UW Brad:
I used to have a HAH and averaged 26.8 for the 10,000 miles I had it. One thing I would make sure you do is to put it in the first drive position rather than pulling the shift down until it stops. In that position the car doesn't shift into its highest gear, reducing your MPG.

Alternatively, you could trade it in like I did for a Camry and get 36.5 for the same driving conditions.

Chuck

 

Seeing that UW Brad made all of two posts on GH.com, and the one in this thread was over two years ago...

 

Now I am at 36,800 miles. It's been over two years since I gave up and stopped contributing to this forum. The detail record keeping was driving me crazy. I did, however, try to improve my driving habits. Over the last 650 miles I got 27mpgs. I have not inflated the tires as the hypers suggest, nor have I gone to using Mobil 1 oil. Maybe later.
It is an ULEV car, that fits me, 6'2" and my wife, 5'1" as drivers and our two growing kids. I did add a magnetic sign to my trunk so I don't get rearended during my morning commute. It says, "Green Car - Not to exceed 55 mph." (I can't seem to post a picture of it.) One question I have is, do people start keeping track of their hwy mileage after they have entered the hwy on-ramp?

 

I am trying to see if I can post my magnetic sign on the back of my car.

I added it as my profile picture, but it may be too small to see.

 

Rockin Roland:
The best we could do with our HAH around DFW was 26 MPG. We now have a TCH and get 38 in the same driving area / conditions and 41 on the highway. It doesn't quite have the acceleration of the HAH, but it's enough. And operates seamlessly through its modes, and it is super quiet and smooth.

Chuck

 

That's a pretty amazing difference. How many cylinders with what kind of horsepower? Is it your family vehicle?

 

Nope. My mileage is my mileage. No tweaking. The tank MPGs really depend on how you drive the car. I once filled up in south Tucson, right off the interstate. When I pulled out of the gas station, I was on the I-10 onramp. I smoothly accelerated to 62 MPH in a 55 MPH zone and set the cruise. On the north side of Tucson, something like 30 miles later, my dash MPG display was reading in the 50s. Normally, with about 90% highway driving with an average speed of 70 MPH, I'll see around 35-42 MPG.

Some people on this forum like to average the MPG across two or three tanks so that their database graph looks smoother. Others track the slightly higher MPG readout in their FCD. And then there are some that only track their 'better' tanks. With all that going on, sometimes it's hard to judge just how accurate the numbers are. However, when looking at the reported MPGs, try to look at the ones that are constantly posting and have lots of miles/tanks.

 

I bought a used 2005 HAH in Feb '08. I find that my driving style has changed considerably, which is the biggest factor in my milage. First few tanks were in the high 20's on the highway, driving it like a regular car. Then I started setting the nav display on the milage graph instead of the map, so I could see my real-time milage as I drove. I found the the graph was instrumental in changing my behavior. What I thought was "driving it easy" actually caused huge swings in instantaneous mileage. It's amazing how little pressure is required to drop milage from 50 to 20! I now have a very light touch on the gas pedal and consistantly get 32-35 mpg in mixed city/highway driving. On a recent trip from Boston to Maine I averaged 41 mpg going up, and 42 on the return trip. That's from driveway to driveway. And yes, I drove like a 95 year old grandmother, practicing almost every trick I've read here.

Here's what I find helps if you really want to maximize milage:
Tires filled to 40psi.
Always keep RPM's below 2k, even when accellerating. Yes, it can be done, even in Boston.
I drive "flexibly" between 55 and 65 on the highway. I stopped using cruise control because it holds a speed too rigidly. This car's milage is like an on-off switch. Great with the ECO on, iffy with it off. If cruise is set at 65, going up a hill, it will give enough gas to kick in the extra cylinders, dropping the instantaneous milage down to 20 or 30. Off cruise, I'll let the speed drop down to 60 or even 55, to keep it in the ECO mode. Going down the far side of the hill, I'll let the car come back up to 65. Similarly, if I'm heading down a hill and see an uphill approaching, I'll let the car drift up to 70 or 75, then bleed off the speed on the uphill. I find that by doing this, I can keep the MPG graph at 50 or 60 almost all the time on the highway. The city driving on either side is what drops it down to the low 40's.
I also keep the nav set to MPG graph. I find it keeps my right foot "honest".

Hope that helps...

 

It has taken me two years to really work through and sort through all the ideas out there. The outside air temperature makes a huge difference. Figuring out my best routes took some time, I was surprised at how many deviations there were for lights vs no lights, hills vs flatter highways. I took those two years to refine basic fuel saving techniques, no quick acclerations, no heavy braking, no excessive idling, and no high speeds.
My basic setup now means my tires are inflated to MAX sidewall pressure - 44 psi. However, I decided against using any synthetic oil.
Next was to refine techniques specifically for the Accord Hybrid. That, to me, means mostly making the green ECO light stay on whenever possible and for as long as possible. It means my car is running on 3, not 6 cylinders. This is where "advanced hypermiling techniques" come in; pulse & glide, high speed pulse & glide, driving with out load, and driving like you don't have any brakes. I've tried forced auto-stop or coasting which I don't think works much better than gliding with the engine engaged. I have also tried the various drafting options - too risky for me.
I don't have Navigation option - I have to stare at the ECO light, which can lead to marital distress. Someone here said they "feathered" the acclerator which helped me get another iteration of refinement on that skill level.
On 80 degree F days I can easily get 35+ hwy. My best commute was 42 mpg - it's a 25 mile route. In the city I can get 25+mpg. I will try to post this info, but I have had some difficulty posting my logs.
I owe a lot to a lot of folks on this greenhybrid.com as well as on cleanmpg.com. xcel, gonavy, bar10dah, have been around forever, stsmart, cjacobus1, Fast_Hybrid thank you all. Here are two articles xcel, aka Wayne Gerdes coiner of "hypermiler," created that others might find useful as well.
I trust it's ethical to link to other sites here.

How to beat the EPA - They Whys and how to Hypermile
http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1510
Hypermiling 50 years ago.
http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1207

RocknRoland

 

Wow, I don't do any of that and still achieve about the same mileage. My tires are at the recommended 32 psi. I usually have the cruise control set at 70 miles per hour on the interstate. And my cruise always stays on, regardless of hills. In the city, I accelerate smoothly but still fairly quickly. I average 27-29 in the city and 34-42 on the highways. For me, squeezing out an extra 1-2 MPG by doing hypermiling tricks isn't worth the trouble. It's all about your own personal comfort level.

Congrats on your current mileage! I'm glad to see you found something that works for you.