1st I would check to see if you have low rolling resistance tires - they add about 4 mpg over regular tires . My 1st Hybrid did not and I had a hard time getting to 45 MPG. When they were replaced with LRR tires, I got about 4 MPG better. I went with 40 lbs of air - more than that made the civic drift at highway speed too easily.

I always used Walmart ( Murphy ) gas and got about 50 mpg ( or better ) with cruise going from NW Arkansas to Raleigh NC at posted speed with A/C and cruise. Once the computer figures out how you drive, the mileage can go up. ( the stations are always a mile or less from the interstate)

I find a lot of Civic Hybrid owners do not understand how to drive for better mileage. You stay stopped at red lights and not creep forward 4 feet cause the car in front of you did once you let go of the brake pedal the engine does not stop again until you get to 8 mph.
One lady that could not get but 33MPG I rode with her a 10 mile loop like her commute - she got 33 on the trip - I got 45. she learned to glide and stay stopped - she now get in the 40's. It is sad that no how to drive video is included from Honda on how to get better gas mileage.

I no longer have a Civic Hybrid - I am in a Honda Ridgeline again, and the tricks for better mileage on the Civic work on the Ridgeline.

 

All of the help in getting me to my MPG happy place has been much appreciated everyone. I think a lot of factors influence the MPG, so I don't know how many of them are under my control. I'll work at what you have all suggested and most of those suggestions seem to point to driving habits and good routing. I'll check the air filter. Keep the suggestions coming. Maybe this forum posting will help others as well.

 

larryr, I don't have LRR tires. but for now, I'm gonna keep the ones I have since they have little to no tread wear. I've got BF Goodrich Touring T/A Pro tires on it right now. Perhaps when I get some extra money, I'll invest in the top MPG LRR tires mentioned in that TireRack article I read. Thanks for the suggestion! I've also spent more time coasting to red lights, NOT moving forward everytime someone else does, and trying not to lead-foot my starts.

 

You're well on your way to better mileage!

Now you just have to practice, practice, practice. It takes time and dedication too.

With all this great advice, you can do it.

Jess

 

Well, my Average MPG by the Tank seems low, 35 MPG or so. But I'm getting 41 MPG in the city when measuring short trips. It seems like giving the car any amount of gas on the pedal, lowers the MPG down to only 2 or 3 bars on the real-time MPG meter. I checked the air filter and it seems dirty, but I can't replace it myself since it has so many cables, pipes and connections going into it. Also, I can't tell the status of the 12V battery, nor do I know if the spark plugs might need to be replaced. I'm at close to 39000 miles on the car.

 

Spark plugs are good for over 100,000 miles ( they recommend at 100,500 miles). Even at that mileage the plugs usually look good enough for another 50,000 miles.

Low CVT fluid can affect gas mileage. (so can dirty CVT fluid)
Dirty Air Filter.
IMA Battery needing charging. (drive in "S" for a few miles to charge it up)
Weak 12v Battery.
Tire pressure lower than ideal but enough to keep TPMS from going off. try 38-40 lbs.
Tires that are not Low Rolling Resistant (LRR)
Lots of junk in the back seat and trunk (weight = lower MPG).
Luggage rack
Bicycle rack
Trailer Hitch
Hood Scoop
Missing Undercar plastic wind guides ( they are like plastic skid plates ).
Flapping Undercar plastic wind guides ( jiffylube and walmart are bad about this )
500 watt add on car stereos ( anything that draws 12v as there is no alternator on the HCH II )
gas with ethanol (10% gives about 10-15% less mileage, E85 will destroy the fuel lines in a Honda - it eats the rubber in about a week )

 

Yeah, the spark plugs are likely fine. I looked at ours at around 60000km, they looked very good. If you do get in there, only clean with some carburetor cleaner and a cloth(don't scrub with wire brush, etc, anything abrasive). Also, don't try to adjust gap, it could damage the plug. Just check the gap.

If you managed to peek at your engine air filter, you are almost there. You just have to wrestle one big pipe conduit off of the cover (if memory serves), and unplug one connector in the vicinity. It is not hard.

 

So you're getting better mpg in the city on short trips than your overall average? What is the rest of your driving? Short trips in the city are my worst segment (vs. long highway drives as my best).

FYI, the tank average is usually lower than calculating at the pump by 1-3mpg.

 

Yeah, it does seem I'm getting better mileage on short trips right now. I've found from reading the forums that using the gas pedal with pulse and glide techniques will force the CVT to shift. On short trips before I was probably staying in a lower gear most of the time, which kept my MPG low. I got 55 MPG on at 7 mile trip the other day. I am now being careful to glide a lot, and in stop-and-go traffic I'm getting an average of 40 to 50 MPG now.
I went back to 87 octane gas and the car seemed MPG happier right away. I'll let you know how it goes from here.
I'm going to take it in to Honda to check the CVT fluid and see if there are any CPU updates to load. I may also ask them if they can reset the CVT memory to factory defaults, so the computer can learn my driving style better.