Cold and mpg
#21
Re: Cold and mpg
oh, wow. so i am not that bad, actually. i dropped down to 37 ONLY. from 42.5. so, you average 33mpg.
honestly, it is most strange to bundle Explorer into this. Also, somehow, my Silverado is basically oblivious to winter. 16.5 - 17.5 mixed drive winter/summer. does not care.
i am very sorry. i am. but i just can't bite my tongue. so, i apologize. i drove 91 civic 4 door coupe with 186 000 miles on it when i bought it for $300. battered all over. automatic. 38-39 average. will hit 40 hwy only. my wife hated it. she called it a disgrace for me to drive. so i finally succumbed and gave it away to one of my patients, and got this wonder here.
honestly, it is most strange to bundle Explorer into this. Also, somehow, my Silverado is basically oblivious to winter. 16.5 - 17.5 mixed drive winter/summer. does not care.
i am very sorry. i am. but i just can't bite my tongue. so, i apologize. i drove 91 civic 4 door coupe with 186 000 miles on it when i bought it for $300. battered all over. automatic. 38-39 average. will hit 40 hwy only. my wife hated it. she called it a disgrace for me to drive. so i finally succumbed and gave it away to one of my patients, and got this wonder here.
#22
Re: Cold and mpg
i am very sorry. i am. but i just can't bite my tongue. so, i apologize. i drove 91 civic 4 door coupe with 186 000 miles on it when i bought it for $300. battered all over. automatic. 38-39 average. will hit 40 hwy only. my wife hated it. she called it a disgrace for me to drive. so i finally succumbed and gave it away to one of my patients, and got this wonder here.
#23
Re: Cold and mpg
Well, every car I ever drove would get very poor mpg in very cold weather, there is just no way around it and hybrid gets a little worse hit, since if the engine needs to run most of the time there is not much benefit from electric drive, but still better than normal car.
With a lot of snow and poor road conditions honestly hybrid would be my last choice for a car I would want to use there, as a matter of fact without solid 4 wheel drive, 2-3 spare tires in trunk and at least 10 inches off the ground clearence, I wouldn't dare to drive outside well populated areas. I mean those are the places where actually driving SUV or big truck makes perfect sense. I would kindly disagree with you about "hassle of sensitive electronics" ??????? and gas savings and lets just leave it at that.
With a lot of snow and poor road conditions honestly hybrid would be my last choice for a car I would want to use there, as a matter of fact without solid 4 wheel drive, 2-3 spare tires in trunk and at least 10 inches off the ground clearence, I wouldn't dare to drive outside well populated areas. I mean those are the places where actually driving SUV or big truck makes perfect sense. I would kindly disagree with you about "hassle of sensitive electronics" ??????? and gas savings and lets just leave it at that.
Last month we had a significant snowfall (16cm or 6") and a cold snap (overnight lows to -31C highs ranging between -12C and -22C). For the last tank of gas that included this period my mileage dropped from 6.3 liters per 100kms to 7.3 liters per 100kms. This equates to a drop from 37.3 U.S. mpg to 32.2 U.S. mpg. All things considered I think this kind of drop is quite acceptable and not that much different than what I experienced with my previous Camry V6.
Overall I am extremely pleased with the year round mileage and performance of my Camry Hybrid. My only issue is the traction control system but now with the help obtained from this forum I can at least turn that off when needed.
Last edited by Sooty; 12-08-2010 at 08:47 AM.
#24
Re: Cold and mpg
well, i found that keeping her in cruise control mode works the best. on all of our cars, i can always do better mpg wise with my foot on the throttle. this one - apparently engine management system does better than a human with its drive by wire configuration. no matter how well i cruise with foot, engaging cruise immediately drops that mpg handle down several notches.
sorry, i do not believe pulse driving will work for me. esp around here, where it's very hillocky. it may be good for plains. engine turns on too often on the slightest uphill. and engine start ups is a known gas guzzling moment.
also, i was cruising through owner manual, looking for maintenance schedule for trannie, and found that 3.2 is recommended tire pressure. 4.2 is for 17 inch rims; 3.2 for 16 inchers.
sorry, i do not believe pulse driving will work for me. esp around here, where it's very hillocky. it may be good for plains. engine turns on too often on the slightest uphill. and engine start ups is a known gas guzzling moment.
also, i was cruising through owner manual, looking for maintenance schedule for trannie, and found that 3.2 is recommended tire pressure. 4.2 is for 17 inch rims; 3.2 for 16 inchers.
And I'll definitely say terrain is a factor but not a guaranteed problem. My commute is fairly hilly, with cold winters, and in 4.5 years I'm averaging almost 39 mpg (though it's about to drop again as the cold really sinks in).
It's still all about learning what works for you and your car and your route. Learning to use a very light touch on the accelerator, trying to get into "full hybrid mode" so you can take advantage of EV mode as much as possible, all these things make a difference.
Last edited by chestr; 12-17-2010 at 11:35 AM. Reason: sig
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