Toyota Prius: Behind the Wheel Blog

Read our Toyota Prius news report here.

Well, that didn't last long. Far from the average fuel consumption figure 'tumbling', it has remained rock-steady on 4.9L/100km. Outward bound from work last night, night had already fallen and the journey was mostly uphill.

A good clear run on the freeway to Ford's monthly sales briefing this morning -- and an extraordinary school-holiday-driven lack of traffic on Hoddle Street -- ensured that Prudence was on the move most of the time.

Even after a post-peak hour return to the office via inner-suburban Richmond, the fuel consumption figure hadn't moved below 4.9L/100km. That was despite gentle acceleration behind a tram, running through 40km/h shopping strip zones.

The average figure belies the car's capability. There were several minutes at a time where the multi-information display showed zero fuel used. That's gotta make a difference sooner or later. It's just that the high average figure from the 360 or so kilometres of open-road driving is taking a while to pull back down with around-town commuting.

The car has used about half a tank since its last fill and has travelled over 390km.

Interesting to note during the Ford briefing today that Broadmeadows plans to introduce the Econetic Fiesta later this month or early August. Ford reckons that the diesel Fiesta will use 3.7L/100km in combined-cycle testing. That's a little better than the 3.9L/100km figure for the Prius, but at 98g/km, the Fiesta doesn't compare with the Toyota for CO2 emissions (89g/km). Apparently it's about the energy density and carbon content of diesel fuel versus petrol.

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