Everyone here said to be patient, and that the Accord's mileage would improve as it broke in. I believe that the combination of the car getting limber and my learning how best to optimize its capability through driving style are paying some benefits.

Last Friday I took another road trip and made my best mileage so far. 207 miles on 4.8 gallons for a pure highway mpg of 43.125.

I drove around town for the remainder of the day and all of the following day and filled up before coming home. The city driving was 245 miles and I put in 7.4 gallons for 33.1 mpg.

I'm noticing that the car seems to use the assist more. Perhaps that's because I'm getting accustomed to the pedal and how to let it work the way Honda designed it.

I'm very pleased at 1600 miles and anxiously looking forward to the next trip to see if it continues to improve. Even if it doesn't, I'd be thrilled to get 43mpg on a somewhat regular basis!

 

Whoo hoo! 43 mpg. It's fun to see that on the display isn't it!

 

SuperC,
I almost didn't believe my first 40+mpg reading, but in warmer weather, highway speeds around 60, no major climbs, I've found that 40+ is very doable. I just don't have regular routes under those conditions to get a tank at that mpg. Still, I'm very happy with around 34-36 pretty regularly overall. Some miles on the car do seem to improve mpg, but your own driving practices are probably more responsible for the great early mileage.
Lewis

 

After my last 2300+ mile round trip, I'm convinced: For the big FE, you just need long trips. It's *amazing* how much a cold engine zaps FE... and in such a short time. I didn't drive any different on that trip and averaged solidly over 40 mpg.

Even if you have all highway, but in 5 different trips, your FE will suffer. And with the range of this hybrid over 600 miles, that opportunity does not happen often.

 

I am consistently getting 43ish on my 33 mile commute in to DC, and 44 on the way home. The delta there is a combination of traffic pattern, heading up away from sea level, and the local hill gradients working more for me on the trip out of DC. I reset the odometer as soon as I get on the highway and am up to speed, otherwise the cold engine and 2 miles of local roads kills the # (notice my per-tank mpg is low-30s). I am convinced that a long drive will have no problem putting up the same numbers.

 

SuperC - looks like you've got initial break-in well underway, based on that recent segment. Good job...and yes, you will continue to see improvement as time / miles go by. Your city / highway mirrors mine - about 33-35 on my daily commuter loops, and 42-44 on my rare forays on the interstate. BTW - I don't reset the trip / instantaneous mid-trip (it's reset when I start the car cold), and anything less than a full tank (or nearly so), I report as a 'segment'

Ericbecky - isn't it the truth ? Breaking 40 with the car, as you've done along with all of us, is a special feeling. Either Xcel or myself will be making an 'attempt' in the next few weeks, and I'm expecting 55+ for the tank, as a 'max attainable' (40+ seems to be easily achievable on the highway w/o pushing to extremes, as the posters in this thread attest to).

Tink - Indeed, I've come to that realization myself over the last few weeks. Most of the time, I run out of road before the indicator stops climbing; or, in other words, I haven't seen the best out of my car yet. That's how Xcel, Hot Georgia, some of the others do so well - their commutes are *so* long, that any minor snafus are absorbed more easily into their averages. When you have a shorter trip, any problems encountered during the drive affect the average that much more. That's why my tank avg is what it is, as well.

gonavy - outstanding mileage on a 33mi commute, given DC-ME-VA corridor traffic! If I might be so humble to suggest that you 'count' the cold mileage as well - it had to be traveled, so it's part of that commute segment. Otherwise, you wouldn't have such a delta between your segment and tank averages

 

thanks. I've been resetting at-speed mostly to see what the car would do at 'pure' highway conditions. Now that I've got a feel for that, I'll probably just use it as a real trip odometer (I dont have navi, do stuck with the dash display)

 

Did you mean DC-MD-VA? because thatas quite a corridor between Maine and DC and Virginia.

Heh. I couldn't resist.

 

Some of you have mentioned seeing the mpg indicator break 40 mpg. Mine will do this towards the end of my 200 mile trip, but I normally see it in the high 30s. I find it a little strange that when I do that actual math of miles\gallons calculations that it always comes out at least 2-3 mpg higher than what the indicator says. I've even seen 5mpg differences. Anyone else notice this on their indicator?

 

Postwh*re! LOL Ok, I stand corrected...

This, as I write my 100th post...

Actually, I'm glad you wrote, as I know you're quite the car audiophile. I'm going to initiate another thread about what I've been doing / where I'm going with the HAH, and your suggestions would be welcome. Think I'll post it in the HAH section, being application-specific.