In order to test what kind of mileage I am getting in my 2006 HCH I have a specific route I use on my commute to work to use as kind of a baseline for my mpg. I will reset my trip odometer at a specific location (about 1 mile from my home to make sure it is warmed up) and then record the mpg when I get to the end of my 30 mile morning commute. It has enabled me to experiment with certain variables on the car such as brand of gasoline as well as the optimum tire pressure and differences with the A/C on or off. When I first took delivery of my HCH my usual morning reading was 53 mpg and my overall average on a tank of gas was about 45 mpg. A few months ago I had a major service done which included new front brakes as well as a wheel alignment and four new tires. My car came equipped with Bridgestones but the dealership did not have them so I settled on the Dunlops which were also OEM on the HCH. Almost immediately after the service, my mpg on the morning commute dropped to 45 and my average per tank was now about 36 mpg. Quite a bit of difference but I thought it was due to the combination of having new front brakes and different tires. Well about two weeks ago the “brake system” failure light came on. When it would come on my auto stop feature suddenly stopped and the car began to idle very rough. When I turned the car off the warning light would reset but would eventually come on again. I took it to the dealership for service and they determined through the error code that the brake pedal switch had gone bad. They replaced the switch and I immediately noticed a difference in how my IMA battery was charging. It seemed to be charging quicker and now it very rarely drops more than 50%. Prior to this it was not uncommon for it to go down to one or two bars left and charge back up again. It would do this several times a day especially when the A/C is running on a hot day. Since the new switch was installed it has never gone down that far. My morning commute is now at 58-59 mpg (the best its ever been ). So far on the two tanks of gas I have used the average is about 47 mpg. I don’t know exactly how much this switch contributes to how effectively the IMA battery recharges but I have a feeling based on these results that it is significant. I have no other explanation.

 

My question is why did you need front brakes? Based on what I've experienced, the regen braking does so much to slow the vehicle that front brakes are likely to last the life of the car.

 

I thought I was doing pretty good at getting 30,000 miles out of my front brakes. I do a lot of stop and go driving. My previous vehicles, mostly Fords, I was lucky to get 20,000 out of a set of pads. I am nowhere near what I would call a hypermiler. I like to go and go fast. If I would get to the point where my brakes would last the life of the car as you describe, I would probably average 60 mpg. all the time. My job just won't let me drive like that. I average 30,000 miles per year on a slow year.

 

Would you mind editing your post?

It is really hard to read a big solid block of text on a screen.

Paragraphs help.
An extra space between them helps even more.

More people will read what you write.

 

still though, unless you constantly jam on the brakes, they hardly need replacement. I dont think even normal cars need their brakes replaced until the car hits 60-80K. HCHII should be almost never. How much of the brakes did you have left? (% wise)

 

Absolutely true. The brake pads should last the life of the vehicle .

The only times they would wear out prematurely is if the car is :
- Driven in steep mountain roads.
- Driven very aggressively.
- Driven in extreme cold regions during long winters where the Regen rarely works...

Cheers;

MSantos

 

Or...
You go to an unscrupulous dealer/repair shop and they sense that you were expecting to replace your brakes. "Sir, I think your brakes are in need of replacement and would be dangerous to drive--especially driving somewhere to get a second opinion..."

Been there, done that...

 

So true !!!

Cheers;

MSantos