I have a 2012 prius c with 72k miles. When i bought the car, it took a while for the fuel economy to increase. i drive 100 miles a day at 85mph and topped out at 52mpg. pretty damn good, if you ask me. im all interstate with very little city driving.
2 years later, its time to get new tires and ever since i changed them, my fuel economy has decreased to 45mpg.
In the last 2 weeks I get 60MPG (indicated) with ease on my 22 mile round trip all city work commute. The commute is very predictable with the same speeds and driving technique and similar light pattern.
The thing is, the most part of the summer I had to work hard to get upper 50's on the same commute.
No, I don't use AC as the temps are mild enough to drive with windows down in early morning and evening.
There are 2 variables: the ambient temp went down to low 80's rather than high 80's before.
I used to get really good mileage on my 12.5 mile commute, if I didn't reach 50 miles per gallon, I considered it a poor commute. But over the last several hundred miles, I have only averaged about 45 miles per gallon - sometimes I'm not even reaching 40 mpg. I checked my tires, they are fine. I also notice that the gasoline engine is running a lot. I'll be at a stop sign, and the battery is nearly full, but the gas engine is running.
View 19 RepliesI have a 2011 Camry LE with about 13,000 miles on it. I just replaced my tires with Bridgestone Turanza EL400 225/65/16 and now my mileage have drastically decreased, I used to get about 400 miles per tank driving strictly city, but now I'm lucky if I can actually reach 300 miles driving under the same condition (non aggressive city driving). Does increasing the width of the tires actually make this big of a difference in mileage?
View 14 RepliesI got two new Bridgestone ER300 Ecopia to replace two on the front. Trouble is after getting the tires fitted the car pulled to the left quite badly and my mpg's went down! Hmmm. I checked the tires in case a non low rolling resistance tire had been fitted by mistake, but they were correct. I then checked the pressures, which again were correct. So I guessed the tracking must have been out so booked it in with the dealers for checking. After a couple hours and a couple test drives later they advised the tracking is fine and the tires are fine. Odd.
Just filled up for the second time since the new tires and I'm struggling to get anywhere near 50 mpg! Even after a few long trips where I know from past experience that I could get mid 60's easily. I've inspected the tires closely and note that one of the new ones is made in Italy and the rest are from France. All the loadings, ratings and the type are the same, just made in a different factory and it is a slightly lighter colour compared to the French ones.
I have an '06 Subaru Forester (4 cyl, automatic) with about 97,000 miles on it. For the past 5 years I've had the car, it's been getting roughly 26-28 mpg on average. Within the past 3-4 months, though, the fuel economy has dramatically decreased. Now, I'm lucky if I get 21 mpg. (I used to be able to get almost 350 miles per tank, and now if I make it to 275 I'm jumping for joy!)
I took my car to the shop for the 90K service, and they didn't change the fuel filter as a part of that service. (They did replace the coolant, replace oil & filter, replace spark plugs, replace differential fluid front & rear, replace brake fluid, replace auto transaxle fluid, and then they did a bunch of inspections on belts, hoses, brakes, etc.)
I took the car back to the shop after this service so they could change the fuel filter, and they told me that because of the type of fuel filter I have, it should last the lifetime of the car. This sounded a little fishy to me, so is this true?
I been wondering if I put light weight 17-inch rims on my car with low profile tires will that destroy my mpg?
View 9 RepliesSo I bought a used 2010 Gen 3 with ~26,000 miles on it in July 2013. I started out getting 48-52mpg depending on where I was driving. I live in Raleigh, NC and I did notice a drop in drop in MPG over the winter ranging between 44-48mpg but the mpg never rose again as the months warmed and I averaged 44-46mpg for most of the summer. After changing my tires a few weeks ago I've dropped to about 40mpg regardless of where or how I drive. I bought Pirelli P4 Four Seasons 195 65R15 91T and have them inflated to the levels recommended by Toyota. 35/32 or something like that. Is it the tires or is there some other possible issue?
View 19 RepliesIn the 30,000 miles I have driven my Gen III, it has gone through three different sets of tires. Driving conditions during this entire time have been identical, and temperatures have been fairly constant. Therefore, I think my fuel economy data can be a good example of the impact that tire selection can have on your fuel economy.
I currently have 2400 miles on the Michelin Energy Saver A/S. These are the MPG stats, manually calculated.
Highest: 53.4
Average: 48.2
Lowest: 45.0
Standard Deviation: 2.4
In the 14,000 miles I had the Michelin Primacy MXV4, these were the mpg stats:
Highest: 50.1
Average: 42.7
Lowest: 37.0
Standard Deviation: 2.6
(I may be missing 2-3 tanks, so this is probably 90% of the fill-ups during the time in which I had the Primacy MXV4.)
Lastly, in the 14,000 miles that I had the OE Yokohama Avid S33d Tires, these were the MPG stats.
This Easter I put summer tires on my "new" (owned about 4 weeks) prius -07, and cleaned and greased brakes.
With winter tires (almost new Nokia hakka xx, stud less) I got 4.5 l/100km (52mpg) easy and 4.2 (56mpg) at best, now I get 5.5 (42mpg) and 5.3 if I struggle, if I relax and put cruise control on I get 5.8 (40mpg). I travel 100km to work every day.
Summer tires is Michelin primacy (about 2 seasons?) pumped to 3.0/2.8 bar (over inflated).
Brakes don't seem hot after drive and they was really clean and easy to move after my service so my guess is that they work fine...
Mileage went down over the weekend so I see a clear link.
It was more fun trying to hypermile at 56mpg aiming for 60 then it is at 42 aiming for 45...
12v battery charged, just in case. Still same temperature out 1-8 C. Oil and all filters changed first week (will change trans axle oil in summer). Travel to work got 4% shorter so tire size must be a small reason to the +20% problem.
Last October I needed new tires, so I had Michelin Defenders put on my 2011 Three in place of the OEM Firestones. The Michelins perform well and are nice and quiet, but...
My gas mileage (both indicated on the dash and calculated) has dropped by about ten percent. In researching the two brands of tire, I found that the OEM Firestones are rated at 836 revolutions per mile, and the Michelins are 839. I'm wondering if this is the reason for the apparent change in mileage.
My wife and I were driving around town the other day. While merging onto the highway we hit a nail. I put the donut on and went to TiresPlus where I have gone since I started driving. I had been thinking about replacing the front tires due to wear and the nail wen in the side on the rear. Anyway I purchased 4 Firestone Affinity Touring tires and went on about my day. My wife drives 100 highway miles a day and then does some city driving. This week she has lost about 5mpg's according to the display average. Also the service light has come on. Can this all be tire related?
View 9 RepliesI have a 2005 Prius recently replaced the hybrid battery. Not so happy with it, my mpg b4 was 49-51 mpg, now I only get 40-45 mpg. I notice the car is a little weaker and the ICE rev higher everytime I accelerate.
View 5 RepliesI just posted last week that my check engine light was on and the dealer wanted to replace fuel injectors. But after the fuel throttle was cleaned and oxygen sensor was replaced the check engine light went off. However, yesterday the check engine light came back on. I am talking it back to the dealer, in a couple of days. Where can I go to get to get the error codes read so I have them before I go back to the dealer? Around 128,000 runs fine, around 40 miles per gallon. Last time I had the oil change dealer nothing came up on the 30 point inspection.
View 7 RepliesI used to fill up with gas without shutting the car down, because I didn't see a need for it. I would disable the fan on the climate control every time to avoid having the ice come on as I refueled. I figured that because the ice wasn't coming on, I wasn't breaking the law. I've since changed my mind about this, after reading posts here on Prius Chat. I also recently noticed on the last few fillups that it seems like the gas capacity on the bladder has decreased significantly.
I used to be able to refuel the car when it was down to a single flashing pip and put 10.5 gallons in with no problem, and without overfilling. I have always been careful not to overfill. However, it seems like now I can get only 8 gallons in at the most. The capacity has decreased with the colder weather, however I used to be able to get 10 gallons in on a consistent basis without overfilling even during the winter.
Is this reduced bladder capacity a result of damage to the system, or is this normal? I have probably filled the car up about 100 times since I've owned it (odometer is around 50K now) while remaining in the ready mode.
Is there anything I can do to expand the capacity of the bladder back to normal, or will I have to live with this? Although it's annoying, I'm not going to spend the money to replace the fuel tank unless it's truly necessary.
My husband had my tires replaced this week. I drive a 2008 Ford Explorer.The car has been running fine - no problems what so ever. Now there is a sound when I turn or go quite slowly. We live on a street that is 25mph so we go slowly to start. I hear the sound while going straight at slower speeds, but also when turning - almost at full lock. It is difficult to describe the sound - not grinding and not screeching. Its almost as if I turned the wheel too far. The sound when running straight is lower maybe rubbing. The sound seems to be coming from the right side of the car. I can also feel the sound, but it isn't a strong vibration. My husband drove the car and said he felt nothing (of course - just like TV repair man syndrome). All 4 tires were replaced. Hubby checked the nuts - says they were alright.
View 5 RepliesI recently replaced the 2 rear Pirelli 19"s on the back with Michelin Diamaris 4x4. I left the slightly worn 2 front Pirellis on thinking NO big deal. WRONG! By not replacing all 4 tires at the same time I noticed a "clunking" noise coming from under the vehicle while under 20mph.
After trouble shooting at 2 different dealerships the second one concluded that I need 2 new front tires. At first they thought that the left front drive shaft was bad but after installing a new one "clunk" was still there. Dealer removed 4 wheels/tires from a new Touareg and placed them on my '04 and "clunk" went away. My '04 has the 4 corner air suspension and locking differentials as well.
Fuel pump in my Volvo 940 has been replaced twice. Since then, my fuel gauge has not worked right and I have had to pump gas about every 120 miles so that the fuel pump would work right. I would fill the tank, and 120 miles (about 5 gallons) later the fuel gauge would indicate about 1/4 tank of gas left. That's when the fuel pump begins to mis-behave. If I make a sharp turn, it would stopped pumping for about 2-3 seconds. If I continue to drive at that level of gas. I can avoid all these problems by keeping the tank at least "half-full", that is, by pumping every 120 miles. The car was totaled by a hail storm and I bought it back for $84. I like to operate the vehicle for as long as I can, one day at a time.
View 1 RepliesRecently had my tire guy replace only my front tires on my 03 Ford Explorer. Drove it on the highway and it felt and sounded like the transmission and drive train were hitting each other. Having him now replace the rears as well. Hopefully, they will now be happy together. Fronts were new rears were worn and different tires. Will the new tires reset everything I screwed up?
View 7 RepliesThe stock 265/75/16 tires need to be replaced and I was considering swapping 285's on the stock wheels. Will I notice an increase in fuel consumption? I realize that calculating mpg will need to be adjusted due to larger tires since the speedometer will be slightly off.
View 14 RepliesMy pickup is giving me trouble, replaced fuel pumpand filter, flashed computer, cam sensor seems to be fine...truck will run one day then will not start on another....1500.GMC year 2000.....5.3 litre motor auto trans 4x4... Thinking on replacing computer as a last ditch effort..when we hook the computer analyzer it shows no problems...
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