After taking a big hit on my present tank by putting new Tours on the front of my '09 FEH, I made the change above a week ago. Took both my '05 and '09 FEH to Tire Kingdom and they put them both up on the lifts and changed the lighter old tires and standard hybrid rims with the new Limited rims and new Tours. I now have the older Tours and standard hybrid rims on my '09 FEHL and the newer tires and Limited rims on my '05 FEH. I get a TPMS fault in my '09 FEHL but the '05 FEH did not come with TPMS so no problem there.


As expected, the '05 FEH MPG decreased and my '09 FEHL MPG increased the day I made the change. I had just under 500 miles on the FEHL tank and was averaging 57.5mpg the day I made the change. Today that 57.5mpg average has already grown to 59mpg with a little over 600 miles now on the same tank. Clearly, lighter tires and rims reduce roll resistance and I felt that with my first neutral glide after the change.

One other reason I made the change was to determine what was causing a noise in the rear of my '05 FEH. The newer Tours reduced the noise a lot but I can still hear it. The older Tours I took off and put on my '09 FEHL make no noise on it. Ford has really reduce NVH in the '09 FEH over the '05 FEH. I may not have a rear bearing problem in my '05 after all, and road noise is just much worse than my '09.

GaryG

 

After experiencing excessive road noise in my Toyota, I opted for the undercoat on my '09 and haven't regretted it.

 

The '09 FEH doesn't need it like the '05 FEH does. Our '09 FEH Limited is one hell of a vehicle IMO. The weight caused my tags on my '09 FEH to be the same price as my '02 V8 EB Explorer but yet it gets better MPG by far than my '05 FEH.

Switching my Limited rims with my '05 FEH rims will more than likely bring my present tank to 64mpg in the winter here. I think this new set-up can bring 65mpg times 15.4 gallons to over 1,000 miles on a single tank in the '09 FEH. Sounds like a new goal for me to put the '09 FEH at 200% of combined City/Highway EPA rating (32.5mpg) on one tank of E10.

BTW, haven't washed or waxed my '09 FEH since November 5, 2009 and my MPG is off the % of EPA scale of all hybrids. There goes those other theories!

GaryG

 

Gary,
Hold on a second...65mpg???!!! How in the world are you doing that? I just put a set of Michelin Latitude Tours on my '06 FEH and increased my mpg to almost 32mpg, but that is light years from 65mpg. How in the world??? Show me the way if you got some tricks.

 

I know it sounds crazy, but it's true. In order to get a 65mpg tank, you need to get many trips exceeding 75mpg from most start-ups in the day. Tricks? a few. Mostly just smart driving and understanding how everything works in the FEH.

I owned an '05 FEH, and it is not going to get near a 65mpg tank on E10 you get in Miami and like I do in Palm Beach. I won the '07 Hybridfest MPG Challenge in a friends '05 FEH, with over 60mpg on E10, so that's about all the 2.3L '05 - '08 FEH is worth.

The '09 FEH is good for a strong up to 40mph in EV, so staying in that speed range helps a lot. Above 40mph, a tap on the brake pedal in a "D" gear drive coast, will give you 9,999mpg in fuel-cut. The '05 - '08 FEH can not go 40mpg in EV on level roads and does not have fuel-cut like the '09 FEH.

I've wrote many post here explaining how to get the MPG I do and even posted a You Tube video my Son made of me doing so. My lifetime MPG in the '09 FEH is 53.9 in over 30,000 miles. I'm now working on my last tank of E10, but here is my mileage record since my '09 FEH was new: http://www.cleanmpg.com/index.php?pa...9&viewcar=2612

The present E10 tank of gas is almost two years old, so my '09 FEH is running very rough now and my fuel maps are all screwed-up from a disconnected 12V battery. I still expect to maintain my average 53.9mpg this tank, and I now have about 600 miles on this tank.

GaryG

 

Man brother, since I'm just down the street from you, I'd love to connect with you and learn from the master. Anytime, just let me know when I might drive up for a quick tutorial.
In the meantime, would you mind sending me the links of some of your "teaching posts and youtubes"?
Thanks

 

GaryG: How much does your mileage drop when you're in more conventional type driving such as rush hour, stop and go stuff as opposed to some of the courses you have that were probably selected with fuel economy in mind?

 

First of all, do you have a Scangauge?

Here are the videos of my '09 FEH, Part 1 & 2:


Here is an article on the '05-'08 FEH I wrote at Cleanmpg.com back in '06:
http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=350

I've offered what hypermilers call Clinics (driver training) to anyone that's willing to come to Jupiter FL. Just PM me and I'll send you my cell # to call me to set it up. If you don't have a Scangauge, I can use mine in your FEH. I drive my '09 FEH completely different than the older models, but some things work in both models.

GaryG

 

He only drives one way--as he describes.

 

Hi Gator

Hypermiling is a combination of route planning, vehicle set-up and knowing your vehicle. I drive one tank average at a time and during that tank of up to 884 miles, I drive in every type of the above. I am a courier for my wife's Court Reporting Services and drive to Miami - Fort Pierce to drop off transcripts and get payments. Most of my trips are to the WPB Courthouse to pick up her assignments and file appeals she has typed. Many times during a tank, I'm pressed for time and take a hit in rush driving on I-95, but it all averages out at fill-up. You can see from my mileage log, I've never had a tank lower than 38.4mpg which was calculated from the dealer's first fill-up which was a low fill from them. Also, I calculated the first tank from zero miles from the factory and my permanent OD reading is logged at all my fills to date in my log. For instances, my next tank mpg reading will match my permanent OD mileage I have on my '09 FEH today. I don't go by the trip OD and only use gallons pumped into my FEH at fill-up.

To directly answer your question. I drive in all weather and traffic conditions we get in So. FL. Strong head winds hurt my MPG more than anything, so I watch how the flags are flying and reduce speeds accordingly. BTW, the dirtier my FEH is, the less wind resistance I get. My '09 FEH has not been washed since Nov. '09 I think. This breaks-up the wind and causes less rear suction at the back of the FEH like those rear spoilers you see on the newer Ford Explorers and other SUV's these days. The '09 FEH was the first that came also with the spoilers in front of the tires for better aero.

GaryG