I just had my best tank yet at 62.9 mpg with 674 miles. It's taken me 1.5 years of learning to hypermile, learning to maximize what the HCH II can do and just driving the same route every single day.
My route is mostly suburban with stop lights and morning commute traffic. But I drive it so much I know how to squeeze the most mileage out of it. I've had 69 mpg for my 33 mile daily commute at times since the weather has warmed up. My wife commutes with me and she likes the A/C on, but we keep it at 70 with the lowest fan speed. That keeps me at around 60 mpg.
I didn't always get mileage like this though. I remember I would be in the upper 40's when I first bought it. It just takes lots and lots of practice.

 

jpjpjpjpjp, it's nice to see your mileage is slowly climbing! It will continue to improve a little more as the car breaks in, even if you don't alter your driving style.

Back to the original thread, I had some crazy mileage this week! I drove to the north Denver suburbs on Monday afternoon and averaged 72.5mpg per the computer! On the way home, I got 57.4mpg since the hills were working against me. That nets to an overall average of 64mpg for the two legs. I expected good mileage from the HCH, but that blows away my expecations!

 

Pretty new to hypermiling myself but in my first 3000 miles you can see what I am doing below. Most of mine is by slowing down, increasing tire pressure, learning to coast when possible, timing lights, and driving using the IFCD.

On my trip to Florida this week I drove 1100 miles one way using the IFCD and trying to maintain 60 mpg on it. Most of the time my speed, depending on terrain, varied between 58-65 mph. Yes I was getting passed like I was standing still, but you have to almost develop a Zen-like attitude that you just don't care how many people pass you and what they might be thinking about you. I was driving well above the 40-45 mph minimum and well within the limit. I also had my tail lights on at all time in hopes that it would help alert drivers recognize that I was driving slower than the normal flow. I only had one person drive dangerously close to my bumper in an attempt to intimidate me, he had 2 other lanes in which he could have passed me and eventually did.

On the opposite side of the coin, the former owner had not reset one of the trip odometers in over 9000 miles and was getting less than 41 mpg.

 

Well today I have to eat crow. In the past I was puzzled how people got such good mileage out of their HCH IIs and my best was 50 mpg until today. I drove from Fremont, Ca (Bay Area) to Sacramento and back on a business trip. I used freeway the entire way. Traffic was light to moderate at best. My average speed was roughly 65. My gauge read 53 mpg going and 51 returning. When I went to fill up after this 230 mile trek I averaged 56.7 mpg and that's after topping the tank. It can be done! Amazing technology!

 

It tastes pretty good, though, doesn't it?

 

My situation is similar & I can eliminate driver experience since I have 2 different 2006 HCH cars I have been driving & I can't determine why so much difference yet between MPG results. The low mileage 12K gets an easy 47 to 51 with no special care taken. The 30K which I recently purchased, can get to 42 with the greatest of care and falls to 39 if driven similar to car#1 at the 47 + MPG . I suspect oil quality & will change to Mobil 1 soon, but it may be more. Alignment tests did not show a problem.

 

New (different) tires cost me 3-4mpg... maybe different on your two HCH?

 

Tires might contribute a little - they were changed but the MPG avg's stayed the same afterwards as with original tires. My current theory is that the throttle control - which is likely electronic form the gas pedal on?? - seems to act like it sticks at above idle , even when you try to pulse it off, or when you completely remove your foot. The instantaneous MPG has a peculiar response much of the time .. I am not expert with the HCH as I mainly drive our Ford Esc. Hybrid .. but from the 2 different HCH 2006 models the low MPG one can show as low MPG instantaneous [ 10-20 ] when you coast down a hill .. put it in neutral and it seemed lower still. If you try to pulse at a steady higher speed to shift the CV to a more efficient gear it often will drop MPG instead of raise it as if it didnt shift and the throttle is sticky. At other times it does perform much better but those instances are fewer. Any ideas about a sticking throttle ? Does the MPG instantaneous have a mind of its own or should it perform more predictably?

 

Quick recommendation here...

Perform a power reset on the car and see what that does for you. To do this simply disconnected the 12V battery for a good 15 minute period and then reconnect. Go for a very leisurely drive (no racing or high revs at all- keep the rpms as low as possible) and when the SoC is topped off and the car warmed up start watching the iFCD to see if it behaves as before.


Cheers;

MSantos

 

Thanks! - I will try that tonight. Warm regards.