I have read a few reviews from magazine and online testers. The most recent is this month's Consumer Reports, where they claim getting 26mpg. Other reports make similar claims.
I ordered mine with the expectation of getting in the mid 30's.

 

Auto testers, if they are doing their job, really put cars through the paces. They seem to typically get 20% or more less than EPA ratings. Consumers Reports has their own quirky history of testing cars in less than consistent manners. If you have typically gotten relatively low mileage on other cars in the past, you will have to change your driving to get mid 30's with a front wheel drive FEH. Very few people seem to get above the low 30's with 4WD unless they drive very carefully.

I seem to get around 30 in cold weather and 33-35 in warm weather (FWD). I usually get relatively high within the city-highway EPA range with non-hybrid cars.

 

Thanks Ken. My mpg's have been pretty consistent with EPA ratings in the past.
I do a lot of "chauffering" for my daughters around town, so I hope to get close to 35 mpg's with my MMH fwd.

 

Amen to the comments about the accuracy of Consumer Reports fuel efficiency testing. They got 29 mpg combined mileage on a Mercedes E-320 Diesel, while I routinely get 33-34 combined on mine. I think I'd pay more attention to the results posted by long term Escape/Mariner users in this forum.

 

I will definitely do that!

 

This is true. As teenagers, we enjoyed going through Mom's copies of CR to pick out inaccuracies. You can still find them today. I've seen this pattern so much over the years that I'm always skeptical of them now. At least Road & Track will be honest and say something like "we know it scored lower than the other car in several key areas, but we like driving it so we put it first."

There is certainly a need in the market for a "one stop" authority on cars, but CR isn't it. Fortunately, there have been some changes at Consumer's Union in the last few years and they may finally be starting to "get it". For now, it's still frustrating when a friend starts a sentence with "In Consumer Reports it said..." because it's likely he's been mis-informed and probably isn't interested in discovering that. I just smile and say "oh really" and leave it alone. It's not worth arguing.

Instead of blaming the EPA, CR implied hybrid makers were lying when mileage numbers were off. Makers submit the vehicle to the EPA test, not the other way around. Toyota can't be blamed that the EPA said the Prius got 60 MPG on the old EPA city cycle. But CR made a big stink about it, as if Toyota was misrepresenting the car. Heck, the FTC doesn't allow quoting any mileage except EPA numbers. What was Toyota supposed to do? Not quote mileage? Now, to save face, CR typically drives the crap out of hybrids and then crows about how they get lower numbers than the EPA ratings.

You guys know what you're getting. That's the real truth right there.

 

You are right about the EPA numbers, but Toyota also was bragging about a number that they knew people didn't get. Not that I exactly blame them for it, but that piece of it was definitely their doing and they deserve a bit of a knuckle rap for it.

Also, CR tends to drive cars like normal people. Any one of our vehicles wouldn't get super mileage without modified driving styles. Everyone here knows this and has modified their style to a degree that fits them.

I think at worst you can fault CR for not including the other side of the mileage coin. They should have someone drive ALL cars gently and include that information in their reports.

 

I like that idea of 2 drivers...one who is aggressive and the other who is easier on the gas pedal.

 

The mpg you get with any Hybrid is 100% related to how carefully you drive (much more so than with a non-hybrid car)

I drive an 06 FEH & my Mom drives an 06 Prius. I very very rarely get over 30 mpg & lots of the time I am below that, but what I do get is just fine with me. My previous vehicle was a Chrysler T&C minivan that I bought new & I averaged about 16 mpg with that so I am getting almost double that with 4WD.

I absolutely love the FEH & if I get 28 mpg on a tank, I am 100% happy with that. I am very very busy with work/driving my kids around etc & don't have time to drive the way you need to if you want to be a "hypermiler"

I am super impressed with the mpg that some posters here get & use the tricks like coasting/P&G etc, but lately the cold weather here (it was 17º here yesterday morning) has killed my mpg also.

~John

 

I am expecting to have 2 strikes against me when I get my MMH...the cold New England weather, plus a new engine that has been broken-in.