Before you read this, if you're a stark raving Hybrid fanatic you may not like what you're about to read. Please realize, I love my HCHII. But I'm not sycophantic about it. I'm joe-consumer, not an environmentalist or alternative fuel champion. This vehicle was purchased as a company car for me because of a)HOV lane stickers, and b)good fuel economy. Read on...

So I filled my HCHII up for the first time today, and I found it pretty ironic that I had to use a MORE expensive grade of gas than I've ever used before. And it was closer to $30 than not to fill 'er up, if I'd filled it past the first click I'm pretty sure I would've seen over $29 on the pump.

My dealer told me to only use gas over 88 octane, so for the first time ever I had to use the mid-level gas @ 89 octane. I find it highly amusing that a car that's supposed to save so much gas (and ostensibly money at the pump) requires a more expensive fuel.

And, for what it's worth, even when I completely baby it I never get more than 41mpg average. My average hovers much closer to 35mpg, about 60/40 freeway/city. Don't get me wrong, that's totally acceptable average mpg for me, but far from the mid 40's to low 50's all the advertising and stickers led me to expect.

If I'd bought this car expecting exceptional gas mileage and cheap fill ups, I'd be very angry right now. I think maybe Honda should focus more on the "green" part of their sales pitch than the high-mileage, save-money-at-the-pump angle, because so far I'm not seeing anything that actually corroborates the advertising claims, or the premium price for the hybrid technology based on savings. There's NO way I'd earn back the extra money for the hybrid technology unless I drove this car for many years, at least not at this rate.

Lucky me, it's a company vehicle so I can look at all this from a semi-detached perspective. But if this car were my personal vehicle... I might have a distinctly different tone about it's MPG and fill-up price

And, before anyone starts accusing me of just being a hybrid hater, I do like this car a LOT. I totally dig the hybrid tech, I love the look of it (nicer than the BMW I wanted), I love knowing its AT-PZEV, it handles great, the hybrid tech is 98% transparent from the driver's seat, outstanding build etc. etc. This HCH is just a great car, period. As long as you don't buy the fuel-economy and cheap-fill-up advertising hook, line and sinker

Raise the deflector shields! LOL

I REALLY question the dealer about using only over 88 octane? I have never heard of this.. Tell him to send you a letter to that effect. Your manual states use 87 octane.

Are you Molex from Timezone?

I'm surprised your dealer gave you that info....my dealer told me if I put anything more than 87 octane, I would be just wasting my money.

Retired: 2/11/06

I've not had a chance to look in the manual to verify the dealer's statement, thanks. That would definitely make a difference in pump-cost, since the low grade at the station I was at was 87 octane.

I'm not opposed to using the higher grade gas, if it's actually better for the car and it's longevity/maintenance needs etc. Anyone know if that's true? Or are they just stiffing you for "better" gas...

yeah, i have to agree with catskillguy. the manual clearly states to use 87 octane/regular unleaded. drop down to 87 octane. if you notice undue knocking and pinging then you may want to consider increasing your octane rating. i've had my 06 for 5 fillups now and i use only regular 87 octane and everything is running just fine. save yourself the $5 extra in fillup (my fillups cost around $25).

I knew that using the same nick all over the place would get me cross-referenced some day! Yep, I'm "that" molex, LOL!

Something about the HCHII says Panerai to me louder than Rolex, I've been wearing the Panny since I got it (sorry for the OT topic everyone).

Most of the people with the really high fuel economy (FE) numbers put a fair bit of effort into achieving them. Taking it easy on the throttle is part of it, along with the other techniques that you can read about all over the board: driving with the load (DWL), pulse and glide (P&G), etc. If you feel so inclined, look for threads on these subjects if you haven't done so already. You can really trounce your current numbers if you want to! And if that's not your cup of tea nobody will think the lesser of you.

BTW, those numbers ought to improve a bit on their own as the engine breaks in the seals, bearings, etc. over the next few thousand miles.

I should have guessed as much. Maybe I'll swing by the dealership this afternoon and demand my $3 and change back! LOL

Cool....my handle on TZ is Renoir.....I switched e-mail addy's a few years back and had to change it from Renato....have been there since '97, great to see you here.

Pannys are real nice....I'm still commited to my 118206.

You should be able to do much better mileage-wise with your HCH II....did you check out some of the "hyper-miling" threads? BTW, the mileage in my sig is getting better, it reflects very bad mileage due to dealer transport....

Retired: 2/11/06

Lower shields, take off your flak vest. You did nothing wrong except listen to someone who should know their product. To sum it up, the (your) dealer is a retard. Next fill up use 87 and feel good about it. Go ahead and have a look-see in your owners manual and look up the recommended ocatane rating for piece of mind. It'll say 87 but once you see it yourself you'll sleep better.

Explore this site some more and you'll see that at least 75% (WAG, no facts behind that) of us didn't get the advertised (EPA) mileage when we first purchased our cars - no matter what the make. As time goes on and you learn how to drive the car a bit more efficiently and the car breaks-in your mileage will rise. Also, you didn't mention where you're at. A/C kills mileage as does extreme cold.

Enjoy that new HCHII

'00 Insight "Wazabi" -75,000+ miles
'03 Toyota Matrix - 81,000+ miles
'03 HCH-CVT-OSBM-41,000+ miles (retired 04-10-06)
"I'm very secure with my little Insight, no Prius envy here."