or so.. then to buy a brand new genIII and pay all that extra. (if i was trading up/in and didn't have a genII currently that's what i would do... since it would have saved me over 20 grand since i financed)
if your g/f is driving a genI... and getting that good of gas mileage then she would get better mileage with a genII or genIII the question is... value... if her current prius is dying (hypothetical) then it's cheaper to get a used genII that will still get better mpg for only 10 grand or so.. then to buy a brand new genIII and pay all that extra. (if i was trading up/in and didn't have a genII currently that's what i would do... since it would have saved me over 20 grand since i financed)
One data point for you. I just filled my 2011 Two for the first time since the dealer filled it with 3 miles on the odometer. Over the first 377 miles of 80% freeway driving, I averaged 50.1 MPG calculated on fuelly and on the onboard display. I didn't baby the car, driving mainly open roads with the cruise control set at 71 or 72 MPH and the AC set at 69 on some fairly warm days.
G2 is about 110% of G1 MPG on average. G3 compared to G2 is more complicated. About the same or a few percent less than G2 with gentle, slow driving, easily 5% better than G2 at speeds over 65 mph. There are reasons to think the G3 will also better a G2 in cold winter and short trip driving, but I do not know if this has been the actual case.
It depends on what you consider "significant". She'll do "better" in a bigger, more refined car but IMO not significantly. FE is much like that 1/2 glass of water. Some owners would be thrilled with the "low" numbers posted by others.
I keep a spreadsheet. The Gen3 is a hard luck car. It debuts in a downward economy, suffers bad press (editorial comment deleted), colder winters & supply disruptions. In a more hostile environment my 2010 has achieved higher FE than the 2006 over comparable months. Tank to tank it is more consistant & easier to get the number (whether considered "good" or "bad") than the Gen2. Over roughly the same number of miles the Gen2 had 12 tanks over 60mpg & 1 tank over 70mpg. The Gen3 has 1 60mpg tank.
