Hello there all,

I didn't think to introduce myself (and have already posted a few messages here) but then I discovered that I got a message from Jason asking me to introduce myself so I thought I would oblige.

My girlfriend and I bought a 2004 Prius (Tideland) back in November 2003 and have since put 7500 miles on it in various conditions. We live outside of our illustrious capital of Washington DC in Virginia.

Currently I'm a graduate student in Electrical Engineering looking at alternative ways of supplying us with energy. I'm also working on some projects of my own at SustainabilityResearch.com . I am very interested in developing ways and technologies that allow people to live sustainably. That was the primary reason I was interested in the Prius.

I have to say I have mixed feeling about the car. I loved my previous car ( a Volkswagen Jetta) and really enjoy driving in general. I have found the driving smoothness of the Prius to be lacking (stemming I hope from a mechanical/control problem of some sort). With about half of my tanks in the 30's mpg range with a low of 32 mpg (well after break-in) the fuel economy (while ok) has not been exciting.

That being said, I am warming up to the car and it does have some incredibly exciting features. It is quite cool on those rare occasions when the engine shuts off and the car runs quietly. I have decided to get involved with GreenHybrid to see what other's experiences are and see if I can improve my experience with my car.

Anyway, that's a little about me. I look forward to interacting with you all.

Christian

 

Christian,

Glad to see you here. I've actually created a new Introductions forum as it seems it is needed! You should find some useful driving techniques; the Prius II (HSD) is averaging 47 mpg among our drivers.

 

Hi Christian:

___Welcome to the forum …

___Low 30’s is a bit to low even if you were driving with your foot in the floor all the time in below 0 degrees F ambient temperatures. Have you looked at the practical items first like your tire pressures and oil level? Just make sure your oil level is ~ ½ way between the high and low level mark on the dip stick and that your tire pressures are in the upper 30’s or higher and you will at least knock back the obvious areas to look at. Do you have a fellow Prius driver near you that you might be able to go for a drive with to do a little comparison between Prius’ possibly? Are you driving less then 2 or 3 miles per drive possibly? You don’t have a CEL’s lit right now, do you? Just a few places to start.

___When you are speaking of driving smoothness, are you speaking of suspension, braking, and handling mannerisms or are you speaking of the acceleration from the pack alone to the ICE and pack and back again to the pack only if you have ever felt that transition? Even though I am not a rabid Hybrid fan, I have to admit that the 04 Prius is relatively smooth in its transitions between power sources.

___Good Luck

___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Hunt Club Farms Landscaping Ltd.
___Waynegerdes@earthlink.net

 

Christian,
Thanks for posting the introduction. I read your mileage with interest. Could you share a little bit more about your typical drive is like? Hopefully there are others here that may have ideas about the 30's range mpg.

I took a look at your sustainability Reasearch website. There's some good stuff in there.

Even without the "excitement" of high gas mileage, remember that your car is still 90% cleaner than the average car on the road today. In my opinion, that's exciting.

 

Hello there all and thank you for the welcomes.

First off thanks for moving this over to the introductions. You'd think I would have noticed that sub-forum but oh well.

Thanks for checking out sustainability research. I'm glad you found it interesting. As it is at this point a side project for me I am slow to add new material.

I was very excited to read about what the partial zero emission implied. So yes that is most definitely exciting.

Wayne, the roughness I'm talking about is when the gas motor shuts off. I talked about it in another post over in the Prius General Forum and I would be very interested in anything you have to say.

Now on to my driving.

I inflate the tires to 42 psi front 40 psi back this helps a little with instability of the drive of the car I noticed when I first got it. It also did improve mileage a little. I also check it regularly so the inflation is still approximately that.

I just ran out an checked the oil and it is actually about 1/4 " above the top dipstick mark. I had it changed by the Toyota dealer around 5k miles so I don't know if this is normal or not. It's raining right now but I'll check for foaming under the cap when it stops. I guess I should have checked the oil when I picked the car up.

Wayne, should the oil be AT 1/2 way between the marks or ABOVE half way?

I've also been experimenting with various driving techniques like accelerating at half capacity and feathering the peddle and keeping a constant speed. I think the real problem is the trip shortness generally I drive about 4 miles in the morning ( about 20 min round trip) and then again in the evening. Other short trips on the couple of mile then shut off, do errands, run for another couple of miles. That being said, the car is usually driven at highway speeds for 10-20 minutes several times a week which (I think) should clean out the emission control stuff which will impede performance, though I don't have a clear understanding of how that all works.

I'm hoping to get the mileage up so I would welcome any suggestions.

Thanks again
Christian

 

Christian,

There wasn't an Introductions subforum when you first posted

 

Hi Christian:

___Between the hi and lo marks is fine. ½ way is supposedly optimal according to some of the Prius guys. You will have to speak with them directly however as to the exact answer. Right now, you are too high for high fuel economy. Bring it down either at the dealership or DIY.

___Those short trips are really going to murder your mileage. Unfortunately, it sounds like there isn’t much that you can do about it? In colder temps, I would definitely install an engine block heater as that should help but in moderate temps, there is really nothing that is going to solve the short trips you are setup for. Be thankful you don’t have a long commute like some if us

___Good Luck

___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Hunt Club Farms Landscaping Ltd.
___Waynegerdes@earthlink.net

 

Hi Christian:

___This thread entitled “Low mileage on start-up?” might help explain what is going on with your short trips and such.

___Good Luck

___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Hunt Club Farms Landscaping Ltd.
___Waynegerdes@earthlink.net

 

No wonder I couldn't find the Introductions subforum. It was a great idea to create a separate one.

Thanks for the link I went over there and looked at it. There doesn't seem to be much I can do about the short trips. I was thinking about installing an EV button and expanding the battery capacity to make the short trips on EV only but I don't have the time nor the interest in potetally voiding the warranty this early in the game. I'll start by getting that oil level down and soon the weather will warm up so the car should get warm more quickly.

I actually have no commute ( I work from home) but my girlfried does and I drive her. It's too bad that it is outside of regular walking distance but it is a short drive. We will be moving at the end of the summer so that may solve the short trip problem.

Christian

 

Another option would be to ask your girlfirend to move farther away.
Or perhaps a new girlfriend altogether?