We have finally gotten into the "dog days" after a pretty mild early summer. Yesterday it was still over 90 degrees when I left work, and I managed to get 71.7mpg! That kills my previous record of 67.9mpg. My commute home is 10 hilly miles of surface streets. Most of them are three lanes in both directions, and I average about 15 mph below the speed limit. I also don't use the A/C (gotta love the dry air!). Here's to shattering records!

Commuter car, grocery getter, and summer road tripper--average 10k miles per year.


Winter road trips and ski trips, bad weather commuter and my wife's "daily" driver--expected average 4k miles per year.

I agree. I saw my first 800 mile tank a couple of weeks back (after 32000 miles of driving the HCHII) , and I believe the high ambient temperatures contributed. I only used AC for approx 100 miles of that tank.

Congratulations. But weren't you burning up w/o the A/C on?

No, the air here is really dry which makes a huge difference--I couldn't deal without A/C in most areas of the country at 90+ degrees! I keep a window shade up during the day and drop the windows as soon as I get in the car.

Commuter car, grocery getter, and summer road tripper--average 10k miles per year.


Winter road trips and ski trips, bad weather commuter and my wife's "daily" driver--expected average 4k miles per year.

I agree- 80 and 90 degree temperatures really seem to agree with my hybrid. It's humid here, which makes it harder to avoid using the A/C, but I rely on the fan and really don't turn the air on much. It also helps that I'm often at work late and so I'm not driving in the hottest parts of the day- the car is still relatively hot from the sun of the day, but the air temperature isn't so bad for me.

Just be sure your battery doesn't overheat. At 95+ I would turn on the AC so your battery sensor doesn't think something is wrong. There is a point where MPG suffers if it's too hot.

I've noticed this correlation too, but those are certainly some impressive mpg numbers. I don't think I can do 15 mph below limit on California freeways though; I would just become a hazard on the road because everybody travels at 75 mph+

Man, what a difference 30 degrees makes! On my commute home yesterday it was 62 degrees after a fierce thunderstorm. I had to claw and scratch my way to 52.5mpg on the same exact route...I am not looking forward to winter!

Commuter car, grocery getter, and summer road tripper--average 10k miles per year.


Winter road trips and ski trips, bad weather commuter and my wife's "daily" driver--expected average 4k miles per year.

http://world.honda.com/HDTV/news/2005-4050705b/

I don't know if this was final but 7:14 into the video clip it says the 2nd gen HCH has an "Internal Air Conditioning Inverter" and an "internal cooling fan." If this is true maybe turning on the A/C would never be neccesary for the HCH II. Anybody have more info on this?

Warm maybe good but HOT is not!!