Thanks Jim but in the city I have been making an effort to accel slow and have prolonged braking and coasting with no improvement in my feul efficiency. I wonder if I have a lemon. I've turned off my day lights - nothing. No one seems to know what to do.

 

Thanks ndabunka and Benton. I see the Highlander Hybrid 2WD has a mean of 26 with a standard deviation of 2. I haven't seen 23mpg in over a week.

 

These vehicles also respond *way* more to technique than I would have expected.

The figure in the sig is my wife's average, driving it for the last eight months. I've been driving it this week and have pushed the average for this tank up to just shy of 30 mpg, and think I'll top that before I have to give it back to her. That would take us from the third-from-the-bottom of the mileage list to second from the top if I could sustain it! There are differences in our commute -- she drove through the cold weather, and drives a shorter distance so spends a greater proportion in 'warm up'. On the other hand, we both drive the same speed -- same as the person in front of us, no more, no less.

I just try to apply the tips I've been reading here. Mostly, I try to coast as much as I can. I stopped trying to accelerate from stops in electric-mode, now just run the engine as short of a time as possible. Looking at the mpg bar chart shows how much the warm-up time is impacting the mileage. Combining errands both (typically) shortens the total miles driven and also reduces the number of warm-up cycles you have to drive through.

I ordered up a ScanGaugeII (also read about here) and am waiting for it to arrive. I'm hoping with some instant feedback I can bump up the average I'm getting with my regular ride, a conventional 2000 Explorer.

Benton 23may08