Just bought a 2003 HCH auto (cvt) with 15,500 miles, Honda certified used and drove it from Dallas to LA and got 37mpg according to the trip meter. I kept it on cruise at 74 almost the entire way. Is this normal? Every review I read, including owner reviews, suggested near 47mpg. I called Honda was told to drive this car just like any other civic. No special technique required. Any comments? I did notice after purchase that the tires are new, slightly odd for a car with 15.5k, and they are not Dunlop as a data sheet suggested. Is there one spot where I can find the best driving techniques?
kr

 

Here's a good read:
Achieving High Fuel Efficiency

If you've just bought the car, you likely will need to give it some time before you learn to work with the hybrid rather than against it.

 

So should we assume then that you didn't manually calculate the gas mileage by dividing total miles driven by the total gallons consumed? There have been several reports of the HCH trip MPG meter being incorrect, both several MPG too high and too low. 75mph or so is definitely at the upper end of how fast you can cruise and still achieve decent fuel economy. I believe Car and Driver got 40mpg from theirs at high highway speeds. Most of the folks getting mid 40's are cruising around 65mph or so, generally.

 

My first experience with a HCH was driving to New Orleans. I set the cruise between 75 and 80. My mileage according to the dashboard was in the mid-thirties. On the way home I had the cruise around 70 and the mpg was in the mid-40's. I have now owned my own HCH since August and you can see my overall mileage below. The last tank was easily the best at almost 55 MPG calculate.

Billy

 

I just finished a 150 mile each way trip. The way there I was late so I had to go 80 the whole way. I got about mid to high 30s. On the way back driving at 55 I got about 55 or so mpg.

You don't get EPA unless you drive excactly like the EPA test (what ever that may be). You will always get different milage. If you drive well and try for economy you may well achive EPA or even exceed it. If you drive with a particularly heavy foot. Say exceeding the speed limit by 10mpg your milage will go down.

Think of it this way. When you are driving notice how far down you are putting the gas pedal. To get EPA it seems to me (I have yet to achieve this ellusive goal on city streets) you need to have a gentle touch on the throtle.

I think some people forget that the gas pedal actualy tells the car to use more gas. They think how ever much they pump the pedal it shouldn't affect milage.

I'm not trying to insult you or anything. Just telling you my thoughts.

 

Tom,
I just noticed and think it's a bit amusing that you always spell mileage as "milage" haha

 

For what it's worth, my experience on reasonably flat California interstates is that:

- going 75mph gives ~45mpg
- going 70mph gives ~48mpg
- going 65mph gives ~51mpg
- going 60mph gives ~54mpg

I guess it's fundamentally true with any car that at highway speeds above 55mph, you are going to get poorer mileage the faster you go. Perhaps it is magnified in a car with such a small engine as the 1.3L HCH, but from what I have heard, this is even true with more powerful cars such as Accord hybrid.

 

Yup.

BTW. Jason, I have a feature to impliment. Automaticaly replace milage with mileage in posts.

heh

 

Thanks Billy

 

No insult taken and I understand about EPA and gas pedals. I am learning about a new animal. I'll be keeping a close eye and calculating manually. Maybe this thing isn't so far off the mark.
thanks
kr