Prius Drives 1500 Miles, LeBron James Doesn't

Glenn Swanson
by Glenn Swanson

CNN reports on a gathering of more than 40 of Prius-driving “mileage maniacs” near Tokyo. During this rolling geekfest, Takashi Toya (a.k.a. “The Shogun”) showcases his plug-in rechargeable Prius. Toya's also tricked his Prius' ECU into thinking the gasoline engine is warmed up (when it’s not) so it can run on battery power right from the git-go. So, how far can a Prius take you on a single fill up? The self-proclaimed “world record holder” says she got 1.5k miles (2500 Km) out of a single tank of gas. Well, that and battery power. After the gathering, the group “raced” their Prioras to find out who can use the least fuel. As a counterpoint, we offer one Lebron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers. According to Sports Illustrated, Mr. James was recently clocked driving his 2008 Mercedes Benz at 101mph on I71 near Medina, Ohio. The incident occurred at 2:34 A.M. on December 30, on his 23rd birthday. Happy birthday. Sign here.

Glenn Swanson
Glenn Swanson

Glenn is a baby-boomer, born in 1954. Along with his wife, he makes his home in Connecticut. Employed in the public sector as an Information Tedchnology Specialist, Glenn has long been a car fan. Past rides have included heavy iron such as a 1967 GTO, to a V8 T-Bird. In between those high-horsepower cars, he's owned a pair of BMW 320i's. Now, with a daily commute of 40 miles, his concession to MPG dictates the ownership of a 2006 Honda Civic coupe which, while fun to drive, is a modest car for a pistonhead. As an avid reader, Glenn enjoys TTAC, along with many other auto-realated sites, and the occasional good book. As an avid electronic junkie, Glenn holds an Advanced Class amateur ("ham") radio license, and is into many things electronic. From a satellite radio and portable GPS unit in the cars, to a modest home theater system and radio-intercom in his home, if it's run by the movement of electrons, he's interested. :-)

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  • Redbarchetta Redbarchetta on Jan 15, 2008
    driving a Prius that puts out crazy amounts of HC and NOx at every engine start-up since he changed the ECU… It's probably the opposite. If he was spewing out unburnt HC he would have gotten worse mileage than normal. Since he tricked the computer into thinking the car was warm it was probably running a lean mixture during the start/stops at lights, most-likely doing a little damage to his engine with the excess heat from the lean mixture. The car would have run poorly until it was really warmed up and would have been throwing up codes all over the place. He must have done some major reprogramming of the ECU to avoid the prethora of sensors that car must have.
  • Shaker Shaker on Jan 15, 2008

    theflyersfan: I never personally saw the sign, but a friend from Claysville told me of it. Yes, PA held onto the double nickel a long time after other states; probably because they had seen a reduction in road wear on the Turnpike and route 80 (two big truck routes E-W). Yes, plenty of places to hide for Smokey here in PA; but I've only been busted twice in 30 years; just know where they hide!

  • Tcwarnke Tcwarnke on Jan 15, 2008

    actually, HC production is not directly related to fuel economy. He would be definately WAY over the CO limits in Germany (and soon to be CA?) as CO production directly relates to fuel economy.

  • Redbarchetta Redbarchetta on Jan 15, 2008

    Your right I got caught up in one aspect of it and even totally forgot about your comment about NOx.

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