I am not getting the in-town gas mileage that others (including toyota boast). I think this is in part to the fact that the engine almost always turns on under acceleration. After I get up to speed, I can back off and drive on electric only, but acceleration, even moderate triggers the gas engine.<br><br>I have a 2001 Track Car. I am wondering if it is an early model and needs software upgrades etc.

Suggestions.<br><br>1) Turn off the AC. Even when it's not in MAX, it does make the engine start more frequently based on the AC's thermostat.<br><br>2) Feather the gas(?) pedal and always try to use as light a step on it as possible and still be able to maintain speed.<br><br>3) Coast to stop lights/stop signs. The Prius is very good at coasting.<br><br>4) Try not to floor it once you are at speed. That hurts mileage the most based on an article that I read in Car and Driver.<br><br>5) Keep the Consumption screen on so you can see how the position of your foot on the pedal impacts the instantaneous mileage.<br><br>Hope these help you get better mileage. What are you averaging now? I am averaging about 51 MPG in a combination of city/highway driving.

Unless you have the "surging" problem (which only occurs on certain early VINs, check the TSB), then you're probably not going to get any upgrades to a new ECU...<br><br>For mileage, remember that leaving the car in "Defrost" air vent position turns on the AC. Running the AC, particularly in MAX, will cause your engine to run more often. (I doubt that you've needed to run the heat for a very long time, but that too will cause the engine to turn on more often.)<br><br>If you do short trips, say &lt; 5 mi. mostly, your mileage will suffer (as it would on any car, just that the Prius puts it "in your face"). The engine will run when you first start up to heat up the emissions components (like the catalytic converter) in order to keep the emissions at the SULEV status. (The Prius' first mission is low emissions. Great mileage is just a by-product and secondary.) Like with any car, you should combine short trips, and go to the furthest away one first...<br><br>There's an old post on the main Group that has a mileage estimator. it's considered fairly on-target. <a href=http://groups.yahoo.com/group/toyota-prius/message/6299 target=new>http://groups.yahoo.com/group/toyota-prius/message/6299</a><br><br>To quote:<br>"

I am only averaging 45, but I live in California. Highway driving is 75+<br><br>Thanks for the tips, recently I have been experimenting and have come to some of the same conclusions as those mentioned in replies. When I can keep it in electric, I can go 35 and get 75 mpg (too bad I can't sustain it)

It may also be an issue with the type of fuel we are able to get in CA. Some fellow prii members from other parts of the US are getting great (wow) gas milage. And there was a mention of a person getting fuel with additives and some without and the one without worked much better. (wish we had a choice) This is not a scientific fact - just an observation.