I bought a new 2006 Mercury Mariner this week with Ford's 0% financing promotion. So far we are getting 25-28mpg around town. We're learning to drive more grandma-like, so it should go up. My question. Will the mileage automatically go up even more after breaking in the vehicle? If so, how many break-in miles before seeing any benefits?

Our 99 Explore got 10-14 mpg in the city, so we think this Hybrid is a Godsend!

Mark

 

Yes. For the first month or so I was getting 24-26mpg. After 1,000 miles it was a little higher. After about 3,000 miles it is even better. I'm now averaging about 31-32 mpg in the city and higher on the highway. My driving has changed very little since the first month.

 

Tim, I'm really praying that my new 07 MMH is like yours. We filled up twice and I'm getting 24 and 22 mph so far. We've been using as many tricks as we can from this forum. I think we made made some people aware of hybrids and switch lanes to pass as soon as they realized a hybrid (ours) is in front of them.

Our driving is mostly subburbs, and trips are less than 15min (~8-10min commute each way, pick up kids from school nearby). It's been rather warm 80-90F so we've been pretty much using max ac. Weekend trips are a bit longer and more highway (~55-65mph), but the averange seems low still. Max EV speed I can get to is 32mph on careful acceleration, so the car is prob tuned ok. We live on top of a slight hill, so that may play a bit of a factor.

We've driven only ~650 miles, so the jury is still out.

We're not really complaining, however, since our traded Navigator got 10-12 with similar driving.

So Mark, your mileage is pretty good.

 

as for fuel economy....
Short trips - bad
hard acceleration - bad
Max AC - bad
hot temps - bad

I really wouldn't waste my time watching the fuel economy or obsessing about the 'hypermiling' tecniques. You'll only make yourself crazy. Just drive conservatively for the first 3,000 miles and then start seeing the improvements.

 

So far, the A/C is the biggest MPG killer for me. All week, I barely use the A/C because I am driving morning or afternoon and it is not has hot. On the weekends when I drive around noon, my MPG decreases 1-2 MPG quickly. I can't wait until fall to see what happens.

 

I'm a little worried about winter driving, as defrost is used a lot. We park our car outside, so almost every morning the windows need to be defrosted before we can drive. Generally we just hit the remote starter and jump in when the windows are clear (of course at the moment it doesn't have a remote starter). Gonna have to get in the habit of turning off the defroster. Almost wish it was on a timer. I thought of building a carport, but then where would the kid play basketball (he's a total sports nut, and he's good at it, so I don't want to deprive him of playing basketball at home).

We bought our Mariner after the real heat of the summer, so shouldn't have to use MaxAC any this year. I have no complaints about the regular A/C. When I first tested the Mariner and it was idling in the dealer's lot, I thought the a/c wasn't working. So I got a quick correction on that.

Mark

 

I want great gas mileage, but I didn't spend this much money on a vehicle to be uncomfortable when I drive. If I need a/c, I'm going to use it. If I need the defroster, I'm going to use it. Mileage also suffers on most other vehicles for using a/c, but now your just more aware of it with that monitor. Heck, if car companies suddenly made that monitor standard on all vehicles, just think of all the people who would start driving a bit more conservatively. I know I would -- and I probably will on my other non-hybrid vehicles.

Mark

 

One thought that has crossed my mind but I haven't tried yet (cause its not winter) is to use the defrost to get the windows clear... then shift the defroster to A/C mode (the low version because you want to bring in the colder dry air from the outside) then reach over and CRANK the heat. This should put out hot air (the defrosters in the winter turn the A/C on) that has been "dried" by the A/C. When you reach an intersection the A/C will kick off and the engine will kick off. One bad thing is that the heat won't be coming from the defroster vents, but once the frost is off the windshield... this might keep it clear for some time, withtout locking the engine on.... if it works I'm going to ask the engineers at Ford why there isn't a non MAX defroster mode!

 

If it's not snowing or raining and your car is warm, there would be no need to use the defroster. I suppose that's Ford's thinking -- defrost the windows as quickly as possibly, then switch to regular heat. Be nice if there was a timer or sensor that did the switch automatically so it's one less thing to think about (and believe me, my wife won't think about it -- she'll just drive with defrost on all winter if I don't ***** about it enough! LOL)

For those of us who don't have the luxury of a garage, what about buying one of those 12V car heaters. Let them run a few minutes before taking off and maybe the defroster won't need to run so much. And maybe I can break my wife of the other bad habit -- starting the car with the remote starter 30 minutes before she's ready to leave! Plus if there's some warmth in the car, those high-voltage batteries will benefit. Or those 12V car heaters could run off the cigarette lighter while driving -- limiting the use of the defroster then too. Just set them on the dash. Something to ponder anyway.

Mark

 

BEST IDEA OF ALL!

When you park at night outdoors in winter, park with an old blanket, beach towel, or plastic tarp over your windshield. You can tuck the ends in each door jam or window so it won't blow away.

The frost ( or snow ) will land on the cover, and you just peel it off each A.M. and you are ready to go in seconds, no heat needed, no scraping required, no gas wasted!

Try it!