I just registered for this site and I don't know if I can get this info from the database.

I want to know from the database, or hear from somebody who has a hybrid Camry, drives mostly highway, drives fast (75 to 80), and calculates mileage by actually recording how much gas is put in and doing the math.

I have owned a Prius since 2000 and it's lifetime mileage is 40.0. This is probably because I drive fast. I am wondering what mileage I would get if I bought a hybrid Camry instead. My guess is around 32, but I hope I am being pessimistic.

The Prius is great around town. It is not a highway car.

Thanks

Richard,

I can only vaguely speak to your concerns, but here's what I can tell you from my personal experience if it helps.

Most of my driving is commuting; for me, that means 45 miles each way at Virginia's highway speeds of 55 to 65 miles per hour. I usually drive about 59 and 69, respectively. I haven't done the manual calculations, but from the computer, I have received a pretty reliable 40 MPG under such conditions since I bought the car two months ago. When driving at 70 MPH on a stretch of flat road, my consumption needle is pegged at the 60 MPG marker; my problem is that my commute is largely rolling hills with a mountain crossing thrown in at one end.

I will definitely go the "other way" on the TCH to say that it is NOT a great "around town" car but is a great highway car. If I can stay under 40 miles per hour on flat roads, I can keep it largely in electric mode. However, the speed at which I need to start would guarantee me a rear-end collision in Northern Virginia, so I have to hit the gas a little harder than I would like. I find that normal "in town" driving here gets me about 25-30 MPG. Traffic jams are much more bearable in the TCH than in a regular car, as I almost never leave electric mode until the jam breaks.

I hope that helps. I've been very happy with mine so far. A reliable 40 MPG with the size and comfort of a Camry is a **** fine combination in my book.

Thanks.

What makes you say the hybrid Camry is not an "around town" car? I drove one and it seemd like a dog off the line. I had to really push the pedal down to get it to move at all. My Prius is much peppier. Is that your issue?

Why not just get an XLE-V6 for the same $$. It's sweet spot is about the speeds you drive and will get 35/mpg and is a better road machine,

Nope, sorry, I meant as far as gas mileage is concerned. It doesn't do anywhere near the numbers that a Prius will, and the normal "city is better than highway" numbers for hybrids in general doesn't seem to apply to my TCH.

I had a peppy car -- a Jeep with the 5.7L Hemi engine. Trading being able to fly off the line (while towing a boat, in the Jeep's case) at 16 MPG vs. having more than enough power to get me through my day at 40 MPG seems to be a decent trade in the days of $3.00 gas.

When I drive at those speeds my FE trip indicator (based on reseting the nav screen) shows I get about 32 - 37 MPG depending on the winds.

I can also drive 65 miles per hour with a stiff head wind and get those same numbers, so there is no real magic 8 ball that can tell you what mileage you will get.

It is higly dependent on the grades you travel 9lots of up and down or mostly flat), speeds you travel, number of stops, winds, rain, etc...

Just too many factors to be able to tell you what mileage you should expect.

But, if I had to put a number on it I would say 35 MPG.

After 16000 miles of driving my TCH. I have come to the conclusion that there are two independent ways to improve mileage:

(1) Increase speed gradually till you reach a desired speed and try to maintain the needle at 40mpg (stay put at 40 mpg even if you lose some speed and on a down hill add some more pressure to return to prior speed).

(2)Drive to a "higher than desired speed" briskly and keep needle at about 40 - 50 mpg as speed gradually drops to desired speed. If speed falls below a desirable number, increase briskly again to about 15mph more and follow the procedure again.

I have done well over 70 miles per hour on a regular basis and always net 37 to 38 mpg on the dash (which is about 35 to 37 mpg in reality). My suggestion is to increase speed to a higher speed and then make sure the needle is stabilized at about 40 - 50mpg for long periods of time (at least 2 minutes at a time).

The key here is stability. Once you master the art of stability... the next step is to learn how to drive like or drive better than cruise control (On a downhill let go of the accelerator and when you notice an incline, increase pressure to about 10mpg more on the needle to add more speed as you go uphill).

How have you come to this conclusion? The XLE-V6 is rated as follows:

Gas Mileage: 22 mpg city / 31 mpg highway

31mpg is the best case rating at "normal" highway speeds only. The OP is talking about excessive speeds which could easily knock down the highway mpg to the low 20's. Take city driving into account and this car will likely get low 20's PER TANK of gas.

The TCH will easily get over 30mpg PER TANK under hard driving conditions. I've posted here before that I have gotten 35-36 mpg on very long trips at excessive speeds.

On our first long trip with the TCH, the tank averaged 37 mpg. That was with about 90% of the miles on the highway, doing 72 to 80 miles per hour on the speedometer (which reads about 3 to 4 miles per hour high at those speeds). The total trip was about 500 miles, so a good estimate is 450 miles highway and 50 miles city.