I've had a Scan Gauge mounted on my 07 FEH AWD now for several weeks and wanted to give my first impressions. I have read as much as I can about hypermiling and have tried to implement as many tricks as possible. I don't like having people on my tail, and don't like to hold up traffic so I consider myself a mild to moderate hypermiler. My driving is probably 40/60 city/highway and the city is mostly 45mph or so.

I used to average 32mpg or so with a very careful tank of 36mpg every now and then. Enter the Scan Gauge.....I can now bang out a 35-36mpg tank without too much effort. The 4 things I watch 100% of the time are SOC, instant MPG, trip MPG, and fuel GPH. Knowing when the battery is getting low helps me "plan" when to charge it (upcoming downhill, low speed hold, etc). The instant MPG allows me to accelerate at a rate which provides the best MPG. I am constantly modulating my acceleration (up and down both) looking for the RPM "sweet spot" to provide best MPG. The trip MPG is a must have, because it breaks down the tank to a trip level. I always have a mental target of 35mpg (minimum) per trip. When I get to my destination I check to see if I have met or exceeded my target. That way, the tank MPG is no surprise.

My biggest barriers to better MPG are traffic, hills, routes, and my tolerance for people honking at me. I was able to achieve my 35-36mpg targets without drastically changing my routes. I often draft on the freeway if I can for at least part of the trip. If my trip MPG is low, I draft more to bring it up. I work well with a "target" system. I'm sure given some time I can set my next target to 40mpg. I am still in the infancy of using P&G, but I am including it here and there.

Most of you guys probably know all this already since I am a bit of a newby. Here are some of the things I always try to do in order to improve my MPG:

• Always accelerate from a stop in electric up to 15-20 mph
• Always accelerate at a rate for best MPG even if I have to "search"
• Always read terrain ahead, accelerate slightly downhill, and slow slightly on the way up hill
• Double tap brake at 40mph to cut motor when I see traffic stopped or a light way ahead that I know will be red when I get there.
• Glide down a hill in neutral every time I can to go farther than if in D.
• Use electric every time I can as long as I can - recharge battery as needed by driving slow if allowed (35mph or so) trying to "match" my trip average MPG so I don't take a hit while the battery is charging.
• Draft on the freeway if possible when needed to reach my 35-36mpg goal.

I think that's most of them. I am always learning and always excited to get great MPG. My other vehicle is a 4x4 Ranger 4.0 and I never get more than 17-18mpg. I have become very intolerant of bad MPG. The Ranger is on the bubble. Maybe a 4 cylinder 5 speed Ranger is in my future. I don't need 4x4 anymore since the FEH is AWD!

 

Great job John! Your doing very good with an '07 AWD FEH. Once you master the hills you will love them. The only problem with hills for me is I can't use cruise control in EV like I do with my flat roads here in South Florida. My '05 FWD FEH can only go a maximum of 35mph in EV CC with no headwind but the '09 will hold a solid 40mph in EV CC in a moderate headwind.

I don't remember the last time someone honked at me for driving slow. You can hypermile without holding traffic back just add good routes to make up for the faster traffic in your commute. Like you, I set a realistic target MPG average for a tank and get there almost every time. Right now I'm targeting 57mpg as my minimum on my '09 FEH and it looks like my present tank will meet that target. This will make my 5th straight tank over 57mpg with a E10 handicap.

Just put a new Honda 150 Four Stroke on my 1986 18 1/2' Boston Whaler (Outrage 18) and added the Honda Digital gauges that give Instant MPG, Trip MPG and GPH. Very expensive but I'll be hypermiling my boat now while fishing and diving. It's an old boat but pretty much restored like new and garage kept. Bought it new and raised my three kids on the water and now to raise their kids on the water. If I could only get them to hypermile!

GaryG

 

I stated in the first post that I can now bang out 35-36mpg tanks. I use my nav system to track total tank average MPG (which usually shows 35mpg or so before I reset it when I fill up). I decided to spot check it a couple of times when I filled up and I found that it is a bit optimistic. I usually get about 1.1mpg less than the nav display says. All this time I thought I was averaging 35-36mpg, but it is really 33-35mpg.

I still think that is pretty good for an 07 AWD FEH. I smile every time I fill up

 

We've covered this before but I find the NAVI FE gauge in my '08 FEH is always 1-2MPG optimistic. I usually reset it and the Trip A at a full fill-up. Before I do the reset I compare the two using the display vs mileage/gal filled.

Now I just mentally subtract 2MPG from whatever the display says and use that as my expected tank MPG.

It is my understanding that the '09 and newer models have more memory for this sort of information. Are '09 owners still seeing an optimistic display?

 

The '09 Nav Sys has enough memory for a 790 mile tank so far but it's at least 4% optimistic. My last tank had a Nav Tank reading of 61.6mpg and at the pump I got 57.628mpg, which is way over 4%. My SGII has a offset of 13 and I have my engine size at 4.0L and it had a 57.5mpg reading at fill-up. My MTE only goes to 699 and the older FEH's go to at least 799 MTE. The '09 MTE starts adjusting just below 1/2 tank and continues adjusting at 1 MTE. I have .8 gallons left at 0 MTE. I reset my trip B to 0 when I reach 0 MTE and I can go another 50 miles without running out of gas.

GaryG

 

Gary:

Is it worth it to buy a SGII from eBay or is there any difference in the software packs between an older one or current release from a store? I'm considering buying one to see if I can tweak my 06 FEH some more. I just don't want to waste the money on eB if there's a potential issue with programs once I install it on my FEH. The alternative is to purchase on on-line. I think you or someone mentioned a discounted price available through GH. Any thoughts appreciated.

Bob

 

Don't buy a used SGII unless you know which software version is incompatible with the FEH. I eBayed my first SGII because it could not read SoC and XGauges on my '07 FEH. I can't remember all the details now but it's all in the threads if you care to search.

Linear Logic stated that they would resolve this issue, but they did not, even though I had paid for a firmware upgrade that was said to support the XGauges.