I get great mileage going to work because it is mostly downhill. Tonight I tried a different route home, which actually caused me to go up a higher hill, but then I could coast the last part and my mileage was actually higher at the end of the up and down than at the beginning of the up and down...so take that into consideration also. Do try the pulse and glide as has been described here also. I am only on my second tank of gas and most of it is just the 2.5 miles to and from work with a bit of in town travel (and slight hills) and am getting 32 on the tank at this point.

My husband has been driving my Chrysler Concorde and complaining about the mileage...I keep telling him to drive it like a hybrid as he is also a heavy footed driver and fast accelerator...but then I haven't let him drive the hybrid for any real experience, either!

I am just now getting the hang (I think) of great gas mileage. In the last few days I've seen my MPG's go from around 31-34 to around 40+/-. One thing I've changed is I reset the NAV consumption screen every time I start the car instead of once a day as I was doing. This lets me see exactly how I do on any given trip. When I was doing this once a day, I might have a great trip in the morning but not in the afternoon, and yet I couldn't tell that the PM trip was that bad because it was holding up with a morning average on a previous trip. Thus I couldn't recognize I had done poorly on a particular trip and as a result couldn't learn what was working and what wasn't.

Here's what I'm doing. First, I turn off the AC and open my moon roof and windows in the mornings while it's been fairly cool. I go without the AC as much as the day as possible. In the afternoons, I'll blow the hot air out of the car and then close all windows running the AC as hot as possible. If you go without AC for a while in the afternoons when it's hot and then turn on the AC to about 79 or 80, it will seem cool enough.

When I first start out each trip, I get the car up to speed limit and immediately set the cruise control. This could be on a city street at 35 miles per hour or on the freeway at 60 or 65, whatever. The cruise control is excellent in any terrain or driving condition at getting great gas mileage and at the same time keeping your battery charged. It does great for your gas mileage even before the car gets warmed up enough for you to coast in Eco mode just using the battery. Plus, when you coast like this for a while, the battery level declines and then the gas engine runs often and your gas mileage goes down. The cruise control takes care of both issues. Until the car gets warmed up, it's not going to cruise in the Eco or battery only mode so the cruise control is very good at getting the best MPG's for you from the start and as long as you can use it in traffic conditions.

When I can see a red light approaching, I brake and let the car coast as long and far as possible. I usually stay in the right hand or at least the middle lane, wherever I'm at so that cars that want to go faster (and they ALL usually do) can go around me in the fast lane. I've found that you can use the cruise in the right or slow lane even at 35 miles per hour without hindering traffic because they can go around you. Sometimes, I can not use the cruise in various traffic conditions, but once the car is warmed up, I can get up to the desired speed and then let off and lightly hold the accelerator to where the car cruises, glides, or whatever you want to call it, in the Eco mode (the blue mode on the instant MPG gauge down below the 60 hash mark).

All in all, if I could offer just one tip it would be to start using the cruise control as soon and as much as possible on each trip and throughout the day.

I've just started understanding and realizing this in the last couple of days and I hope my theory holds up. It's incredible to be getting 40+ MPG's in a car the size and even the power of a Camry and still have the power I need when I want or need it.

Agreed. I would subscribe to the 'nash' school of driving techniques. And also I'd underscore the point that 'MagcamyH' made about cruise control. It's a Camry's best friend, especially when you're liberal with the 'cancel' feature, to coast.

Steve Villatoro
www.stevenvillatoro.com
“An enlightened guide to small business mastery.”

I've changed is I reset the NAV consumption screen every time I start the car instead of once a day as I was doing. This lets me see exactly how I do on any given trip.

This is really important on trips you make frequently. You will learn the "tricks" of that specific route and can increase your overall FE greatly. I have two routes to church where my wife volunteers and i am at frequently. It's only 18 miles round trip but one route we get 37 mpg and the other we can get 42 mpg. There is only about 3 minutes different and neither way has any traffic. On the 42 mpg route there is a steep hill but then a very long gradual drop. I've experimented and I get to the top normally and can glide down, still maintaining the speedlimit with battery boost almost 2 miles. I have (driving by myself and going granny mode to experiment) gotten as much as 56 mpg on that loop. However my wife wouldn't put up with that if she was with me.

When I first start out each trip, I get the car up to speed limit and immediately set the cruise control

The cruise works but is not necessary unless you just don't want to do it manually. Like Steve mentioned with cruise, and max FE, you need to be willing to kick it off on the steeps.

Well I got in my car today, I looked at the AVG MPG and it was at 33.8 WOOT! Only problem was my wife drove it all weekend meaning I probably Hot Rod the car.

LOL

Resetting the consumption screen every time you get into the car means the computer is averaging at a very small sample rate. No wonder your mileage jumped up 8 miles per gallon in just a few days.

that's probably the reason why many folks on this site are saying that their consumption readings are off (high) compared to their manual calculations.

excellent point!

that's probably the reason why many folks on this site are saying that their consumption readings are off (high) compared to their manual calculations.

Resetting the trip FE does not affect the tank FE. My comparisons of actual to indicated are with tank averages. I merely use trip averages to maximize the FE on a series of short trips that have an overall affect on the tank average eventually. A lot of really short high FE trips really add up. Just as short but frequent pulse and glide efforts pay off.