OK, after a week+, about 31MPG and nearl 1100 miles on virtually all highway with my 08 FEH/FWD, with Premium Package and Moon/Sat option. I've got a few questions.

1. What happens during the "Break-In" period and is there anything that can be done to help the MPG 1000's of miles later on?

2. When I'm using the radio, is there any way to set an option that the "text" option is default when changing to a new station?

3. Why, when I set the inside temperature does the fan default to a higher speed. If it was "low" when I turned it off, but then change the digital temp gauge, the fan comes back on at a higher speed?

4. Temperature of the hood? We had snow recently. I drove the FEH and it any other car I've owned the warmth of the engine would have melted the snow/ice on the hood. Drove 100 miles and still have a sheen of ice on the hood that I would have expected to melt.

5. Has anyone experienced MPG differences because of the "ECON" button is used?

I understand that cold and E10 (which I'm stuck with) will hurt MPG's, but I could have sworn that humid cold is worse than dry cold this past week.

Again, I've only had 3 tankfulls thus far and still have a lot to learn, but I can't seem to find answers to these questions.

2. Why, when I put

 

I don't have all the answers but I do have opinions.

1. "Break-in" driving routines don't mean so much on modern cars. However, avoiding long constant speed highway driving for the first few thousand miles might be a good idea. Don't obsess on this one.

3. All the automatic temperature control cars I have had seem to think a higher air flow is necessary than I would have chosen. It may be an attempt to really get good air temperature readings.

4. Engine doesn't run as much and doesn't give off as much heat. Therefore, less melting.

5. ECON helps around town in the summer (AC operation). Will not make a difference in winter or on highway. Most people seem to agree that it can make several miles per gallon difference.

 

I can only help with a few of these...

It defaults to the primary display when it acquires a signal. This has been a concern for both Sirius and XM users. If you go through a tunnel and lose signal, it will set back to the default display when it re-acquires the satellite after exiting the tunnel. You have to press "text" again. Annoying.

Adjusting the fan doesn't turn auto control off. Notice the "auto" light stays on when you do that. To override, manually select a mode (floor, face, etc) and select fan speed. These manual settings should be maintained.

The temp dial is a thermostat, not a way of controlling the air temp from the vents. Turning it up or down will not speed warming or cooling of the vehicle. That's like setting a home thermostat to 80°. Eventually it will get to 80° and will need adjusting again. But the furnace won't warm the house any faster than if you'd set it to 70° in the first place and left it alone.

Let the vehicle warm (at least 5 miles/ten minutes of driving) before adjusting anything. If you're warm or cool, try adjusting it up or down by 2 degrees and leaving it alone for a few minutes.

In mild weather, the fan runs at 1 in steady conditions. In the winter, it's at 2 or 3, which I've heard is a little high for some people. It does this to prevent fogging, which was one of the things 1st generation owners told them was a problem. I don't have fogging issues, but I live in a really dry place.

ECON prevents the A/C compressor from forcing the engine to come on. If you're in auto-stop on a hot day, like at a traffic light, the ICE will stay off even if the cabin gets warm. You can sweat it out and/or lower windows, or you can turn ECON off. If you take the latter course, the ICE will come on to spin the A/C compressor, burning fuel and lowering mileage.

AFAIK, ECON mode only affect vehicle behavior in hot weather.

In my Prius, if you'd been driving for a while and the ICE was running while stopped on a cold day, you could turn climate control off and the ICE would shut off immediately. It was like the winter version of ECON in the FEH on a hot day, i.e. you could save gas if you were willing to be a little uncomfortable. I've not seen that on the FEH yet. I've tried turning the system and/or ECON off & on, as well as adjusting the temperature dial. Unlike the Prius, so far nothing seems to make a difference.

P.S : You're right about dry air. High humidity air is less efficient for combustion so in theory a vehicle in low humidity should perform better and might even get better mileage.

 

Latest info is that E10 will not hold you back from hypermiling (exceeding the EPA mpg estimates)....once the vehicle has a chance to burn through a few tank fulls. Just don't switch back and forth between E10 and other blends.