Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Tim
In my experience the big influencing factors are, in order:
1) Weather
2) Driving Style
3) Traffic / Route (city vs. hightway)
4) Car condition (tire pressure, etc.)
You'll read a lot about all these here. Just keep in mind - rain and cold hurt FE (Fuel Economy). New tires (in my opinion) do not help. Look for them to become less sticky between 500-1000 miles. I believe that one common trait we all had with our cars is that it took some time to adjust to everything. You'll be surprised at how damaging some of your old habits will be. Takes time to get used to a different driving style. Give it time - I wouldn't read anything into your FE data for the first 1K miles. Enjoy your new car!
|
I would add topography along with weather (or would you group that with Traffic/Route?). For example, the current hill I live on, based on computing trip segments, consistently reduces my mileage by 10% per tank, as compared to living at the base of it. No amount of driving technique, tire pressure, etc. can make up for that. In fact, most of my driving, highway and city, is done on hilly terrain. One good thing though is that even though my absolute MPG is not as high, I am getting the most benefit out of the hybrid system compared to a gas-only car by recapturing braking energy on the backsides of all those hills. Most gas-only cars in my area with similar trips get reduced mileage as well, but can recover none of it.