Hi there folks,
I posted in another thread about my 05 HAH. I have had it now for a month with 20,000 miles and am absolutely thrilled with it. I am new to hybrids and am still learning the techniques required to pull in good mpg's. On that note, on the drive home from the dealer (50 miles half hwy half city) I pulled in 39 mpg. On the drive to work, same distance and hwy/city I pulled in 34 due to local winds. This was with no more than going easy on the pedal.

What I have learned thus far is like others have said, get it into 5th gear as soon as possible and then I hit cruise control and let the cruise do the work for me. Even in the city I use cruise as much as possible. I'm also timing lights/traffic as much as I can. On the hwy, 65mph period...I am consistently pulling 39-42 on way home and 34-37 on the way to work. I have a friend who pointed me to research on tire psi and I went to max sidewall of 44psi and I scored 45 mpg last night on the way home with pretty heavy traffic and my A/C is "always" on. I initially went to 35psi with a good improvement, but the 44psi is the sweet spot. The tires @ 44psi give you another 4-5 mpg and from the research makes your tires wear more evenly with "no loss of safety" i.e. blowouts etc...the studies say it was more dangerous with underinflation. Anyhoo the point is not to make an argument about tire psi safety, just more of what has worked for me for maximizing mpg's.

I think this car is perfect because it fits both roles...Performance/luxury and economy.
I'm still looking for the bumper sticker..."Sips Gas, Hauls A##