Two and a half weeks ago, I sold my '05 HCH (manual transmission) and took delivery of an '06 HCH (CVT, of course). On my second tank, after just over 350 miles, my trip meter is reading 55.8mpg. I'm not coasting in neutral or drafting trucks, though. Just driving attentatively, and using the uncommon-sense techniques like acellerating modestly, avoiding speed changes, driving with the load over hills, coasting (in drive) when I know I may have to stop, and leaving space between myself and the traffic ahead.

It is my opinion that every driver, of any type of vehicle, would stand to gain a significant fuel savings by adopting these techniques into their driving. If you think about it, the only advantages that the technology in Honda hybrids offer are relatively small. The greatest of them is probably that the car shuts off when waiting at a light, and you simply cannot replicate that one in a non-hybrid. Starting with the '06 model, I'd venture to say that the iVTEC engine's ability to shut down all cylinders in certain situations is rather significant, too. Theoretically, that tech could be used in non-hybrids as well, but so far, it's not.

As for coasting in neutral, I consider that borderline cheating. I understand that it's illegal in at least some places, and it's just not how we're taught to drive a vehicle. Drafting large trucks is just flat-out dangerous for a few reasons. The one that scares me the most is that the big truck will easily clear that huge hunk of thrown tire in the highway, and I'll smash right in to it.

Anyway, I've often thought that real-time FE readouts and possibly the trip average mpg readout should be made mandatory on all new cars, hybrid or not. A couple of my friends drive BMWs that include the former, and they drive more consciously because of it.