Thread: New HiHy Owner
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Old 02-15-2006, 12:13 PM
Chilly Chilly is offline
Pretty Darn Active Enthusiast
 
Hybrids: Toyota Highlander
Posts: 260
Default Re: New HiHy Owner

Quote:
Originally Posted by Nellaroo
Hello --

I recently proudly purchased my HiHy and am now on my fourth tank of gas. I got my best mileage yet on this third tank -- a whopping (disappointing) 22.5 MPG. It's a heck of a lot better than the 13 I was getting in my Jeep Cherokee -- but not what I'd hoped for.

I live in Florida and drive extremely flat roads all the time. As the weather has been cool I have not used the A/C at all. I don't know some of the technical terms are that I see here in this forum (PnG?) -- but I have made a game of driving this vehicle to see just how much I can remain in battery mode. I have figured out how, after warming up, I can cruise through my neighborhood on battery alone. I have mastered gently accelerating to cruising speed, releasing the gas pedal to revert to battery, and then depressing the gas pedal just enough to engage the battery and maintain cruising speed for quite a few miles. I can prowl the parking lot at the grocery store for open spaces solely on battery power. I never jack rabbit start and coast early and often. I drive a mix of city and highway miles.

I do notice on the highway that the battery kicks off and on creating a slightly choppy feel -- do others experience that as well?

I have been using the least expensive gas grade and have left the tires at the pressure to which they were inflated when I bought the car.

Any suggestions? Peace, Nell
I have notice the "choppy" feeling as well in mine when you get up to about 60 or so on the freeway. If you can, I have found moving it to cruise control at this speed gets rid of the "slight pulse" feel and I haven't noticed any drop in fuel economy.

I am only on my third tank, but I am averaging around 24 mpg. I have not modified my driving habits and drive the vehicle as I would any other car I have owned. I have found getting to your cruising speed quickly and then maintaining that speed gives me better mpg than slower starts. My average commute is around 35-40 minutes as well so I don't know if that can explain the difference.

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