I just purchased a 2008 Honda Civic Hybrid and am looking forward to getting somewhere around 40 to 45 mpg. I notice that there are quite a few owners who claim to get over 60 mpg, with the leader coming in at an incredible 65.8 mpg!! However, there are no details about the types of trips this driver makes. Of course, I can't believe that any good-hearted, green hybrid owner would make up fictitious mileage claims, but it does seem a little amazing to consistently get over 60 mpg. What does anyone else think?

 

The absolute best I've been able to muster is 50 mpg for one tank of gas. And that was just me on an interstate that included a combo of flat and rolling and one long climb and an equally long decent. And I kept it under the posted 70 mph limit. I just don't know how to maintain anything over 50 mpg for an entire tank unless I always have the wind on my back and it's downhill! Go figure. I'm still in search of the perfect highway.

But with that said, I'm very happy with my average 44.7 mpg after 8000 miles. And only one oil change too! I'm running with 40 psi in my tires but that was only recently.

Only complaint is the short legroom for my young kids...a bit squeezed in the back seat. Other than that, great car.

 

It's amazing what experienced drivers can do in these cars! My best tank was 59.0mpg. This was done in the summer in mostly city driving with more surface street driving than normal due to construction on my main route. Since I've experienced it personally, I have no reason to doubt anyone getting mileage like that--especially people who live in warm climates who are more fanatical about hypermiling than I am.

 

So then, how much of a difference does warm weather make? I live in the San Francisco Bay Area where it is neither hot nor cold. Also, what is "hypermiling"?

 

Well, I was getting consistant tanks in the 52-55mpg range last summer, and I was lucky to be 44-47mpg last winter. That would be a 20-25% impact. I would say that your weather in San Fran is just about perfect--it's usually warm enough (I find 50 degrees and below to be my barrier to 50+mpg), but it's not so hot that you need to use the A/C.

Hypermiling is driving so that you are using as little gas as possible. This can vary in intesity from mild (driving slow, avoiding your brakes, and increasing tire pressure) to extreme (close drafting and/or turning the engine off). Check out www.cleanmpg for more information about hypermiling.

 

[quote=kristian;171084]Hypermiling ... can vary in intensity from mild (driving slow, avoiding your brakes, and increasing tire pressure)/quote]That's me, although my tire pressure is probably only in the high 30s. I have a pretty long commute (70+ mile round-trip) over pretty favorable conditions. I keep up with (the slower) traffic (55-65 miles per hour), and sometimes am in much more of a hurry, so then I keep up with the faster traffic . I DO try to keep more distance between me and the car in front of me. I think this helps immensely, as I'm not constantly slowing down and speeding up, which wastes gas. I also drive this car almost always, even on the 2 mile trips to the neighborhood grocer, etc., even though these trips are horrible (for any car) on my gas mileage. I do not "cherry-pick" my drives based on the thought of getting a great MPG outing. I use it almost exclusively because it saves me the most gas to do so. Period.

I average a completely honest 46.7 MPG lifetime (34K miles). And it's going up a little bit with every tank. I suspect by the end of this summer, I'll have a 47 MPG lifetime average. All without trying too hard. If I drove it exclusively on my work commute, I'd probably average in the low 50s.

IF you chose to just drive slower, say 55 MPH, you would probably get 55 MPG or better - unless you're in the mountains. I just can't seem to re-train myself to go "that slow."

 

A picture says it best... http://bbhhs96.dyndns.org/~czakelj/images/mpg.jpg

 

There are some places in the US that are almost perfect for getting insane tanks. SF is definitely not one of them, especially with the cracked roads and constant rolling hills. In the city its next to impossible to even get 40 mpg since all the stoplights are 50 meters apart. I was in AZ a couple of months ago, and the roads are flat, very well maintained, and in the city the stoplights are .5-1 mile away with speeds of 45-50 mph. You can definitely get 60 mpg in those conditions.

 

My last tank was 40 MPG and so far this one is at 47 (only maybe 30 miles on it).

The problem is that I can't stare at the MPG gauge all the time - and even if I do, the best I can get is less than 50. If I drive too slow I'll get run over.

My commute goes like this: dense residential for 2 miles, I90 for 6 miles, I95 for 12 miles, dense residential for 2 more. In chilly weather (less than 50F) the dense residential at either end of my commute kills my MPG because the auto-stop won't do anything. If it were just highway I could get a consistent 50 MPG if I tried hard. In the winter I only got 37 MPG over 4000 miles. If my car weren't so smooth (I love the CVT) I'd sell it and get a Yaris.

~~

 

Hummm...

From my own experiences (-40F), I see quite a few opportunities for improvement here - particularly for winter time driving.

1. Get a block heater (if possible). This will shorten the warm time at the beginning of the commute. Combined with #2, AS may even occur in the last mile of the first segment in your commute.
2. Block the grill when the temperatures approach freezing. This will help keep the engine warm and allow the AS to work on that the "slower end" of the commute.
3. Especially in a residential area we often don't need to feed the engine too much gas. The initial warm up engine load (higher RPM) aided by a bit of feather like throttle input should be enough to lessen the FE impact. The key is gradual and smooth speed ramp-ups.
4. When stopped at a red light with NO autostop shift the transmission to "N". Doing this will cut the fuel consumption in half.
5. Use FAS.
6. Tire pressures. I would guess they are or were a little too low (less than 40psi).

Cheers;

MSantos