In my 2009 FEH 4x4, I get around 23 mpg winter 27+ nonwinter (I have a bit of a heavy foot). Recently, when it was still fairly cold out, I drove a 2011 Toyota 4x4 4runner which got about the same mpg on the freeway as my FEH (based on the indicator in the dash) I am wondering if the nature of hybrid technology is such that it loses much of its advantage in cold weather. Or was my experience just a fluke?

 

Depends how far north you live, if you have a heated garage (or block heater/battery heater) and if you drive enough to keep the battery warm.

 

Where I live it gets cold, as in really cold. So I've taken to plugging in the block heater and leaving it on full time in the winter. Even in -20ºF weather my FEH will go on the battery within a mile or two after startup.

As compared to its tenure in Northern Virginia, where it was rarely plugged in and was warmer, mileage takes almost no hit in the winter out here since I've started doing that.

I tried turning on the block heater 1 hour and then 3 hours before I was to use it. It was only when I went to the "plug it in and turn it on when you get home and leave it on" that my mileage was about the same.

 

hard to believe based on EPA ratings not even close, I wouldn't put too much creditbilityon the
dash gauge until it was backed up by empirical data.

 

Fair point, but I have found the gauge on the FEH to be pretty accurate. Further, when I googled the 4runner, people reported highway mileage similar to what the guage said. I can see how the temperature could affect the efficiency of the battery. I am in Baltimore where we only have 2-2 1/2 months of genuinely cold weather. Don't know if a block heater is worth the investment or not.

 

Sorry, it's just not possible for the 4runner 4X4 V6 to match the wintertime FE of the F/awd FEH, not even running in RWD mode the majority of the time. The Highlander with the I4 maybe, but it's not available with F/awd.

On the other hand I get 22-23 MPG freeway in my '01 F/awd RX300.

Are you by chance comparing apples and oranges, the 4runner freeway FE vs the FEH overall, combined...?

The last point..HSD type hybrids yeild the BEST FE in city stop and go traffic, compare the 4runner to that.

 

I can get the rated 27 mpg highway with my AWD, but I have to drive sanely, no AC and no faster than 70 mph. I no longer have a heavy foot.

 

"It's just not possible" is rarely true about much. The way I drive, I get better highway than city in my FEH. In the winter, though, there is not much difference. So while I was comparing 4runner freeway to FEH overall, in my case, it is still apples to apples, oranges to oranges, grapefruit to grapefruit, whatever. For people who drive more fuel efficiently than I do (probably everyone on this board), the results might be different.

 

The '09 FWD FEH is the king of SUV MPG at this point but will shortly lose it's crown. Your comparing an '09 to an '11 engine and drivetrain where as the 2011 FEH drivetrain hasn't changed much from the '09 FEH. Neither has wind drag for that matter.

There is a bigger fight to improve MPG today and the competition is on for straight gas models. My 2011 Explorer got a 25% increase in MPG over last years model. I recently took I-95 from Jupiter to Orlando with my Explorer loaded down with people and supplies and averaged 28mpg on the open road doing 60 - 70mph. The warm-up strategies are getting very fast now and the new 2011 Focus is already getting an automatic radiator block for cold weather and wind resistance.

When Ford reinvents the FEH or gas Escape, you can bet the Toyota 4X4 Runner will be a gas hog during the winter compared to it. It's about timing right now and Ford has to many expensive changes in the fire to add the already great selling Escape to it.

GaryG

 

Gary,
Off topic, but my significant other got a 2011 Explorer 4x4. Is yours a 4wd and did you do anything special to get 28mpg? I know her patience would run thin if I start P&G'ing...