A week ago I bought a 2005 HCH CVT, approx 26,700 miles, and so far I am only getting 36 mpg. I commute 24 mi total each day to/from work, some stop-n-go and some freeway. I don't accelerate quickly or brake hard, and auto stop comes on regularly. I notice the "assist" gauge does not frequently come on and at most only hits 3 or 4 bars. Any suggestions? I want to make sure everything is okay with the car since I just bought it. Thanks!

There is a learning curve you will have to go through in order to maximise your milage potenial. I like to accelerate quik. Let the battery help you. If you accelerate too slow the battery won't kick in. Running a higher pressure in your tires will help. I currenty have mine at 45 psi. Some general rules to increase milage are hot weather is better than cold. Stay off the freeway if you can. Flat is better than hilly. Leave the A/C off. Use your cruise control. Try to avoid stop and go. Good luck in the future. I have had my Civic for almost two years and I'm getting 55.3 mpg over that time. I do have very favorable conditions though.

Jeff

P.S. Gas formulation will also effect your milage.

I started out at 35mpg. Now I'm avereging around 52 or so. Take a look at my tank data in the database to see my tank over tank data. Learning how to drive the car is key.

My hydroponics experiment
My carputer

You ever notice how hard it is to lip read cartoon characters?

Pay attention to your instant fuel consumption display, the bar graph under the odometer, that will really help you learn what efficient driving is (best pedal position, best speed, etc.). If the graph isn't there you can turn it on, there are direction in the owners manual if you have one, I don't remember how to do it off the top of my head.
If you're speeding, or in bumper to bumper traffic on the highway that will hurt your mileage. Using the AC also takes a hit. The amount of assist you mention sounds normal to me, you'll only see assist when accelerating.
Keeping working at it, good luck!

Thank you everyone for the tips. I will continue to pay attention to the immediate mileage and hopefully learn how to drive efficiently. One more question - when the assist is kicked in, I am registering around 20 on the instant mileage - is that normal? I guess I assumed when the assist was working the mileage would be higher. Thanks

That's normal. The engine and the motor work together during acceleration. You will see the best milage on a flat road cruiseing at 45 to 55 mph. Sometime I can keep the instantaineous at 80 mpg if I've got the cruise set at 45 mph and a nice tail wind on a flat road. Of course I piss off all the rednecks in there but big trucks.

Assist really only kicks in when the car is under load, therefore you are using the most amount of gas during any assist periods (HCH I). So it's normal to see low mpg figures during that time.

The biggest factor I've noticed is the environment. For the same driving style, colder weather equals worse mileage than warmer weather.

...because you'll see me passing everybody at 90 mph going up mountains.

hi, i also have a '05, but with the 5-speed. you might want to drop in at cleanmpg.com, there are quite a few articles on there on increasing your mileage..........

you didn't mention how fast you usually drive, but high speeds can kill your mileage. also stop and go driving can be hard. if you can take the opportunity to coast when possible, at least not use the gas, that will help, also. it's been described as using the gas pedal as if there is an egg under there. i think as you drive the car more, you will get a good feel for how it works the most efficiently. and the mileage display really helps.

good luck and have fun. i use less than 10 gallons a week in mine, and i have an 80 mile daily commute.

Best fill 66.7 MPG, best tank 801.5 miles


laurie, central minnesota