Like a lot of people here probably did, we loaded down the MMH for a road trip over the holidaze. My wife, both parents and I drove 2,400 miles on a trip to Grandma's in Iowa and utimately to Minneapolis, then returning to Colorado Springs. Trips like this were one of the main reasons for buying the Mariner--winter road trips where weather is unpredictable and everyone has a decent amount of luggage.

On the way out, we hit 30mph winds with blowing snow over black ice in Des Moines but the MMH was a champ. It plowed through 6" drifts in the Wendy's parking lot so we could get some chili and stayed it's course on the ice at low speed just fine. I would guess we saw over 50 trucks/suvs/cars in the ditch from that morning when the ice was worse so we had a constant reminder to keep the speed down.

Overall, we managed 25.0mpg for the trip which began with the "green" engine reading only 400 miles on the odometer at the start of the trip. That seems a little lower than I was hoping for on the highway, but temps were mostly in the low teens and the car was pretty loaded with four adults and a trunk full of stuff. I can't imagine a situation that would have been much more taxing on the engine.

We averaged about 55mph on rural highways and 65mph on the interstates unless we were able to draft. When conditions allowed, I would hang out about 3 car lengths behind semis and would follow up to 75mph. That seemed to have a 3-5mpg impact based on the Scan Guage's output. I used the engine block heater whenever we knew we were going somewhere in advance, but there were lots of cold starts too.

It liked "real" gas better than ethanol blend in terms of MPG (BTW, anyone know the blend ratio in Iowa?), but from a miles per $ standpoint, ethanol came out slightly ahead when purchased in Iowa where there is a subsidy. This is a little hard to quantify though since none of the gas/ethanol was purchased at the same station or in the same town so the price difference varied.

The comfort was great with leg room for everyone. The back seat passengers were just as warm as the front seaters, even in really cold temperatures. The ride was great unless on a concrete interstate where it frequently had a jackhammer-like ride on small expansion cracks. Does anyone else have this problem? This is with the stock-from-the-dealer 35psi in the tires.

Anyone else have any road trip stories to report? Post 'em up!

Thanks, nice story and glad to hear the MMH performed well for you.

To the best of my knowledge, ethanol as sold in Iowa and Nebraska is all E10 unless specifically marked as the E85 stuff, which isn't commonly available yet.

Your Post occurred when I just completed a 832 mile trip to Northen Wisconsin. I have a 2005 AWD Escape Hybrid. All reported values are from the scanguage II unit.

During this trip, the temperature was 41 degrees at home and dropped quickly (within 50 minutes) to the low 30's and upper 20's later in the day. I drove the entire trip with the FIA Winter Guards closed and with the lower portion of the radiator opening mostly covered with a 15 inch by 6 inch 1/8 inch plywood covering. I do not have a complete radiator covering. During this trip, my FwT (radiator temperature) normally ranged from 179-186. At the end of a two hour driving stretch, I did hit a few minor hills where the FwT increased to 201 briefly. My CHT (cylinder head temperature) normally ranged from 218-226 with a brief high of 238 at the previously mentioned hill. I normally drove around 60mph with occasional faster speeds when traffic dictated it. Yes, I drive leisurely.

-Gas mileage started out in the low 31mpg range while fighting a 15 mph headwinds in Ohio. In Michigan, it dropped a bit and ranged between 29.7 and 30.5. Later in the trip, it hung around 31mpg. These values are around 4-5 miles lower than what I normally recorded during my trip last August to this location.

-Handling no problems as of yet. I put on my winter tires (Goodyear Triple Treads) prior to this trip. I have not notice any wind related issues.

-The first night here, I arrived at almost midnight and the temperature was in the mid-teens. I did not plug in my engine block heater--too tired. The next morning the Fwt read 28 and the hybrid battery temperature was 32. The car started right up.

-other cross country ski fit. I enjoy nordic skiing. Nordic skis in general (for the average skier) tend to be longer than Alpine skis. Placing nordic skis lengthwise in this vehicle causes a portion of the skis to protrude into the front seat area. This vehicle is just under 175 inches in length. I minimized this effect by angling the front of the skis vertically. My next project will involve creating a nordic ski holder. Note: I do have a full length Thule hard shell rooftop carrier. I have used this with my former vehicle (Sable wagon) with good results. If I am carpooling, then this carrier will go on. However, I wanted to see what kind of winter gas mileage I would obtain with my hybrid and compare it to what I obtained last August.

I off to the ski area.

2005 AWD Escape Hybrid
Best Interstate tank trip MPG 39.02 (scangauge II) for 402 miles on I-70, 10.3 gallons used over mostly flat terrain. Aug. 2007

Best Interstate tank trip E30 MPG 34.6 for 271 miles along I-80 in Indiana and Ohio. May 2008

Best multiple road tank trip E30 MPG 36.2 for 202 miles in Southwestern Pa. July 2008.

I have driven from Minnesota to Colorado to Utah to Nevada and Southern California in recent days. I had +/- 500 pounds of cargo.

Without paying mind to specifics, here's how my 2005 FWD did in general.

Leaving SW Minnesota I had 30% ethanol.
Temps were mostly mid-20's.
I was getting about 27 MPG at 70 miles per hour cruise control set.

In Nebraska, 10% ethanol, Temps mid to upper 20's.
I was getting about 27 MPG at 70 MPH with cruise control set.

In Colorado, I had 10% ethanol. Temps in the Teens.
I had many Mtn passes with huge ups and downs. ( I70)
I was getting a little over 30 MPG with various speeds 60-75 MPH.

In Utah ( I think ) I had pure gas. Temps in the 20's.
I was getting about 29 MPG with cruise control set to 70 MPH.

Nevada, 10% ethanol. Temps in the 40's to 60's.
I was getting slightly over 30 MPG.
On the same tank, elevation dropped from ~2000ft in Las Vegas to near sea level in Los Angeles area. L.A. was 60's to near 70. MPG for tank was 34.0 MPG.

Been driving 1 week in L.A. area with 6% ethanl ( CA blend ).
Mix of city and highway, no greater than 65 MPH.
This tank ( so far 1/4 into it ) with many short trips, is 39.7 MPG.

Thanks for the very detailed and descriptive log of comparisons in temps and mpg's.
I hope that more people will share recent holiday trips in their MMH/FEH's.