Just took my first highway trip and averaged 26.5 MPG. While I realize that this is around the EPA rating, I am looking for ideas to do better. I think I have city figured out but this is a new ballgame, since I am unable to get the ICE to turn off consistantly. Any ideas?? Thanks.

BTW, I am thinking of going with Mobil 1 synthetic at the first oil change.....anyone done it?????

 

As a starting point, can you describe the way you drive now? What kind of speeds do you maintain? Cruise control use? Any DWL (drive with the load) or other tactics?

 

hi

i averaged around 25 to 26 mpg on the one highway trip i went on . I could not get the ICE to shut off unless i tapped the brakes and coasted. Any attempt to keep the speed level caused the ICE to kick on again.

I would also like to know about the snythetic oil . Not just for trying to squeeze another .4537893 mpg extra, but to find if its better for the engine.



Has anyone ever calculated out how much real world MONEY we are saving by squeezing 1 or 2 or 3 mpg extra ? If gas was $3.00 per gallon , then i would pay lets say $45 for 15 gal tank.

the sucker would get me 15 x 23mpg = 345 miles (on a 15 gal tank )

24mpg = 360

25mpg = 375

27mpg = 405

29EPA = 435

now the average real world on this site is 25 mpg. The EPA says it should get 29 average (31/27 for the 4x4 limited. )

getting 29 or even 30mpg 'hyper miler' is fantastic -but at what cost?

For someone to do short trips, no highway, pump the air conditioning etc will probably net the worst mileage like myself = 23mpg. Someone who stays up all night , obsessed with eeking out every bit of mpg possible, etc can hypothetically get 30mpg combined city highway, but the real world numbers dont support this for most drivers.

30mpg = 450 miles per 15 gal tank (using 15 gal as base -tank is actually 17.9)

23mpg =345 miles.

difference is 105 miles.

105 miles at 23mpg is about 4.56 gal x 3.00 = $13.69 per tank savings for being the above mentioned 'hyper miler'. Now, this is per TANK -not per day or per week even. But probably per 2 weeks or more for even a heavy driver. For me -a tank will last 2 to 3 months.

Now, dont get me wrong, but if we can blow anywhere from 35k to 45k to purchase this vehicle, we cant be making minimum wage or struggling to some extreme of some kind. Some would argue its the principal of it -not the money.

However, to get these hyper miles, we have to drive on the highway or at higher city speeds to maximize the mpg. This puts MILEAGE on the vehicle and uses more gas due to more miles driven.

For me personally? I would rather spend the extra $13.69 per tank -which because i drive short city trips means it will take me 2 or 3 months to go thru a tank of gas, rather than 'save' $13.69 but buy 3 or 4 tanks of gas in the same period.

But most of all, i ENJOY my car and drive it any way i please, instead of altering my driving habits and obsessing over squeeking out a small savings per tank that in fact saves me nothing at all cause im spending more refilling my tank. I do not want to spend my time remembering to 'coast' every chance i get. I just want to drive my car, remembering to not gun the engine at stops. Thats it.

For someone who pumps a lot of miles per day -and drives long distance, getting as much mpg is going to be the thing. I am encouraged by the people who attain or exceed the EPA.

But for the vast majority of us who bought a hybrid because of its city mileage and the cleaner air, lets just enjoy the vehicle .......

 

The way I see it, "Hypermiling" simply means getting the best fuel economy out of your vehicle in the driving you do. For someone who only goes through 4 or 6 tanks of gas in a year it certainly might not seem worth it to worry about gas mileage. For me, it's a little more important since I drive between 15-20k miles per year. (Not only is money an issue, but so is the environmental and economic/political impact of burning that much fuel.) Personally, I would not put any extra miles on the vehicle to get better mileage unless a small increase in mileage resulted in less fuel used from Point A to Point B. (So far the shortest routes have been the best for me.) And I do cut out extra driving when I can eliminate an unnecessary trip. But for the most part I just do what I need to do.
Making the effort every day is not for everyone right now, but I think it would be great if everyone at least knew what tactics work and proved to themselves that they could go the extra mile (or five or ten) if they needed/wanted to. You never know when the ball game is going to change, and it doesn't hurt to have a full "box of tools" so to speak.

 

brick

I usually drive at speed limit to speed limit +5. I have a gentle foot and accelerate smoothly. I anticipate and slow down in advance of traffic stops. I usually use cruise control when possible (light traffic), but find I can generally match cruise control performance using my foot. On my other car I can consistently get better than 30 MPH highway, even though it is only rated for 27. Trips are generally from PA to FL and back several times a year plus an odd trip from PA to VA or PA to MA.

 

tomdavie

In my case it is not the savings that are the driving force. It is all about the personal challenge, to get the most out of the car that I can. I actually bought the HiHy to understand and master the technology, not for whatever savings I may have achieved. Saving the environment was a secondary benefit. I actually enjoy driving, guess it goes back to when I was a kid and Sundays meant going out for a drive in the country.

 

gang



Agreed!!!! everyone has diff needs. I guess when we have a new toy, its also fun to see what it can do!!!! I too am still at the stage where i glance every 3 feet at the mileage chart.

lol

but congrats to everyone who meets or exceeds the EPA ....... that is very encouraging to us all!!!

 

John- It sounds like you have the right kind of driving style for fuel economy. I think that the single easiest improvement you can make would be to keep your highway speeds under 65 (preferably 60 and under) to reduce your drag penalty. That might be tough in places like FL that have higher limits (70mph+) but when conditions permit you should realize a measureable improvement. Dropping from 70mph to 65mph results in a ~15% reduction in the power required to maintain speed on level ground. Dropping from 70mph to 60mph would reduce load by more like 30%. (The curve isn't linear, obviously, so the higher your cruising speed the more difference a few MPH can make.) If you are skeptical, just try it once or twice and see what happens.

 

jajohnson, there isn't an awful lot to "normal" hy FE driving.
1)Use the CC except when going uphill. DC the CC and coast up the hill-let the downslope+ a quick blip of the throttle to get you back to speed.
2)Never use the roof rack.It is much better to put an outside load in a hitch carrier behind and low than on the roof.You can ever jury rig a bike hitch carry to carry 'stuff" other than bikes.
3)Try to drive at 68 or so on the interstates. It is just too unnerving to drive 60mph or less when the average speed is 70+.
4)Take advantage of work zones(45mph) to actually drive just 45mph.They will improve your mpg.
5)Keep your tire pressure up to at least the recommended pressure.Check every 2 weeks-all tires lose air.Some folks go all the way up to the max on the sidewall. Depends on your comfort level,but I would guess a heavy vehicle like an HH would be comfortable with pretty high pressure in the tires.
6)It is usually easier to find 5W30 Mobile 1 than the 20W. I use the Mobile1 5w30.Makes me feel better. In general Mobil 1 will stay in grade longer than petro based 'regular" oils.
Luck,Charlie

 

You definately want to be aware of over inflating your tires. It will increase wear and dramatically shorten tire life. Just read the drivers door sil and go from there.

As for oil, I think as long as your consistent it won't matter. Syns are more viscous and better for the engine, but if you're good about changing oil every 5k, normal's probably not going to hurt you. Regular motor oil worked on the same engines all throughout the 60s, 70s, 80s and half of the 90s...and they were using the engine every time the car/truck was running.

The only thing I know about the oil for certain is that once you choose syn DO NOT GO BACK TO REGULAR OIL. Stick with one type; regular, blend, or full. I had an Audi and many folks had sludge develop by switching types of oil.

My .03...