Background:
My in-laws have a conventional Highlander, which they love. They recently purchased a beach house, 300 miles away, and are making regular trips. I'm a Prius owner. I suggested they look into a HH, to help with their gas mileage. The dealer told them they would only see a 20% increase in MPG. My in-laws opted to not purchase a HH. Let's assume the dealer's an idiot, since that's not where I'm going with this thread.

This weekend, I drove my wife's 2002 automatic Passat wagon, full of people and luggage, to the beach. It gets an estimated 30MPG Highway. Using basic Prius techniques, I was able to get 31 MPG. If not for traffic and diaper-change stops, I'm sure I could have gotten more.

Question:
Are there any Prius drivers out there, with experience in a HH? What kind of MPG do you get? I have to think, using Prius hyper-mileage techniques, you could blow away the EPA estimates. I beat the EPA estimates, on a conventional automatic, with a full cargo load, and didn't try that hard.

 

My experience with the HH has been, as you can see from my mileage charts, way less then Toyota is advertising. That said, I have less than 1,000 miles on mine and the temps have been in the 20's recently. I realize the cold weather takes a big toll on mileage, but I did expect closer to the 30 - 33 MPG in town they are advertising. It looks like the folks with the RX are seeing the same mileage, unless they are in the warmer climate and have only the 2 wheel drive.

But, have I told you about the WOW factor with the power on the HH Vs the Std Highlander.

Still trying to understand this different driving technique everyone is talking about, can you, or someone else, explain it.

 

I am just about to hit 5k miles on my HH. MPG has been increasing as the miles have been put on. Most recently, I have been getting 29 mpg in city driving and think I can increase that a bit more once the weather warms up this spring. I can't help you on highway mpg as I do very little highway driving. In fact, I have started to plan routes to aviod what little highway driving I do now trying to squeeze another mpg or two out if my HH.

Kace

 

I got to drive my wife's Prius ( a little ) prior to my Hylander arriving. When you run over the road on the 300 mile jaunt, you are going to run the ICE just like the Prius. I can get 28 to 29 mpg. I chose the 2WD for less weight ( 300 plus lbs ) and less mechanical drag.

To get over 30 I need reduced speed limits. I can get around 40 mpg on a P&G running around 40 mph. It is much easire to P&G the Prius. The Hylander will almost always try to start the ICE. I can get the Prius over 50 mpg without any problem.

Cold weather in Wisconsin ( 10 F ) recently put me down in the 24 mpg range.

Are those numbers 20% better that the conventional Highlander? Maybe you can answer that.

I personally feel better about a SULEV than not.

 

The HH is closer to the Highlander V6, in terms of horsepower. HH's EPA numbers are 33/28/30, City/Highway/Combined. The V6's EPA numbers are 19/25, City/Highway. That's 21.7MPG, if you figure 55/44 City/Highway. If you're getting 2.85, mixed, you're getting about 30% more than the published V6 numbers.

 

I drive our Prius almost exclusively, but have taken to driving my fiancee's HH a bit more frequently lately.

If you check the mileage database, her HH gets almost 30mpg lifetime (had a bad last couple of tanks.) When I drive the HH I get 31-34mpg in 30/70 driving (according to the MFD screen), but I haven't been able to wrestle the **** thing away from her for a full tank yet! She drives clients around frequently, which adds weight and much less attentiveness to driving techniques.

I can't overstate the effectiveness of keeping tires inflated. I've kept the HH at 37/35 lately, and the Prius at 50/48 (though I'll likely bring the Prius down a bit since that's getting a little high, but my last couple of tanks have been MUCH better, even with declining temperatures.)

Rick

 

I checked out your HH earlier this week. It's the highest ranked one (KPez019's Hi Hy), so it was easy to find. According to her notes, she gets 28+ on the tanks where she's not trying. 31+ on the ones where she is.

I keep my Prius at 42/42. I noticed an immediate difference, when I took it up from the stock pressures. I'll bump it up again, tomorrow.