Even highways aren't level. The system will still be able to use the hybrid tech to add a little power here and recover a little power there, so its highway mileage is still usually better than the non-hybrid. Getting those great numbers mean doing a little more than just buying the car. You have to take personal responsibility and drive for mileage. No speeding, no fast starts, and, if possible, take the slower routes. The highlander both hybrid and non, get their best gas mileage around 45 to 50 miles per hour. If you can stay on roads where it is safe to do that, then go for it. Those came road often come into 30mph town where the electric only mode can come into play and boost your numbers even further. It is quite possible to get 27 to 30 miles per hour without using any special techniques other than those I'm describing here. With even more care, planning, and willingness to give a few minutes of your time, you can take those numbers even higher.

The funny thing to me now is when I drive it, I try and make the mileage better than when I got in. I find myself watching the info on the dash and doing everything I can to do better. I think I have mastered the stop/start. I piss people off behind me when I coast up to the red light (I used to be the pissed off one myself). I screamed at a fellow the other day, "Hey, get off my &^%, I'm trying to save gas!". I use the cruise alot and I use the EV every chance I get. All the way home on my dirt road, parking lots (Wal Mart), I even go different routes trying to find the one that is most beneficial for the mileage.

I've just about got my wife used to doing better. My kid too. They both come in now and the first thing they both say is how many mpg they got on the way home.

I will try and remind the wife to check how the mileage without the display and see how it compares.

Yea, you got to hate those cling-ons. Good mileage can become an obsession, but at least its a productive one.

So taking a roundtrip at highway speeds (55-70mph) and all "other" things being equal. Would you expect the THH to get better gas mileage on a hilly trip than a flat trip?

Obviously, with a round trip the uphill and downhill portions are mitigated. However, this would be an interesting data point. Since from my experience, conventional non-hybrids do worse. The downhill coasting doesn't seem to compensate for the increased consumption going uphill.

I can say for a fact, by gauge in vehicle, that going uphill takes away much more mpg than when coasting/driving downhill. You can really see it drop when going uphill, but when it climbs, its much slower to do so. All this assuming the gauge is pretty accurate.

I switch back and to from the mpg and watch the gas/electric to the wheels and most always its getting power from both. Obviously, its not giving any electric power when climbing a hill of any height/length. But on a fairly flat surface, it does show that its getting power from both.

Well lets put it this way. Last fall I traveled from the mid west to the south east. The trip was mostly flat at first, and mileage was averaging about 25mph up to the point we starting getting to the hills/mountains. At that point, my mileage started increasing until I reached around 28mpg. The reverse trip was the same. Started with high mileage through hills and the mileage decreased after I reached the flats. I stayed about 1 or 2 miles per hour under the speed limit the whole trip and obviously the speed limit varied.

When traveling under constant cruise control, the best mileage seems to be from short steep climbs followed by long, gentle descending slopes. The other way around, hybrids don't help much.

Huh, as I was driving like that (with not much hills) it seemed the opposite. Not doubting you a bit as I haven't driven it much. So that would say that coming down it was getting pretty good mpg, correct?

All our football trips coming up in the fall are up through S.C. and North Carolina, so that will be a good test similar to yours. I had it in my mind that it would be pretty bad going up, but real good coming back. Thanks for the info!