SrfCity,

That is extremely low, have you investigated why your mpg is that low? I have a new '06 that is not even broken in yet and my third tank average was 48.5 with no extreme hypermiling techniques. I filled up with regular non RFG gas in PA on Sunday and got 62.5 mpg on the 30 mile trip home.

 

No I haven't. Yea, it seems pathetic compared to all the rest. The current mileage and overall are pretty close based on the cars puter. 40 PSI for tires and lately I've been taking it easy driving, although most is just around town stuff. Not sure why this is so way off??

 

It's not that way off for me either. If I just take short trips around town, with lots of stop and go, I average about 37 mpg on the dashboard readout. Longer trips on the freeway bring my average up.

 

In my opinion, the primary determinant of MPG is your commute (your typical trip length). If it is very short, e.g. 5 miles, with a lot of stops, then you will struggle to get much more than 40 MPG.

If you look at the mileage database, and check out the average trip of the people with the best MPG (say, over 53 MPG), you will see they their commutes are typically 30-60 miles or more.

Although it is possible to get very bad MPG with a long commute, it is nearly impossible to get very good MPG with a short commute.

 

As a follow-on to the previous comment: bear in mind that what is important is not your raw MPG, but your relative MPG.

Your relative MPG is what you are getting in the hybrid, compared with what you would get with a similarly-equipped non-hybrid (e.g. a regular Honda Civic in this case). This is pretty much a constant value, and from empirical data here, and in trade rags, it seems like the HCH I and II gets about 25-30% better MPG than it's non-hybrid sibling.

So regarding the title of this thread, "Normal driver MPGs", that raw value it will depend on your commute and driving style. But you can be absolutely certain that, whatever your commute and whatever your driving style, you will be getting 25-30% better MPG than you would in a regular Civic.

 

Each of my trip is < 10 miles usually, stop and go, in 100-110F with aircon,.. think that explains my low mpg.

Yea.. I agree, from my last car (2000 Ford Focus 1.6A), where I need to top up every week, to once every 2 weeks now, I am already a happy man. My fuel expenditure is already halved.

 

Not so sure I agree with the short trip theory, except when dealing with temperature extremes (cold or very hot w/AC). I am sure you will not get as good mileage as the car warms up a bit, but in the 30's is still way outside my range. I actually get better gas mileage around town during fairly short trips. I definitely get better mileage on backroads where the speeds are under 55mph than on the highway. The car seems to love 45-50 range. I also live in a hilly area, so I am dealing with hills. My last trip to the local library, which was probably 5 miles away yielded 55 mpg. A longer 30 mile trip from PA to MD on hilly backroads was at 62.5 mpg. My wife drives 22 miles each way to work through 26 lights and is averaging 55 mpg now. The key we found is NOT to accelerate too slowly Under 2500 rpms from a dead stop and to not try to use assist for the first 10 mph to avoid droping the SOC. She accelerates fairly quickly after 10 mph and glides if the next light is red. When she tried the initially recommended slow acceleration procedure she only averaged 38 mpg, the car bogged down and stayed in the 20 mpg range way too long. We now use the accelerator more aggressively for a short period of time and then let all the way off to drop the rpms down below 1500 to peg the mpg meter. After you get used to it, you don't even think about it anymore. Anyway my point is that unless you are cranking the A/C really low all the time, you should easily be able to get into the mid 40's. My wife uses the A/C all the time, but the other posts about how to use it without effecting the gas mileage really helped out as well.

 

I have only had my new Civic for about a week, and I really love it so far. Especially after paying so much for gas before with a Dodge Durango!!!

I am mostly curious about what speeds people are driving in this forum...and the effect on their mpg. A few of you have stated your speeds, but not too many. I live in San Diego, CA, which is fairly hilly on most freeways. I drive about 25 miles each way on my daily commute. I drive one way in the cool morning, and come home when it is about 80 degeers or so. I realize that my car is not fullybroken in yet, as I am just getting 47-48 miles per gallon. I only use the A/C on the return trip with it set for about 75 dgrees or so. I have really changed my driving habits, and usually set the cruise control for 65 miles per hour. I cannot see going much slower on the freeway. If I drop to 60 mph I will be getting all sorts of rocks and such shooting at me from big rigs roaring past me. I also took the family up to Disneyland last Monday with similar driving terain and speeds. Mpg was the same, even on that extended trip. Hmmm...

Is this a good speed to be going for fuel savings? If you drive similarly, did you mpg go up after the break in period? This morning I bumped my tire pressure up to 40 psi to see if that changes anything.

Thanks all...

 

I drive 25 miles each way with 98% of it on the freeway. I get (when it is not super, duper hot here in Phx) about 50 - 54 mpg. If I drive on the weekend in the city streets, I get closer to 40. I do use my A/C. I drive more gently with my hybrid then my previous car but by no means am a hypermiler.

 

Would love to know what happens with the tire pressure.

I upped mine from 30psi (door recommendation) to 35 a few weeks ago and suddenly it wasn't such a struggle to keep over 50mpg. About 2 tanks ago I went from 35 to 40 psi and on my current tank I am at 61mpg on the dash - which means about 55-57. It is a 2003 HCHI so the mileage reads high on the dash, unlike the IIs which seem to work the other way round, if the posts here are any indication.

By the way, I am not driving on special high mileage tires . . . Bridgstone Insignia SE200.

kernk