Attached what I managed to consume today on my way back from work, through town. The trip has some steep inclines, traffic lights, stops, etc...you know, the usual. This picture is to show the, likely, bare minimum you can achieve with the Prius in town in ideal conditions. How did I get such a low fuel consumption in town? - 25C ambient temperature - A/C completely off - I have not used any "hypermiling" technique - only tried to predict traffic and brake as least as possible, rolling to a stop, etc. - I have accelerated to the limit of the "Eco light" switching off, so - not like a granny - radio on in aux mode and volume at level 40 - charging iPod and Navi - turning headlights on when required by law - by driving a bit more than the speed limit, always following traffic flow - I have reset the Trip B soon after the engine warmed up (so after less than 1km) - ECO mode was on, but it didn't help much as with regards to the A/C which was off, but to have fine tuning of gas pedal - because A/C was off, I kept the front windows half-open to enjoy the fresh air (as much as it can be in city traffic... - but Munich is a green city, for the most part) - 17" rims with stock Michelin Primacy 215/45 R17 wheels at 2.7/2.6 bars (front/back resp.) - note the avg. speed of 38km/h - not really *that* slow considering the km driven and the time it took me to cover it (about 25mins). I think this is the bare minimum with ideal conditions that one can achieve on the Gen 3 with 17" wheels. Anything changes the fuel consumption will go up (except when using 15"). I still have to see any car out there that can achieve such a low fuel consumption in town, even a diesel...! Need to hypermile? No, I don't think so - Prius takes care of itself....! (as well as good driving habits)
Unreal numbers! My only quibble, and I know I'm getting to be a broken record on this: 3.1 in-dash is most likely 3.3~3.4 when calculated. Still insanely good I think low speed, around town is where the Prius shines, regardless of your level of skill.
Thanks! Yes, you need to add at least a good 5%. If by "low speed" you mean less than 60km/h (real), then yes. Unless standing still at a stop or a traffic light, I was always driving at least 50km/h (real).
Yes. Not sure what the cutoff for stealth mode is, but that's what makes it so easy around town to get good mileage.
Lets not forget touring car... Round trip from Seaside Oregon to San Francisco was over 54 MPG calculated, tank filled from Seaside and from return filled at same gas station at Seaside, 100% true mileage. Gross vehicle weight 3,800 lbs, documented at Oregon D.O.T. truck scales. alfon
mmhmm... If you reset after the engine warmed up, then it will skew the numbers. Even then, I was able to get similar numbers (3.2L/100km) with the SHM technique at higher speeds.
No - the EU model comes with the same tires as elsewhere on 17" rims - I corrected it to /45...thanks for spotting it!
I usually reset the trip B counter before the engine starts its warm-up process. Trip A is dedicated to the tank stats. This time I have reset it by mistake and hence decided to take the opportunity to see what "rock bottom" mpg I can get in town traffic in "ideal" conditions. Seeing the numbers I thought that no other car, including so called "city cars" can still not get even close to it. I then corrected to city car of "its size" to be more accurate with my statement. My statement and test is more geared toward the TDIs out there claiming wondrous mpg, but lack to show what real life mpg is, and real life means very often, unfortunately, being stuck in traffic. Toyota engineers got that right when they started the Prius project 15 years ago... S When I can buy an EV in Europe of Prius' size and cost, let me know. For now, as of today, Prius and Auris is the best you can get in terms of fuel consumption in town. The Leaf is not yet available in EU. And when available this coming winter, I am of the opinion that making a comparison between an hybrid and an EV and/or a plug in hybrid is not that fair.
