How bad do you want to get better mileage???

[niky]

Amusing, but it proves nothing. The Prius was driven "as fast as possible", which pretty much guarantees it is far from its optimum efficiency. They measured 17.something MPG, which is less than half of what a Prius usually turns in normal driving. The BMW stayed right behind it, about one or two car lengths back the whole time. That would be a bit far for drafting a normal car, but maybe not a Prius, which has unusually smooth aerodynamics. They should repeat the video with the Prius following a large delivery truck being driven "as fast as possible", the Prius would probably get 200 MPG.

I've driven the Prius. You can only get electric assist at low throttle openings, and the engine only turns off completely on deceleration. Hard braking into a corner is less effective in terms of power regeneration than coasting regeneration, also... and hard driving can deplete the batteries plenty quick. (Hell, 15 minutes in gridlock with the AC on will do it, too) While I've never personally seen less than 35 mpg from the Prius, I think 17 mpg on track is feasible. Hell, my car only gets 9 mpg on track. You are right, though... coasting behind a terribly slow car on track is definiltey cheating.

EDIT: I've never gotten better than 50 mpg from the Prius... and that was with optimum regeneration strategies and a lot of driving on the electric motor. To get into the 60s, you have to start hypermiling it. Any driving with any semblance of speed will definitely get under 40 mpg.

 

[maxchao]

hmm. if u shut a car off and leave it in gear, isnt everyting still gona be turning? from the trans to the engine to the engine to the pulleys and belts, whic power the power steering, or am i leaving out something?

I don't know, I was talking about leaving it in gear but disengage the clutch(push in the clutch), so no I think the engine will not turn with everything. I said leave it in gear b/c in the end of the downhill you want to use the moving momentum of the car to start the engine(hence not wearing the starter and use gas). If the tranny is not in gear the syncro will have to match the rpm(=0) to the wheel, and it's not good.
Just some thought...

Josh

 

[maxchao]

Well of course. The Prius depends on regenerative braking to replenish its batteries, and on a 10 lap course driven at full speed, the engine's not getting any assist from the electric motor. That's why the Prius gets better gas mileage city than highway...

Oh the other hand, Prius weights more than necessary(in a narrow viewpoint). It carries two powering source, engine and elec. motor with battery. So when one of them is not helping, it is just there to waste gas.

The vid proves...depends on how you drive the mph will change accordingly. Something everyone already knows.

Josh

 

[Sveivo]

My new personal best is 34.53 mpg with a lot of city driving and coasting. (thumb)

I dunno man, I don't see this car getting much more than that lol, because I did a fair bit of 55 mph cruising.

That would not be an American dream would it? It wouldbe republican dream.

Pwned. (rofl2)

 

[maxek]

I just did it again. 360miles out of 8.5 gal. doing 50mph. I used eXxon gas. No flooring. Very easy driving mostly in 5th gear 2.2k rpm.

good luck.

 

[fishdonotbounce]

ALright buddy, no offense, but last time I checked, a mortgage at 50k a year would equal a million and a half dollars over 30 years. That means that your house is about a 750 thousand to a million dollar house. That means that you bit off a little more than you can chew.

I know of many homes that are 300-400k even that are large homes that can easily accommodate a family of 8 and not have to be cramped. Coming from a lower middle class family, 100k a year would, for a fact, cover mortgage, bills, food, gas, kids, vacation every so often and everything in between.

Sorry for being off topic.

For starters Tax would take 33% and mortgage on your house another $50K or more. So you left with $17K. Food, Gas, Bills, and kids. Forget vacation, maintaining the house or upgrading. Wow what about the habits? Smoking, alcohol. Holidays, birthdays? Dont forget about a car payment and a gas for it! Commuting to work and coffee break and a lunch. I feel like I am forgetting something.


Yes 100K is very nice if you live with your parents.

 

[Sveivo]

I just did it again. 360miles out of 8.5 gal. doing 50mph. I used eXxon gas. No flooring. Very easy driving mostly in 5th gear 2.2k rpm.

good luck.

Hmmm. Maybe I do too much city driving. Oh well, it's not bad either way. Props to you though.

 

[maxek]

ALright buddy, no offense, but last time I checked, a mortgage at 50k a year would equal a million and a half dollars over 30 years. That means that your house is about a 750 thousand to a million dollar house. That means that you bit off a little more than you can chew.

I know of many homes that are 300-400k even that are large homes that can easily accommodate a family of 8 and not have to be cramped. Coming from a lower middle class family, 100k a year would, for a fact, cover mortgage, bills, food, gas, kids, vacation every so often and everything in between.

Sorry for being off topic.

Not really. This is NY state. And don't forget there is ~ 10K real estate tax. So the mortgage is for 40K. Do you mind if I ask you if you own a house and have a family that you have to support.

 

[fishdonotbounce]

No I actually don't have a family that I have to support but I'm speaking from experience since I have been helping my mom for the last 6 years with everything. Not to get into detail but way less than 50k a year between all of us and we have two cars, three bedroom condo and all that good stuff. Yea, we're barely squeezing by but 100k would literally allow us to live out a dream. I didn't pay attention to realize that you were in NY but I guess we're arguing two different things here and we're both right. In a suburb in Ohio such as the one I'm in right now, 100k will leave you more than better off, but in NY I can see how it would be different. Move to OH, you would be a baller lol

 

[red95_240sx]

ive noticed while going downhill with cruise control, the car breaks or slows down somehow. what i did on my 200+mile drive to school, i feathered the accel switch downhill instead of wasting that potential energy. i also canceled the downshift out when going uphill, and just picked speed later down the line like another hill or something. i actually thought my 4th gear went out or something cause it just started revving like WTF???

 

[pasadena_commut]

i actually thought my 4th gear went out or something cause it just started revving like WTF???

Automatic, right? The automatic seems to downshift on hills in a preemptive fashion - the motor has not started to bog down yet, but at the rate the RPMs are dropping it will in another 20 or 30 seconds. Rather than waiting, it shifts. I tend to put mine into manual mode on hills to avoid the unexpected down shifts. It scared the crap out of me the first couple of times my P5 downshifted when I wasn't expecting it: one second cruising up a hill, the next the motor is revving like a SOB.

 

[red95_240sx]

yep

 

[Lord_Zath]

That happened to me, too, while on cruise control. Freaky as hell.

 

[maxchao]

Yea both my gf's 2000 1.6 protege and my aunt's suzuki suv does that CC downshift thing(very often in hilly georgia). That's one of the thing that I don't like about auto.
I mean, CC should be designed to be comfy, not scary.
Kinda hard to drive an auto without enough low end torque...

Josh