Jan06xB

Friend of mine bought a used Prius 2005 and gets 38mpg DUH!! and paid 21k for it - it will NEVER PAY for the fuel savings. Of course I drove it and got 67mpg but I don't care for the EMR that it generates inside the cabin . . . that's Electro Magnetic Radiation. It also sucks on the front view after being in the xB and I do have to haul stuff that's why I got it and it isn't a big deal going slow because the gas burns so clean that there isn't any carbon buildup - it's when you bury the pedal that you get all the blowby into the oil and excess gas and sulfur smell out the tail pipe.

Besides I like to enjoy the scenery as it goes by - as you get older you too will probably slow down a little . . . if you live that long LOL. Hey I don't slow down for turns FYI.

Talk about math for a second 30mpg x 100,000 miles @ $3.00 a gallon = $10,000 FOR GAS!!! I save about $3,000 with my better gas mileage plus I don't have to change my oil either so take off a few hundred more $$.

BoxOffice

I've got an '06 5-speed. Mine is used only for commuting to work in L.A. traffic, which is almost all stop-n-go. I've gotten a best of 39mpg, but average about 33-35!
Obviously, I'm pretty happy with that, but I'm driving pretty conservatively in order to save gas, since I put about 3,000 a month on mine (but I still get on it occasionally for grins!).
I've found that the two worst mileage killers are chugging around town (not commuting), and going over about a steady 75mph on the freeway. Even then, the worst mileage I've ever gotten is 30mpg, which was a tank that I drove around only in town, with the A/C on constantly. I can't imagine getting mileage in the 20s!

vintage42

Can you explain how that might be?
Maybe because the ECU is not programmed to burn the fuel properly at low RPM?
If we can get 50 MPG using low RPM driving, imagine the extra MPG we could get if the fuel could be burned completely ;-)
But, if the fuel was not being burned properly, you would think the ECU would recognize the process was out of parameters and put up a DTC.

Gsnorgathon

That assumes you get no joy out of high fuel efficiency. Some of us do - it's just a less visceral sort of joy. I figure if I want visceral joy, I'll go for the viscera. :@)

vintage42

Like, reduced sperm count, cataracts, cancer, brain damage? Or just interference with the cell phone, radio and iPod ;-)

An aquaintance said he had a Prius. I said they were so expensive and he said he got his used with high miles for $12,000. He said he was glad he got an extended warranty, because it paid for $10,000 worth of repairs in the past year. He said the dealers are having a hard time with them. I asked for one example. He said at a routine service, they drained the coolant. Only there are two radiators, one for the electric motor and one for the gas engine. They forgot to fill the cooling system for the electric motor. It's water pump burned up, and to get to it the whole front of the car had to be taken off.

Jan06xB

Yeah EMR interfers with your immune system mostly and cell phone use interfers with brain activity and concentration and DNA - had high doses when they first came out with the old motorola flip phones and unlimited night calling - got headaches that would not go away when I went over 300 minutes a month. Aluminum foil blocks most of the stuff if you put a piece over your head on the phone side - now I have a much lower powered phone and keep the calls short. At one point my brain was so sensitive to radiation I could pick up airport radar before the Whistler in my car would.


I knew about the reserve thermos bottle that holds about 3 gallons of hot coolant when you shut down but didn't realize that the electic motor was water cooled also - makes sense though. This one was really tricky to drive if you wanted to just run in EV mode you had to really just touch the gas pedal and keep it still as the car slowly builds up speed or runs steady below 40mph to un on battery only. Problem is that it doesn't run for long before the motor starts up to charge it up again. Nicest part is regen braking back into the battery for the next acceleration - got to dirve it a little and ended up not using the mechanical brakes much at all. Bottom line is my xB will cost me $7,000 for 100,000 miles at $3 a gallon at my current MPG and a Prius will cost more than that extra just to buy it plus you still have to buy gas. Not to even mention the waste of energy creating the Prius and recycling it after it is dead compared to the xB with the lowest enegry cost from birth to ashes - thinking green here for a second.

Romanova

Amen!

peteski

Wow, you have some excellent abilities! If I was this lucky, I'm sure that I would use my powers for profit.

I use 24k Gold-plated copper foil for my head covering. It has much better shielding capabilities that aluminum. Copper also has lots of other good qualities for your body.

I also wear a 12ga wire harness on my torso. I have it grounded by a flexible wire running down to a stainless plate in my shoe sole. That does wonders for shunting induced currents in your body. But it is a pain when getting out of my xB in the winter (static shock).

I'm also worried about Alpha particles but they seem to only pnetrate the outer skin layer. But Gamma rays are a diffrent story. Those are really nasty. But I'm afraid that I would get funny looks if I started wearing outer garmets made of 1/8" lead foil...

Winter

well from what i hear from a friend in the import world. having a cold air intake actualy will increase your milage slightly. because the cold air is more condenced, it alows for a larger compression and thus gives a a little more power and less'ens the need for more fuel to get you going.

Jan06xB

Yeah I could actually feel a cell phone operating by a tingling in my head on the side that the cell phone was. Boat radar gave me an instant headache too - the guy I sail with didnt believe me so I went up to the bow of the boat as he cycled it on and standby and then he believed. There is some really weird things being done with rings of metal that a friend of mine was looking into and when he did a session on me, man the weird sensations I could feel was unreal.

Cold Air intake may work well in summer but in the winter it will keep the fuel from burning well at light engine loads and lower your mileage - of course if you are not getting good mileage to begin with then it probably won't hurt it much. Too hot of an air intake doesn't work too well either.

Gsnorgathon

That's the annoying thing about CAIs - what you really need is a WAI for when the engine's cold, and a CAI for when it's hot. I guess if you do mostly long-distance driving, or live in a warm climate, a CAI would help your fuel efficiency. Otherwise, it might be a wash.

bB_Widow

WOW, I just read this to bB2NER over the phone and He understood every word but I have no clue what you said.. He has promised to explain it to me.

Gsnorgathon

Sometimes I think it would be cool if the site or web browser could incorporate an automatic de-jargonizer/acronym expander...

CAI - cold air intake
WAI - warm air intake

Translation: when the engine's cold, warm air helps improve fuel efficiency; when it's warm, cold air improves fuel efficiency. I have no idea by how much, or if it would be worth the bother.

vintage42

I don't see how that gives a good ground. Get a grounding kit for the engine, and run a wire to the dash with a receptacle for your harness. You will feel better, the engine will run better, not to mention you will really be tuned into it.

Jan06xB

Some of the guys on GasSavers.org ran some test (with really good controls) and sort of figured out that there is an ideal air temp range and anything below or above causes the ECU to burn more gas and get lower FE. In the old days there was a thermastatic valve to take warm air off the exhost manifold when teh engine was cold and then switch over to cold air when it warmed up or needed more power via a vacuum controlled flapper valve in the air cleaner snorkle.

LoadedAgain

How did you keep from killing yourself from boredom on this trip? Booze?

Jan06xB

No fall foliage - lots of twisty roads and trees. I used to run the same roads on motorcycle - very few cars and all sorts of scenery. Next thing, when they finish paving the road where I do my test loop run, is to see the exact effects on tire pressure on mileage. I run about 38 psi now and would like to try 28 and maybe 43psi - 5 more and 10 less.

bB2NER

Just don't give up on 30 mpgs. With the right combo of mpg helpers you can get 30 plus every tankful regardless of driving habits.

Jan06xB

30's WHAT !! Im in the 40's and looking for 50's

bB2NER

Maybe while going downhill with a tail wind.
On a NORMAL interstate trip doing real speeds (65-75 mph) 38 mpgs is about the max you can achieve with a BOX.
I guess if you could find a flat road and maintain 45-50 mph for several hours maybe 40mpgs could happen but who drives like that.