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The MXV4 is an excellent tire but it pales in comparison to the Energy Saver A/S in terms of energy efficiency. :) On the Prius we have observed a 4+mpg difference between the two.

remember that the tires they tested all exhibit LRR characteristics. Had they tested a performance tire or one truly known to be inefficient the results would have been even higher. Still, over the lifetime of the tire the average consumer will save enough money to almost cover the cost of another set of tires. Gotta think long term. :)

I hear ya! I feel like I could never go back to less than 500 mile range. I envy those Passat TDis and their huge tanks!

True and the Prius Plug In only has a 10.6ga tank but it's still funny. :)

They really need to put these commercials on TV. I LOVE this commercial! http://youtu.be/zxKzTYgNiWg Ford has a bunch of them on their website. http://www.ford.com/cars/cmax/hybridgames/

Those are great results for such a small car!

If you are new to hypermiling then such techniques may appear odd but to the rest of us they are a genuine technique for extracting all you can out of your vehicle. It is also another form of entertainment. Some people enjoy WOT freeway runs or canyon carving. Those without crazy horsepower on tap prefer video game mode and go for high score (high mpg). As a former drag racer I have switched from my pursuit of low ETs to high mpgs.

Nice! I love that place! I tend to go there more often than the one in Mammoth because I tend to stay in the Bishop area more.I go when it is a little warmer though. ;) We did a 3 day hike into Thousand Island Lake with barely enough food for 1 day. By the time we got out we were stumbling, weary and daydreaming about food. We immediately drove out of the Silver Lake area and headed straight for Mammoth! Schat's, Ben & Jerry's, an early showing of Tropic Thunder and the Mammoth Lakes Campground was like an answer to all of our prayers.... :) Old picture but you know the place. ;) And our bear friend at the campground

What? No shots in front of Schat's? ;)

Watch the bottom left corner of the Scangauge.

Ford already has the technology for automated grille shutters. They use them on the Ford Focus. Chevy has them for the Cruze and Dodge has them for the Ram pickup. There are a few other brands using them as well.

it was all making sense until you put it in terms of beer instead of money. Now it feels like a real loss. :(

This effect is further hampered by our perception of diminishing returns. * --Going from 10mpg to 20mpg saves (1,500ga - 750ga) 750ga or $2,700/yr --Going from 20mpg to 40mpg saves (750ga - 375ga) 375ga or $1,350/yr --Going from 40mpg to 60mpg saves (375ga - 250ga) 125ga or $450/yr -- CMAX real average of 37mpg vs. EPA 47mpg costs (319.15ga - 405.4ga) 86.25ga or $310/yr * Assumes a 15,000 mile annual average and fuel at $3.60/ga

http://www.caranddriver.com/columns/mileage-no-its-your-gallonage-that-really-counts For those of you who are bummed out by lower than expected fuel economy, just run the numbers and see if it helps you feel better. :)

You're welcome. Anything I can do to help the owners of these awesome new cars (CMAX). :)

Tires are generally considered broken in after a couple thousand miles. The hybrid drivetrain could take that long to break in as well. Along those lines, I would urge CMAX owners to have their CVT fluid changed early on and have an analysis performed. Toyota claims the Prius transaxle fluid is lifetime but many of us have determined this to be false or at least misleading. My fluid looked pretty bad at 34k miles. That tells me there is a lot of break in material in the fluid and a good enough reason to change it early.

I've argued this with Prius owners for years. The HVAC system most definitely has a big impact on fuel economy. You can mitigate the losses by turn the system on low or if using the auto feature by setting the temp to as close as the outside temp as is reasonable. With the heater or AC on high, the engine will run more often than if you had the AC turned off. I've monitored a 7-10mpg (instantaneous) drop when using the AC in my Prius on a hot day. After the cabin reaches the desired temp the load goes down and mpg comes back up but this takes quite awhile. If you do short trips and constantly run the AC your average mpg is going to plummet! If you are in truly cold areas then the grille block will help get things warmed up faster and reduce the mpg impact of the heater. As will parking in a garage and using an engine block heater. I have a bunch of tips for summer driving if anyone is interested.

Do those super short glides help overall FE for that trip vs. steady state driving? In general, for a pulse & glide session to really be productive you have to glide much further than you pulse. On average I try to glide at least twice the distance I traveled during the pulse phase. For easy math: if I pulse for 1/2mile at 30mpg then glide for 1/2mile at infinite mpg I got 60mpg for that 1mile. That is hardly worth my time because I could do 60mpg just driving steady state in such conditions. Now if I pulse for 1/4mile and glide for 3/4mile i get 90+mpg. There are lots of variables and I am sure the CMAX is different but I doubt that the size of the battery is going to change the basics. You want to use as little energy as possible. EV energy is not free. :)

You can look at Fuelly.com to get an average for the Prius and you can break it down by year if you like. http://www.fuelly.com/car/toyota/prius The GenIII (2010-2013) averages about 48-49mpg over the course of a full year (summer highs and winter lows). Driving at an easy pace of 60-65mph in the summer can easily net 55-60mpg. Trips at speeds of 75-85mph drop you into the mid-high 40s. My last trip from Sacramento to LA (396miles) in 50F temps and some pretty bad rain for the first 80 miles ended at 45.7mpg. I did my best to stay at 75-85mph. My GenII Prius did the same trip in similar weather but less rain and ended at 42mpg. So to answer your question. The Prius will still average low-mid 40s at 80mph+ assuming you don't have a bunch of very short trips on that tank AND you don't have aftermarket 17" wheels with non-LRR tires. Those kill mpg! With good tires and well placed glides averaging high 50s to low 60s is pretty easy during the summer. Here is a thread on my other forum where some of us battle it out. :) http://priuschat.com/threads/top-20-mpg-record-holders.112709/

The guys on CleanMPG.com were saying that a software change to reduce throttle tip in and detune power would go a long ways towards increasing efficiency in the CMAX. Maybe a user-selectable ECO Mode?

I have mastered pulse & glide in my Prius and from what I have learned to be most effective are these points: ---Keep acceleration near peak BSFC (figure out what RPM and load this is for the CMAX). For my car 1,500-1,600RPM was best. ---After entering a glide, reduce throttle input such that you are barely using EV power. This helps conserve battery energy and reduces overall energy expenditures. Don't try to drive around on EV power just to make your glide longer or you'll drain the battery and pay for it with reduced engine efficiency. There is no free lunch here. ---Pulse & glide generally doesn't work on the freeway. You'll annoy the hell out of everyone on the road. Better to just pick a speed and drive. ;) ---These may or may not be helpful tips but as you are learning what works best for your car these may lead you to other revelations. ;) Ohh, does the CMAX have a consumption over time screen? Something that shows a graph of mpg over the last 30min or so? That could be very helpful in determining the effectiveness of your pulse & glide technique.

That sounds easy enough to remove. I asked because I made a trip from Sacramento to LA and forgot about the grille block on my car. While speeding up the grapevine at 80+mph I noticed my engine temp had climbed up to 211F! In a Prius is normally doesn't go any higher than 198F (191F is normal) and that is with full grille block. 211F is way too high. I immediately pulled over and removed the ugly foam we use as a block. Emergency removal is important. ;) I would find out where the radiator for the inverter is. That will help determine how much grille blocking will impact temps. Does the Torque app have the PIDs for the CMAX yet? That is how I was able to monitor all of my temps while testing. My Scangauge is too old to do this as it has not been updated since 2005.

I'm still learning about the CMAX so I'm a little foggy on the particulars but are you also monitoring inverter and electric motor temps? Is the grille block easy to remove on the side of the road in the event you forget to remove it before a long trip?

Wayne Gerdes from CleanMPG.com did a recent evaluation of the CMAX, Prius v and Prius Liftback (with 17" wheels). Unlike his usual tests which involve wringing every bit of fuel economy they can out of a car, this test was designed to just drive the cars like normal people. He liked the CMAX except for the efficiency. http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=45723&page=16