New HCH bests Prius in Honda road tests - Page 4 - GreenHybrid

stevejust · #31 (**permalink**) 11-29-2005, 09:40 PM

I checked again and the HCH II is now at 49 mpg average, besting the HCH I MT and Prius II by 1 mpg.

I'm really curious to see how this develops.

NASAgineer · #32 (**permalink**) 12-02-2005, 11:05 PM

I thought this article was interesting:

http://www.statesman.com/hp/content/...2/3CARCOL.html

The author drives a Prius and prefers the 06 Prius over the 06 HCH, but expects the 06 HCH to get better mileage.

I got my best trip mileage so far yesterday. 55 MPG one way on my 28 mile almost all freeway commute. Cruise control @ 60 miles per hour the whole way. Very little of this is flat, it's mostly gradual rise & fall.

I've also tried DWL, but I still can't beat the cruise control mileage. I can keep the instant FCD at about 55 MPG most of the time, but it's not enough to get me to the tops without dropping below 50 miles per hour, and I'm going so slow at the tops that I don't get a chance to build up much speed on the downside (again keeping FCD above 50). With cruise, the FCD drops down into the low 30's on the rise, but peggs at 100 on the downside, so the average is about the same I guess. I'm guessing that DWL works better on hills with a shorter distance from the trough to the crest where you have a better shot at coasting most of the way up the hill without losing too much spped. Or I just need more practice.

tigerhonaker · #33 (**permalink**) 12-03-2005, 12:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NASAgineer

I thought this article was interesting:

http://www.statesman.com/hp/content/...2/3CARCOL.html

The author drives a Prius and prefers the 06 Prius over the 06 HCH, but expects the 06 HCH to get better mileage.

I got my best trip mileage so far yesterday. 55 MPG one way on my 28 mile almost all freeway commute. Cruise control @ 60 miles per hour the whole way. Very little of this is flat, it's mostly gradual rise & fall.

I've also tried DWL, but I still can't beat the cruise control mileage. I can keep the instant FCD at about 55 MPG most of the time, but it's not enough to get me to the tops without dropping below 50 miles per hour, and I'm going so slow at the tops that I don't get a chance to build up much speed on the downside (again keeping FCD above 50). With cruise, the FCD drops down into the low 30's on the rise, but peggs at 100 on the downside, so the average is about the same I guess. I'm guessing that DWL works better on hills with a shorter distance from the trough to the crest where you have a better shot at coasting most of the way up the hill without losing too much spped. Or I just need more practice.

So; what would your FE be at 65 miles per hour or 70 MPH driving in a normal manner; Not jack Rabbit Starts and Passing everything in Sight. Say Left Lane (Cruise-Control) at 65 or 70 MPH what would your FE be in your opinion. What about in the city stop to stop and low speeds; whats one to really expect for FE?

While on this subject are you personally still satisified with your HCH ll and if you had the decision to make again would you still go with it or maybe chance over to the Toyota Prius? I cannot remember did you get the HCH ll with Nav. or not, and if you did not get the one with Nav. do you wish now that you waited and got one with Nav.?

What do you think still of the HCH ll in general as far as Quietness, stereo, auto climate control, ease of use, outside visability, CVT, to just name some of the things a person that has not gotten their HCH ll would like to here from someone that has now driven theirs for awhile.

Thanks;

Terry

BTW; I like your "POST" they are down to earth:

dshelman · #34 (**permalink**) 12-03-2005, 02:04 PM

I've got about 1,500 miles on my HCHII now, and my last tank was 46.8mpg (calculated, not via FE guage). With that tank, I drove very 'real world'. That is to say I used cruise control wherever practical, stuck with 65mph as much as possible, never faster, easy starts/stops, things like that. I didn't attempt to hypermile, but if traffic slowed to 35 or so, I worked to keep it in EV mode just to see if I could. I could for short distances, too. Also, my wife borrowed the car one day and she's got a lead foot, so I expect that if I retain full control over a tank of gas, that I'll probably average closer to 50mpg with real world driving.

Hope this helps,

Don

tigerhonaker · #35 (**permalink**) 12-03-2005, 03:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dshelman

I've got about 1,500 miles on my HCHII now, and my last tank was 46.8mpg (calculated, not via FE guage). With that tank, I drove very 'real world'. That is to say I used cruise control wherever practical, stuck with 65mph as much as possible, never faster, easy starts/stops, things like that. I didn't attempt to hypermile, but if traffic slowed to 35 or so, I worked to keep it in EV mode just to see if I could. I could for short distances, too. Also, my wife borrowed the car one day and she's got a lead foot, so I expect that if I retain full control over a tank of gas, that I'll probably average closer to 50mpg with real world driving.

Hope this helps,

Don

Hello Don; thanks for the Info.; thats what a new owner wants to know and here from you owners that already have your HCH ll's. That to me sounds great as far as the FE and especially knowing your "Little Lady" got behind the wheel also and that tells me that your 46.8 MPG is pretty darn close to real world as it's going to get.

Great Post;

Terry

AshenGrey · #36 (**permalink**) 12-03-2005, 03:50 PM

I test drove a HCH'06 recently and I was pretty impressed. It was as if everything I liked about my HCH'03 was bumped up a notch. I guess I'm one of those 94% who would buy another hybrid!

I wonder what the HCH'08 will be like?

NASAgineer · #37 (**permalink**) 12-03-2005, 05:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tigerhonaker

So; what would your FE be at 65 miles per hour or 70 MPH driving in a normal manner; Not jack Rabbit Starts and Passing everything in Sight. Say Left Lane (Cruise-Control) at 65 or 70 MPH what would your FE be in your opinion. What about in the city stop to stop and low speeds; whats one to really expect for FE?

I got about 45 MPG on cruise control @ 70 miles per hour. I did several freeway cruise control tests, see this thread for more info:

Cruise Control Freeway Mileage in 06HCH (Experiment)

Quote:

Originally Posted by tigerhonaker

While on this subject are you personally still satisified with your HCH ll and if you had the decision to make again would you still go with it or maybe chance over to the Toyota Prius? I cannot remember did you get the HCH ll with Nav. or not, and if you did not get the one with Nav. do you wish now that you waited and got one with Nav.?

What do you think still of the HCH ll in general as far as Quietness, stereo, auto climate control, ease of use, outside visability, CVT, to just name some of the things a person that has not gotten their HCH ll would like to here from someone that has now driven theirs for awhile.

I'm very happy with my my 06 HCH. I think the Prius has some really cool technology, but I'm not convinced that I would actually get better mileage with it. Plus, I think the HCH is a much more fun car to drive. And it was $5000 cheaper (HCH with NAVI vs. Prius with NAVI; all the other stuff that came in the Prius package #7 was not of value to me). Oh, and it's a Honda (my 4th over the last 20 years) and I've always been impressed by their engineering. It's cool to have a car that has both a high-tech electric motor system *and* a high-tech internal combustion engine.

The car is very quiet, probably about the same as my 99 Accord, maybe a bit quieter. I am hearing more tire noise since I pumped them up to 40 PSI though. The NAVI is very cool, and I'm happy I got it. The database of grocery stores, ATM's, parking, restaurants, etc. has already come in handy many times. The raked windshield puts the forward window support struts into my line of sight when I'm turning corners, especially to the left. I find myself needing to move my head to see around it, but for the added aerodynamics, it's a small price to pay.

The CVT took some getting used to, especially given that I have driven nothing but manual transmissions for the last 22 years. It does take some of the fun out of driving, but playing with the FCD game gauge is fun too. I guess that's more of a manual vs. auto thing, CVT is definietely better than vanilla auto.

I bought a Sirius Starmate Replay and plugged it into the AUX jack (mounted on velcro to the left of the steering column). It would be nice to have the XM integrated with the NAVI, but $79 is much easier to swallow than $800, plus I like the Sirius programming better. I'm happy to slow my commute down to 60 miles per hour (I used to go 80 in my Accord) because that gives me more time to listen.

Overall, I'm having fun, using less gasoline, and polluting less; a very nice combination!

CGameProgrammer · #38 (**permalink**) 12-03-2005, 06:38 PM

My last tank, which I just finished today, was 40.5 mpg. That was with alot of highway driving at 80 miles per hour, and some bouts of spirited acceleration, but mostly I tried to be gentle. I've measured round trips on the highway as getting around 41 mpg according to the trip meter, including the initial acceleration onto it and deceleration off it, and driving 80 miles per hour once on it without cruise control. That's according to the computer, of course, and the total trip was 20 miles.

I had better results with a Prius, albeit a more broken-in one, and of course a Prius does far better in city driving, regardless of what Honda says... and I wasn't even being gentle with the Prius but I am with my HCH. But I think the HCH is a great car, whereas the Prius would be pretty bad if it weren't for the hybrid drive, IMO.

tigerhonaker · #39 (**permalink**) 12-03-2005, 06:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NASAgineer

I got about 45 MPG on cruise control @ 70 miles per hour. I did several freeway cruise control tests, see this thread for more info:

Cruise Control Freeway Mileage in 06HCH (Experiment)

I'm very happy with my my 06 HCH. I think the Prius has some really cool technology, but I'm not convinced that I would actually get better mileage with it. Plus, I think the HCH is a much more fun car to drive. And it was $5000 cheaper (HCH with NAVI vs. Prius with NAVI; all the other stuff that came in the Prius package #7 was not of value to me). Oh, and it's a Honda (my 4th over the last 20 years) and I've always been impressed by their engineering. It's cool to have a car that has both a high-tech electric motor system *and* a high-tech internal combustion engine.

The car is very quiet, probably about the same as my 99 Accord, maybe a bit quieter. I am hearing more tire noise since I pumped them up to 40 PSI though. The NAVI is very cool, and I'm happy I got it. The database of grocery stores, ATM's, parking, restaurants, etc. has already come in handy many times. The raked windshield puts the forward window support struts into my line of sight when I'm turning corners, especially to the left. I find myself needing to move my head to see around it, but for the added aerodynamics, it's a small price to pay.

The CVT took some getting used to, especially given that I have driven nothing but manual transmissions for the last 22 years. It does take some of the fun out of driving, but playing with the FCD game gauge is fun too. I guess that's more of a manual vs. auto thing, CVT is definietely better than vanilla auto.

I bought a Sirius Starmate Replay and plugged it into the AUX jack (mounted on velcro to the left of the steering column). It would be nice to have the XM integrated with the NAVI, but $79 is much easier to swallow than $800, plus I like the Sirius programming better. I'm happy to slow my commute down to 60 miles per hour (I used to go 80 in my Accord) because that gives me more time to listen.

Overall, I'm having fun, using less gasoline, and polluting less; a very nice combination!

Thanks for taking the time to cover the every day part of owning and driving that HCH ll. I know everyone or maybe I should say there is alot of emphasis placed on FE here at GreenHybrid and I also think that it is important but along with that I am purchasing the HCH ll for the Nav. ; X/m; Auto Climate Control and the other modern sides of the car also and therefore it's good to here from you the owner of the HCH ll now and how you feel about your car after driving it for awhile.

Appreciate You;

Terry