Friday after work we drove up to Vermont for the weekend. I filled up the tank in CT before I left and that tank average was 39.5mpg for 451 miles. We probably could have made it all the way back to northern MA without putting gas in, but I don't like to let it go below 1/4 tank, so we filled it up in northeastern VT just before we left there. I think it was about 240-something miles from the gas station to our driveway and there is over a half tank left, and the average is 39.1.

My husband did most of the driving and he is not as gingerly as I am with my TCH. I believe I could have gotten the FE over 40 . Of course, bearing in mind that a good part of our trip was in hilly and mountainous territory, I think we have just fine FE.

We were able to fit a large rolling suitcase, a medium rolling suitcase, an umbrella stroller, a carry-on sized bag, and various other odds and ends in the trunk. always over-pack for trips, so in my opinion there is clearly plenty of room the TCH trunk.

Another plus to having the TCH instead of my old Corolla or hubby's Jetta: there is plenty of room in the back seat, even with a Britax car seat installed, to change the diaper of a 34" tall 2 year old.

 

This was a LONG trip !... 4,885 miles, 12 states, 6 national parks.. All on 134.917 gallons of gasoline!.. That is an average of 36.2 and much of it through very high mountain ranges. US550 through western colorado, Durango, Silverton, Ouray, Grand Junction, Jackson Hole then on to Yellowstone for 3 days then over two mountain ranges including the BIG HORNs much of which was over 9,000 feet !.. The car performed FLAWLESSLY through the most difficult climbs!.. Actually our best mileage days were in those mountains due to the large amount of coasting using the engine braking on steep downhill slopes.
The total cost of the gasoline was $360.43 for 4,885 miles!.. The gas for our former car a HONDA Pilot SUV would have been twice that!.
I couldn't have been more proud of our TCH !.. I even saw three others. One in Springfield, MO, one Jasper Pearl at Yellowstone and one Tan one on I80 in Illinois!.

I will post some pictures in a few days of some of the great places the TCH (and us) visited.
For the rest of you owners who wondered about how well it could handle mountain passes, put it out of your mind. No Problem !.
This is my long term TEST !.. I am completely thrilled with this car after 8,400 miles. I am due for my second oil change as the 'Maintenance required' indicator is on. Incidentally, I made sure I had EXACTLY 36 PSI in all four tires prior to the trip.
Even did some OFF ROADING in the desert!.. Pictures to follow!.

One place I hesitated was in Palo Duro Canyon near Amarillo, Texas. Down in the canyon, there were several flash flood aroyo's. One had about a foot of water running in it. I thought.. Hmm 650 volt battery in the trunk, I don't think I want to submerge the car in a foot of water. I chickened out and left the canyon to SUV's.

Please to give this fine report on the TCH.. The only Bad thing that happened was one small stone chip on the hood. We had no STORMS or anything to mess up our fine trip.

WillyBill

 

I thought.. Hmm 650 volt battery in the trunk, I don't think I want to submerge the car in a foot of water.

Hum, Never thought of that.

Sounds like you had a great trip. BTW I just sent you an email I think you messed up in the database as it now shows you with 17 mpg.

Can't wait for the pics.

 

Yep. Your right I messed up on the gas tank entry as I usually do. Entered the gallons as MPG.. DUH!... I went back and fixed them all.
Thanks GasGuy!.

 

Wow, that was a REALLY long trip! And I second the statement about the TCH's ability on mountains. Mine had no trouble at all going up over Killington and Pico on Rte. 4 in Vermont, nor at any other point in our trip in rural Northeastern Vermont either. Sure, Vermont isn't Colorado, but those are more than rolling hills up there in the Green Mountain state.

 

No SMALL Trunk after all !.. I should have added to my long trip report that I had 'significant' luggage in the trunk, which rather surprised me. My wife's 'steamer trunk' which is a 32" by 21" by 14" placed in the trunk well, my laptop in the little pass through area, two 19" regular suitcases on top of the steamer trunk, 1 14" suitcase, one small duffel and about six pairs of shoes in bags, plus some other assorted small stuff in the cargo net. The trunk still closed nicely without any effort!. Must have been several hundred pounds of stuff.
Again, as I had stated earlier, our overal mpg was 36.2 for the entire 5,000 mile trip.
Turns out that we were quite pleased with the storage area of the trunk.
We still had to use the back seat for some hanging things and a couple more small bags.