I purchased a HCH II 2007 about 3 weeks ago. I have not seen "great" gas mileage from this vehicle. I am not a floor it when it turn green type person. I have been getting 35mpg on a tank. While this is better than what my SUV got, my 1994 Honda Civic would always get 38-40mpg running on regular gas.

Is there someone wrong with my vehicle or 50-60 mpg a fluke???

At a minimum, I should be getting the state 41 City...

Make sure you tire pressures are all correct - 32 psi. Try inflating up around 36 psi.

Is the car getting well warmed up, or are you making a lot of short trips? A cold engine will not be fuel efficient.

Does the Auto-Stop feature engage when you are at a red light?

I'm sure others will add to this list.

Grasshopper,

Feeeeeel what the car begs you to dooo.

Slooooowwwww down. Coast. Learn was FAS stands for. Read Tarabell's article.

Your journey is just begining....

http://greenhybrid.com/compare/mileage/car/3686.html

http://greenhybrid.com/compare/mileage/car/4955.html

"Grasshopper,

Feeeeeel what the car begs you to dooo.

Slooooowwwww down. Coast. Learn was FAS stands for. Read Tarabell's article.

Your journey is just begining...."

WTF??

Sorry, I hate to use such language but give me a break. If I wanted to coast my vehicle I would be riding a bike. Let me guess, you also smoke weed on the side because its an earthy product.


41/51 posted on the sticker has nothing to do with coasting. Some people here have also used their AC and still getting over 40mpg. I am not asking alot from this car, the tax break is good but I would be getting the same mileage from a normal Civic with normal tires.

I don't care about Hypermilling... or whatever, I am talking about driving the car like a normal car. This is a car after all. Like I said in my first post, I am not flooring it at the green light. I am driving at normal street speeds in the city and about 60/65 on the HWY. This car should get the posted sticker mileage.

As for the other poster, I will check the tire pressure in the morning. Maybe it is tire pressure. The car uses regular gas and I am not putting premium in the tank.

1. I will check the tires in the morning.

2. Depends on what you mean warmed up. On the weekdays it is just start and go. The weekends are more or less drive to one place then to another.

3. Auto Stop works as long as I do not creep forward.

Sorry to say but EPA estimates are based on a set of driving conditions totally foreign to a lot people. No A/C, slow acceleration, not a lot of stop-and-go. If you are driving your car on a lot of 5 mile (or less) trips on surface roads with lots of stop lights you are going to be hard pressed to get 40 mpg without making some accommodations to the way you drive.

However, your mileage will improve somewhat as you break-in the car over the next year. If you are getting gas from Joe's Cheapest Gas Co. you might want to try a brand that offers "Top Tier" gas. It seems to be getting me a couple extra MPG. No need to put in premium which might actually result in poorer mileage in this application.

The whole purpose of auto stop is to save gas, so not "creeping forward" unless it's absolutely necessary will help you.

I put 44 psi in my tires, which they are rated for and which also helps, especially when it starts to get cool.

Arbittan, from your posts you seem to expect the car to deliver the rated mpg regardless, even though the ratings cannot possibly be accurate for everyone. It is simply an estimate. When you posted the mpg on the sticker, you put that it got "41/51." The numbers actually are 41/45. Still, with an average mpg of 43 overall, your 35mpg is rather low.

Something very important with mpg is not only the driving habits, but the driving conditions. Are you in the city, crawling at 10 miles per hour, constantly having to slow down/speed up like you were on a see saw (best analogy I could think of) at a snail's pace? I don't think you'll get optimum mpg like that; for that kind of low-speed driving a Prius would be better. Now, do you drive at 80 or 90mph on the highway with the trunk loaded and a bicycle roof rack? Like that you won't get optimum mpg either. Optimum mpg in a Honda Civic hybrid is with steady highway speed driving (50-65, maybe 70mph) and without bicycle racks or a loaded trunk. If you drive in the city, optimum mpg would probably come from conditions that allow you to drive 30-40mph and coast plenty.

If you drive under optimum conditions and still get bad mpg then something is wrong. Tires, IMA, transmission, engine? Now, I don't mean to insult you, but it could also be a simple mistake of numbers. Maybe you put down something wrong with the gas reciepts, or perhaps you read the odometer wrong because of tha trip A trip B thing? It's just a possibility.

I cannot confirm for absolutely certainty what I am saying because I do not own a Civic Hybrid, but I do love the Civic Hybrid and IMA system and learn as much about it as I can. Hope you find out what the reason for the low mpg

I keep my tires between 38 and 40 psi. I find I get the best wear that way, not just mileage. Get you oil changed with Synthetic 0W20 next time. Changing the way you drive is part of owning a hybrid. Efficiently charging the IMA batt. and getting the best mileage practical will take a little time to learn. I guarantee this new civic of yours is not only better for the environment, but it's better in every respect than your older civic.

Something's not right. Me and my wife didn't know how to hypermile at first when we bought our car, but we still got MPGs in the mid forties. And this was during the winter.

Now 1 year later w/ the tires at 42psi and lots and lots of practice w/ hypermiling I can't go anywhere without getting at least between 50 and 60 mpgs.

Take Care,

Jess

I live in AZ and this seems to be the best weather (IMO) for a hybrid. This is why I purchased a HCH and a TCH. I drive on the freeway at 75 miles per hour (45 miles one way to work) with my tires inflated to 32 psi with the AC on in the summer I always get 45 MPG. In the winter I always get 49-51 MPG with out trying. Yes you do need to learn how to drive a hybrid and not just jump in the car and drive like your last car. If you do this...well you should never of purchased a hybrid. I believe I could get better MPG if I bumped my PSI up on my tires, but with a 2-year old in the car I would rather play it safe.