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Hot_Georgia_2004 · #4 (**permalink**) 09-21-2005, 09:46 AM

http://www.greenhybrid.com/learn/art...fficiency.html
(With minor modifications)

Quote:

Climbing a Hill

Bigger hills are the second main MPG killer. If this is a familiar route, perhaps you can find a different road going around the hill. Pick a route that doesn’t add significant distance to your trip. Raise the FCD whenever it is possible and try for just 2 or 4 MPG even if only temporarily in mid-hill. Most hills have flatter areas as you climb. Learn to watch for these flatter areas and take advantage of them whenever possible.

Use the IMA on hills very sparingly. If Assist comes on you are pulling hard and need to try and squeeze just two or four more bars out of the FCD meter. Sometimes you just can’t avoid it but back off as soon as you can.

The CVT can do some fairly unpredictable things climbing a big hill. If the FCD is down to one segment below 40 I can usually lock some Assist in at that point. Sometimes I can back off to 40 MPG and still have the Assist locked in, keeping my speed schedule up the hill. Feather back as the hill begins to flatten out near the top.

If it is a common daily route then experiment with climbing those familiar hills using no Assist at all. Often times it can be done and if you stay off of the Assist you'll see some real fuel savings. You don't know if you don't try.

Don't continually change the throttle position in mid-hill by very much- keep it fixed into position.

Drive with the load. Don’t maintain speed climbing hills. Try to guess the time it will take to reach the crest. Also decide the minimum speed required at the crest.

As you climb the hill, slow down gradually and attempt to time it so the minimum speed is reached near the top. Hills are not linear from bottom to top so some minor FCD adjustments are made.

In heavier traffic, often times 18 wheel trucks will drive with the load and will be going slower in the right lane up a big hill. If you follow at a safe distance then it appears that the truck is going slow, not you. Same goes with any slower vehicle in the right lane.

If you reach the top of a tall hill and find a short flat area that leads to another big hill you are at a disadvantage because of your minimum speed. Accelerate as easy as you can on the flat area and time the next crest as you did for the first hill.

Rolling Down a Hill

Always plan ahead. If I know the decline is immediately followed by a steep uphill I will usually begin my decent with as much MPG as I can or in FAS or N, then before I reach the bottom I'll add enough accelerator and gain momentum for the onslaught of the incoming hill. If the hill flows down to a long, flat road at the bottom I'll hold my built momentum.