real world mileage under bad conditions
 

All right,

some of us don't have luxury of being in a 'climate controlled' region like some of you guys :)

So, today is the first official 'go to work day with a new hybrid (hey I got the hybrid friday!)'. So, armed with lots of knowledge and stuff to try, I jump out of bed and......

Realised that it's 14F (-10C) and it's snowing! The streets are slippery and somewhat icy / slushy.

This, is probably some of the worst conditions for someone to try and achieve good mileage (I would assume). So, two segments today:

- going to work: 13.48 miles, 36.75 miles per gallon
- coming back from work: 15.22 miles, 35.1 miles per gallon

This is 100% city driving (highways are so congested, their useless).

Coming back was the worst (a lot more stops and traffic). Having said this and considering the challenging conditions, I am still happy with the mileage that I am getting.

Still trying to optimize my technique. Now, we just need to find the best hybrid snow driving technique for people living in cold regions!

Cheers,
Stephane.

Re: real world mileage under bad conditions
 

Stephane,

Your post made me think of something that I didn't check out when test driving the HCH on Friday. On "normal" automatics, you can put it in 2nd for starting out on slick surfaces and limiting the torque to the wheels. Is there some sort of setting on the CVT? I recall seeing an "S" (sport?) mode, but nothing else.

Thanks...

Re: real world mileage under bad conditions
 

In the recent storms in chicago I had the luck to be driving in them on unplowed roads with my 03' My milage was about 27mpg.

What seems to work for me is just keep it in drive. S is sport mode which seems to give a bunch of torque. Maybe use L. I just keep it in drive all the time. I would recomend taking the car to some place safe and playing around with it by acclerating on snow, stopping on snow and turning. Its realy best to get to know how the car is going to react.

I find if I accelerate the car pulls to the right ALOT so I kind of pulse. I'll put my foot on the gass for a couple seconds then take my foot off until the car regains traction and straightens out and then I repeat.

The stock dunlop tires in the HCH are pathetic in all areas. Either get used to how they are going to lose traction or invest in some good tires.

Re: real world mileage under bad conditions
 

Last thursday i believe it was we had a pretty good snow storm here in Chicago, I drove home on I-90 (a major hyway in the suburbs of chicago) the hyway was basically un-plowed and the biggest hazard i had was the idiots that forget every year, that we have SNOW in Chicago in the winter ! anyway i found the best way to drive in these conditions is basically say screw the milage its going to suck anyway so just be smooth and relax. dont worry about pulse and glide or lifting off of the gas or anything. just drive the car to be safe. With doing this i still got about 36 mpg at about 50ish mph. I got home safe and worried about the milage the next day.

Re: real world mileage under bad conditions
 

Just to be clear, I wasn't talking about pulse and glide. I was talking about starting from a dead stop where my car would insist on pulling hard right. I was discussing how I cope with that situation.

BTW, today I got 46mpg. Horray.

Re: real world mileage under bad conditions
 

On the 06 HCH, S stands for second gear and L is for low gear (1st), according to the manual, might be different on the older models though. Not sure why they didn't use 1 and 2 like most cars, but my guess is to make it more "futuristic".

Here in Indiana we have had pretty slushy/snowy conditions the last few weeks, and I still seam to get mid 30's in the city, and high 30's on the highway. I never really paid attention to how these conditions effected my mileage in other cars though, and I got the car in November, so its been below freezing for most of my ownership experience. The best mileage I've had was around 42mpg.

Re: real world mileage under bad conditions
 

That sounds scary. Could it be that your left tire was in a compressed rut and the right tire was in deep soft snow? Or perhaps your right front tire was on an icy patch and got no traction?

Re: real world mileage under bad conditions
 

It is pretty consistant. I think it has something to do with the spinning of the engine. I think lots of cars tend to pull right when accelerating.

Re: real world mileage under bad conditions
 

Stephanie,

Keep in mind there are other "break in" factors at work against you too besides weather (tires in particular). Although with those conditions new tires are probably the least of your problems. I found my new tires took a good 1000 miles to shape up and stop sticking. My average cold weather mileage (high 20's, low 30's, wet) is about 42 in my 03. Doesn't sound like you're doing too bad under the circumstances.

Re: real world mileage under bad conditions
 

Hi Tim,

I wish the weather didn't drop lower the high 20's! It was 3F this morning, yet, my mileage was about the same this morning (~36MPG). I think that given all of the factors (weather, car breakin, learning how to efficiently driving the hybrid), I ain't doin' to bad! I still need to try different driving strategies! Even at 36MPG, it is better than a lot of cars on the road. This would give me a 475 mile tank, which is better than what I am used to.

Thanks,
Stephane. (without an i :) )