Do You Get Better Fuel Economy on the Freeway?

61.5mpg lifetime - 82mpg in recent months

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"fanatic" is what the lazy call the dedicated

No sooner than I did this poll (as usual), I realized that my answer is "it depends on traffic". It's better at 6:15am, not in the evenings I tend to avoid freeways.

61.5mpg lifetime - 82mpg in recent months

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"fanatic" is what the lazy call the dedicated

And don't forget the type of hybrid...HSD vs IMA...

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61.5mpg lifetime - 82mpg in recent months

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"fanatic" is what the lazy call the dedicated

It really does depend on temperature and speed. In a 70mph zone I do a lot worse. I often drive 65 just to help the fuel economy a little. In a 55 zone I do great and I think this beats my city driving.

I think the city driving still slightly beats my freeway economy -- esp. if we compare apples to apples and only compare the city trips where the car is really warmed up (most of my city trips are short 10-15 minute runs in town and the car hardly has a chance to warm up and use the hybrid system) then the city driving definitely gets better fuel economy.

Like your own answer, it depends. I've taken expressway trips that drastically lowered my MPG, 34.8 down to 32.8 when I get home (40 miles), and I've made that same trip, and had it increase my MPG, 32.4 up to 34. Same time of night, but there's other variables at play. (The former I had a headwind the entire trip, the latter, I had some stop and go construction as well as a slight tailwind)

I answered no, because generally I tend to get better MPGs driving about the city rather than on the freeways, which is what the question was asking, I believe.

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My freeway driving strategy is keep the speed below 65MPH and draft behind a slow moving semi-truck when available. Check my sig to see my MPG. I use the freeway every day for my commute to work and then back home.

I also get about 2 mpg improvement on the highway running about 60-65mph. Last trip from NH to MA I got behind a brand new Winnebago motor home with no noticeable diesel smell and shadowed him for about 25 miles and kept an eye on the mpg bar graph and did notice that I could keep it around the 60mpg mark for long stretches of road.

I always get much worse mileage on the interstate because the speed limit is so much higher. IMC gets about 45mpg running freeway speeds, way lower than average.

Optimum fuel consumption for me is around 40 miles per hour, so going 60 on the freeway drags down the mileage.

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