took possession of my first-ever hybrid car 9/13/06, build date 8/06, and i want to document my experiences in this thread.
wk 1: started to read this forum. used slow take-off technique and tried to peg the mpg monitor at 100 whenever possible. tire pressure from dealer=44psi. avg mpg wk1=~41.
wk2: read tarabell's article. tried "moderate" acceleration from stops, and drove with the flow of traffic...it killed my fe.
this week: increased tire pressure to 55psi, per excel's rec. ride is rougher and noisier, but i'm more concerned with fe than ride comfort or noise. accelerating to no more than 2600rpm, at a slow rate. found ev mode, which i define as monitor pegged at 100mpg with 1-4 bars of assist showing. it happens around 1100rpm and doesn't last long before ice kicks in. i'm driving in the right lane whenever possible, much slower than flow of traffic. best run so far happened this week, 57mpg over a mixed, 16-mile run. eggshell analogy very helpful.

Note to Self: Stay out of assist!