I often reset my mileage screen to get a trip mileage mpg figure Is there a screen I can go to and get the car's lifetime mpg? ... or do I have to track it with one of the Excel spreadsheets that I have seen around? thanks
There is no lifetime mpg screen. In the classic Prius, the Consumption screen could be left alone and would show the lifetime mpg but the '04's con. screen resets automatically when you fill or, in your case you reset it.
The 2004 Prius screen does not always reset when filling the tank, which I think explains posted photos of screens supposedly showing 700, 800 or 900 miles to a tank. A tank of gas in the Prius should realistically give you 500 miles, perhaps 600 if you top it completely and run the car until it almost runs out of gas; 700 + miles per tank is fiction.
Actually, 700 miles is possible if you fill the tank full and meet or exceed 60 MPG. I can exceed 60 MPG with careful driving and moderate outdoor temperatures. I would agree that 700 miles on a tank is rare but if you look at those screens that show 700+ miles you will always see 60+ mpg. I don't suspect that someone would go to the trouble of figuring out how to fake the screen pic in order to impress people they would never meet, just because it is difficult for me to match their performance.
I believe it is possible to get tanks of over 700 miles. However, the folks who have achieved the feat were not doing "normal" driving. They were driving with a view to breaking fuel economy records. For example, I think I remember that the fellow who got a 967 mile tank put his car into cruise control at a speed of about 35 miles per hour, drove all the way to Alabama, didn't use air conditioning, and stopped as infrequently as possible. The terrain was pretty flat and the winds were favorable. While I am impressed with the result and think it's useful for our understanding of the Prius' capabilities, I agree that such a result would be impossible in normal day-to-day driving.
hit reset by mistake - great mileage Today I filled up my tank for the first time (first tank avg 49 mpg). About 100 miles into the new tank I hit reset on the consumption screen by mistake (had been getting 48 mpg til then). After that, for 130 miles I averaged 59 mpg !!!! Is this a function of hitting the reset by mistake or am I really getting fantastic mileage? How accurate is that mpg screen??? Would appreciate replies from "long time" prius owners THX
It's been pointed out that a lifetime MPG display would get rather boring after the first few thousand miles.
