Hey.
 

So I just got my first car, a 2004 Prius. Since this car is designed for fuel economy I figured I might as well figure out how to use it efficiently. So I came here :)

Hope to receive some good advice and learn some techniques here.

Priora,

Edit: I'm currently making 42 mpg.

Priora -

Welcome to EM! Your MPG is a great place to start because it's the answer to the universe :

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...er_to_Life.png

But I'm sure you'll be making more soon.

CarloSW2

Hahaha. References make my day. :D About pulse and glide. Do you pulse to the speed limit? Or above it? Like in the article it was talking about how the drivers went up to 70 in a 60 zone to get 104 mpg. Yet where I live you can only go about 4 above before you're considered speeding. How does this affect the results?

The short answer is always drive appropriate for local conditions, traffic, and hazards. If you're somewhere where you can get away with coasting a little faster to get some momentum for a long flat or an uphill stretch, then do it. Obviously if there's a speed trap at the bottom of the hills or a driveway with a short sight distance, use your better judgment. 104mpg is not typical, it's a record. While it's not uncommon for folks to get 50+ mpg out of their Prii and some can even get 65+ frequently, conditions always dictate results. As a general rule, the slower you go, the better your mileage, so speeding is not only not necessary, it's frequently a detriment to the best mileage possible.

I'm far from the most experienced P&G'er here, so I'll leave the details to the experts.

In the meantime, welcome aboard.

Priora -

Yeah, I agree with endurance. I pretty much stay in the slow lane or next-to-slow lane and my goal is to be the slowest car in the flow of traffic. All my record MPG runs have a low average MPH.

What will happen over time is that you will perfect your route.

CarloSW2

Welcome to the site. Congrats on the Prius too, its a great car.

42 mpg seems low to me though. In town, I use P&G (up to 40 mph). Faster than that, I set the cruise control to the speed limit and I get what you see in my signature and a lifetime of 50 mpg after about a year of having the car. If you're in a more flat area you can try using super highway mode, but it hasn't worked well for me in my hilly area. Other than that, be easy on the brakes (especially at higher speeds) so you recapture all the braking energy. A scangauge really helps drive this car too.