milicz

Did a 62 mile round trip, did 56 MPH cruise control, 40.5 MPG.

nbbox

That is Crazy. Why cant we just have fun and drive who wants to go 56MPH on the highway. If you tried that down here in the LA area you would end up with a semi up your bumper. Drive hard who cares about Gas mileage

jthistle

The highway portion of my morning commute is 25 miles long and I get about 42.9mpg at 55mph. I definitely get better mileage on the concrete portions of the drive than the asphalt parts.

Driving slower is going to save me more than $500 a year. Also driving fast, always looking for the next hole in traffic to get a little bit further ahead, getting frustrated at everyone in my path was very stressful. The reduction in stress is well worth the extra 10-15 minutes it takes me to get to work.

stinger11723

I just drove 862 miles in two days last week and saw my best average at 33.04 mpg on one tank, and the very next tank I got 29.21 mpg. This was with the cruise set at about 70-72 mph and mostly interstate driving. Technically I didn't change my driving habits much at all so I am very pleased with my mpg thus far. I'm averaging 29 mpg for the 4600 miles I've put my XB.

TX_WRX

The faster you go the more power you need and the curve is exponential. Same goes for mpg. the xB probably gets its best mpg right around 55 so the further up you go from there the worse. Plus no one should ever go that far over teh speed limit and use the cruise. you are going to kill someone so please dont be an idiot.

xFistsClenchedx

It appears to be 55 for me. I want to say I get around 40mpg at 55mph.

kidd

i changed my oil before i left for detriot and got around 30ish. on my trip to utah i got around 26.
the only difference that i can think of is that the dealership used a 5w oil and i used 0w

jsigone

vegas trip 31mpg @ 70-75mph with ac on 2-3, outside temps high 95-105 pending where in the desert we were at.

jthistle

From my understanding of AC it is not how fast the fan is going but how low you keep the temperature dial that has the large effect on the gas mileage.

TX_WRX

actually it is neither. It is how low the temp guage and if the compressor is on. The compressor is the thing that drains the power. The fan does nothing. It probably uses 1/100th the electricity that your stereo does. I have started turning off the compressor when accelerating and literally gained 2-3 mpg

jthistle

Also, remember to always use recirculation.

It probably would not be too hard to wire up a sensor that would switch a relay to turn off you AC when you depress the accelerator by a certain amount.

I believe most cars now will turn off the compressor under heavy acceleration, but I don't know what throttle position you need to reach for that to happen.

ShaffNasty

I use this method too... My GF thought i was crazy until i explained that the AC is belt driven and robs the engine of power... i think of it as a little booster... lol... I shut the AC off as i make quick passes or hard acceleration also...

TX_WRX

along these lines i really really want a car with that engine shut off tech (where the engine can shut off when decelerating to a stop but you still have power steering and brakes) I want it set up such that i can control it. I think if i could put my manual in neutral and let out the clutch, the engine should turn off. Then depressing the clutch would turn it back on. That way i can control the engine off and coast a longer distance toward a light, or down a hill but still have brakes and steering. I guarantee that if you give me a car equiped with that i will get an extra 10mpg with the way i drive.

xFistsClenchedx

I think half the magic of hybrids are that they force you to accelerate very, very slow. If you've ever tried accelerating really hard from about 5 mph in a Prius, you will find that the engine makes a bunch more noise and doesn't seem to go any faster lol. The electric motor doesn't allow you to have full torque at low speeds like that.

jthistle

On the contrary the electric motor provides full torque from 0 rpm and maintains it until 1200 rpm then it drops off. Here is a rough HP and Torque curve Toyota provided.

When you accelerate you get beyond the effective range of the electric motor very fast. Then you only have the anemic gas engine which is rated at 70HP and 82 lb./ft. at over 4K rpm. That weird noise is the tiny engine straining.

The benefit of the of the drivetrain in the Prius is under slower acceleration the gas motor does engage until 30mph. Have you ever watch your instantaneous mpg gauge in your xB from a stop, accelerating moderately up to 30 mph you will not see more than 15 mpg and mostly below 10. At 30 mph in 4th gear my xB gets high 30's mpg. If you could cut out that initial low mpg you would get 30+ in the city in the xB.

TX_WRX

and to add to that if you drive a prius like you are trying to save gas, you will see the MPGs climb to almost 60mpg. I know a guy with an insight, he drives like a complete maniac hitting redline etc and still gets right at 50mpg! If he drives it for mileage he can hit 70 consistently. Hybrids rock in that sense but im not buying one now cause the plugin hybrids are around the corner (few years).

xFistsClenchedx

I thought that the point of people hacking the Prius was to get full torque from the electric motor when accelerating?

nameless_ak

33.3 mpg going through HUGE mountain passes, and cruising between 55 and 75-80 mph. Which makes me sooo happy considering my xB1 got 31-32 mpg on the same trip!

whiteboyslo

typically WOT only.


Mike

jthistle

32.5 mpg with AC. Last week in Chicago it was pretty hot, 90+ and high humidity, so I used the AC every day. At speeds up to 40 mph I would run no AC with the windows open. Then on the highway once I got to speed I would run the AC at its coldest and recirculation. I did not manually cycle the AC.