Drive without brakes....that's a good analogy.
BTW
I wish there were a way for us to activate the regen without the use of mechanical brakes at all, for those few times when only a slight slowdown is required.

Wonder if possibly a brake light switch mod may be possible?

I just posted a question similar to Larry's before I read all these wonderful advices!!!

Well, I guess I will try those with my new civic too. I am a little bit frustrated doing 36 to 37 MPG only, but my hybrid just hit 6000 last week, and I am still learning how to drive better.

So besides the increase of air pressure and the syntetic oil, How can I gain speed on a green light without seeing my gauge indicate below 10 MPG on those critical seconds? When I tried to keep it up, at least over the 20MPG it seems I am driving my bike or like you said, a "granny style"... Anyway, should I go faster so I can remove my foot of the accelerator soon and see the gauge go to the 30-40-50's or should I never see the blue IMA bar and start slow (even though it will never indicate a good economy rate on those initial times..)???

Thank you all for the advices!

Still learning,

Mauricio


PS - Civic Hybrid, Live in Las Vegas, Drive every day from East to West to work about 20 miles light up hill and back (light down hill), yes we use AC (We have to). Previous car (Already gone) Mazda MPV minivan.

Steve,
I remember reading on InsightCentral that someone figured out a way to trip the sensor that activated the brake light and that caused regen to kick in. The system may be the same on the HCH.
Cheers,
Steven

Hmmmm....
Thanks Stevo, I'll have to look into that. :)

To anyone ... I'm another hybrid driver not thrilled about the mileage we're getting ... we've owned our Prius since September. The first tank of gasoline got us about 38 mpg and it's gone down from there. I understand about cold climates -- I live near Chicago, and it's been quite cold lately. The gasoline engine kicks in almost immediately when the car starts, unlike back in September. And I do understand that the parts have to break in. But another section of this Web site has Prius owners getting in the 50s and 60s in mpg, which I doubt I'll ever see with our Prius. My wife doesn't care as much as I do about this -- she's very happy with the car, which drives quite nicely. But I sure wish I had something to brag about.

Jon Ziomek

Evanston, IL <_<javascript:emoticon('%3C_%3C') javascript:emoticon(':(')

Jon,
Most of the people on the milage database that are getting 50s and 60s in the prius are taking 30min+ drives...and much of this is on the highway. Alot of what is seen in the milage database is also hightened by high milage in the summer...its coming down. One thing that must be remembered though, getting good gas milage in a hybrid requires a lifestyle change. many good hints for high milage driving can be found here https://www.greenhybrid.com/learn/civic/dri...fficiency/1.php please ask questions, someone will always have a good answer.
Cheers,
Steven

Jon,
You haven't mentioned anything about your typical driving conditions. Did you read the article I linked to earlier in the thread? Which of those techniques have you or haven't you tried or looked into?

There are a lot of Prius owners in your area...consider contacting one of them to do a 'swap' for part of a day to see if it's a car related issue or a driver related one. You should definately be doing way better than 38mpg...that's about my lowest tank ever for a high wind, first month of ownership, 75mph, cold weather trip.

Here's the article as posted on GreenHybrid.

B) Just give your car a chance to get broken-in. I have had my 04 Prius for a year now. You will see an increase in gas milage between 5,000 and 7,500 miles. Just relax and enjoy the car.

Hey Dr. Evan, Have you tried the Aquapel yet?


Ben

Does anyone knows someone (other than me) in Las Vegas that has a Civic Hybrid like mine? I would love to see how people are doing here. I raised my tire pressure to 40 and started to shift to N during situations where I have a good speed and it is kind of going down hill (in Las Vegas there is no hill...) and the mpg goes to 120+ mpg :D - but I do not turn the engine off. I got better now (43 mpg after 76 Miles) but feel like cheating the car - I guess I expected the car do around that on its own, without any major tricks. Anyway, I would like to meet with another Civic owner. It would be very nice. Anyone there?

still looking,

Mauricio