I use cruise extensively. It is very useful for avoiding speed traps when your speed tends to creep up. However, on a hill it often wants to maintain a higher speed than I wish ,so I cancel and then re-set after the obstacle has been overcome.

 

I've averaged 48.6 and 48.7 mpg on both my last 2 tanks - close enough for me. I often have trips where i am well over 50+ mpg but combined with all the traffic, hills and stop & go traffic i end up under 50 for the whole tank - I only have 2000 miles on the car so far and the weather has been cold and wet (for california at least) since i bought my car in January. I'm looking forward to the mileage increasing somewhat in the spring.

 

Polly;

I have a little over 400 Miles on my HCH II. Just for {Your} information. It is not easy at all to get real high mileage from the HCH II if your in the city or making very short runs with alot of stop and go Traffic Lights/Signs. I have on the very 1st trip from the dealer in Ky. to my home in TN. gotten "55.0 MPG". However this was done on a trip that was [120 Approx. miles long]. I drove at Low Speeds and "No-A/C" on. In my daily very short commute to the office {4.9 miles} I get from 40 to 54 MPG. As you can see the mileage varies all over the place. If I get caught by every traffic light and heavy traffic it is lower. If you are getting any where around Mid 40's I would not really be to concerned about your Mileage. You can always do better but to be Honest with you, there are many-many variables to mileage in these cars. To get the really high mileage you have to for the most part pay very close attention to your every move and driving habit. So I think the real point here is. Mileage or just enjoy your New HCH II and let the mileage fall where it does. If you want additional Info. on the people that pay the extreme attention to their driving methods and FE (fuel economy) go to this Link. www.CleanMPG.com

Terry

 

I went for mileage too, I learned a lot of tricks, broke 50 mpg for a few tanks. But I got tired of driving super slow all the time and mostly went back to my old driving habits. Kicked the habit of staring at the mpg meter too. My mileage dropped back to 45ish on a good day. If rain, cold, and impatience all get the better of me I can get 38 mpg too.

I am happy with 42-45. For long freeway trips on mostly flat roads I break 50mpg without trying, I cruise at 66, I am a rebel, one mph over the speed limit. :-)

If I drive minimum speed (45-50ish) on the freeway, I get 65 mpg. Tried it once, got passed by semis and busses and even a garbage truck, never did it again, people are probably still cursing my name for that one. If we had some nice country roads that let me drive at 45-50 then I could sustain 60+. Some people here do that, avoid freeways to up their mileage.

Another trick I should admit is that I used my HCH only for my commute, where I got good mileage, and my old car for the short grocery trips. I couldn't drive my new car for anything that would kill the tank mileage. After a while I realized this was totally mental, now I drive it like a car, and go when and where I want, and think 42-44 mpg is good for my mixed driving (my old car got 27), and we have tons of hills here in N. CA.

It is fun to learn the tricks however, I still use FAS when the engine is cold, and I coast when it is convenient. I keep my tires at high PSI too. Those things keep my mileage above the 42 I got on the first tank when I didn't know them.

Also, it occurs to me it may sound like I am criticizing hyper-milers, allow me to apologize for that, anyone with the discipline and skill to do that has my respect and admiration. :-)

 

Well said. I am getting abit worn out from looking at the MPG gauge all the time myself. It just a matter of time before I drive it like my truck. lol

 

Yeah, being a slave to the mpg meter for a few months is a really helpful learning experience since it is a good teacher. Many of us go through that phase, after that you can do with it what you like. Some kick the habit like me, and others top the mpg list. :-)

 

My car had 8 miles on it when I picked it up from the dealer on Wednesday. It showed 19mpg on the meter at that time... I guess they did some rough testing at pre-delivery inspection! It's gone up from there... I have about 150 miles on it now... and it's showing only 27 mpg now. Seems a bit low. I'll be patient, though! Hopefully I see 40's soon.

 

I'm on Long Island, if I use all the tequniques described in this post I can get about 100mpg by having the SUV on my bumper push me all the way. All kidding aside, demographics is most likely what creates such a varience in MPG. I pretty much drive mine like my other cars except for a little more coasting and I am averaging 40mpg. I'm hoping when the weather gets warmer, i can increase those numbers.
Rick

 

My car had something like 25 miles on it when I filled it up for the first time. The mileage was low for the first 25 but since that was not my driving I didn't count it and reset both trip meters. Trip "A" gets reset every tank but "B" has only been reset the one time and functions as a "lifetime" display. I'm very happy with the mileage, with about 14,000 miles driven the lifetime display shows 63.9 mpg which is about 4% higher than the calculated figure entered here at GH of 61.5mpg. 27 is very low for a HCH, the average for CVT based hybrid Civics is around 45. Hopefully yours will come up after a break in period and adjusting to the learning curve.

 

Mileage is really a study in varying conditions. I had a 7.1 mile trip through town. The car was warmed up, and most of the trip was 35-45 MPH driving. There were some segments of uphill and maybe a few more of longer slightly downhill segments. I got 75 MPG . This is my best ever! I also got my first tank over 45MPG. The weather here has benn warmer - near the 50's and occassionally up to 60 degree Farenheit. My lifetime MPG has gone up to 42.2. I have had several longer trips of over 60 MPG with the car warmed up and going 55-60 MPH on the Interstate (around 55 miles). SO... in conclusion, I think that the EPA should add a modified test session on all cars where the test drivers are striving for great MPG - NOT driving like the average wealthy American driver with jack rabbit starts and panic stops before the stops. Just my 2 cents worth. I also use Trip A for measuring short trips, and Trip B for lifetime MPG. My calculated total MPG is about .8 MPG more than Trip B (Lifetime) after 8 tanks, and about 3850 total miles.
Regards,