Just completed Houston - San Antonio turn on I-10 this weekend. 212 miles each way, pretty flat, no traffic. Outbound, there was a significant headwind/crosswind. Cruising all highway at around 65 mph avg, I got a miserable 39 mpg. On way back, there was a mild tailwind. I got 53 mpg, cruise control at 70mph!! That's a 25% difference!

So far, I am loving this car!
2006 HCH with Nav, XM radio, and dealer installed leather.

 

Yes it makes most difference at high speeds where drag is the main force the engine must overcome.

 

Hi prajlh;

Your right the Wind in the Face does effect the car. I think even more so the Hybrids because as a general rule they have smaller ICE (internal gas engine) so the harder they have to work the more fuel they are going to burn. Less FE (fuel economy).

I notice that this is your 2nd Thread here on GreenHybrid so just want to take another Minute and say Welcome.

Hope you will stick around and continue to be a part of this Forum.

Regards;

Terry

 

Yes, Welcome!

And I, for one, would LOVE to see how the dealer-installed leather turned out. Could you post a picture or two?

What color is your HCH?

 

Actually I experienced that today too, I had about 90 miles on this tank with 43 mpg, then the 80 mile drive home with big headwind dropped my mpg 38. So I must have been doing about 34 today. Nasty.

 

05 Civic kicks 06's butt, see below.....

I made the same trip and was disappointed with my #'s until I read yours.
My trip home from Houston (Sunday) was cold with 20+mph headwinds (w/gusts) driving at 78 I am pulled a whopping 41mpg, way different then my norm 52-55.
My brother followed on the same route and he went from 24 to 21mpg (truck).
Clif

 

Definitely...I was watching Nascar qualifying last Sunday and the wind was a major factor on the front stretch, the cars were losing 5-10 positions due to the wind.

 

The car doesn't like hills, rain, or cold much either. I did the Houston-Austin trip over the weekend, leaving Friday during a rainstorm. My trip to Austin on US 290 got about 48mpg at 65mph. I took SH 71/I-10 back, hoping for better, but the hills on SH 71 made for similar mpgs through Columbus. It wasn't until I hit a flat I-10 till I started to get over 50mpg.

I need to drive to Florida on I-10 with a nice westerly wind with about 20 feet of elevation change during the whole trip. That might cure my deflated ego

Jeff

 

*NO* car like hills, rain or cold.

This car is just different in that it tells you the bad news, instead of keeping it secret.

 

What day did you return?
There was a killer tailwind if you were Houston bound on Sunday, I would think you could/should have pulled 60mpg.
Clif