First of all, let me just say that this message board is terrific. I have participated in several others, for business and pleasure, and both in terms of its technical interface and the knowledge and responsiveness of its participants, this one is really first rate. Thanks to all who participate and especially to those who set it up and keep it running.

Second, as promised, I am reporting back on the results of my implementing some of the tools you have shared with me in response to my post and described elsewhere on this site (thank you, GreenAndBlue), and on my more educated observations given what I now have learned from you.

Yesterday was the warmest day here in NYC since I purchased the HAH (high 60s), and yes, I noticed the hybrid features kick in almost immediately.

Had an opportunity to take the car on a 100 mile round trip out of town, mostly on the open road at 55 plus (although with some stop-an-go at the start and end of the trip while in city limits), and while employing the "egg shell" gas pedal, etc. Avg mpg was close to 30.

Obviously, this is MUCH BETTER than the piddly 18 mpg I've been getting locally. But it still seems on the low side, considering that the trip was undertaken under these circumstances. Any thoughts?

 

Not at all. If you'd like to really thank me, since I increased your mileage by 61.1%, give me a 'reputation' point - I'm tired of seeing myself stuck at '1'... ROFL...and thanks.

Yes. I was remiss in not noting that you're on your 3rd tank. My apologies. At 18mpg, that's roughly 750 miles, at 14 gal fillup (guessing, based on my usual - ignore the '17 gallon' rating...that's for another thread )

At that mileage, you're doing pretty good with 29-30mpg. You should notice a little increase with this tank (obviously, given your 100 @ 29, but I mean as a result of break-in, for everyone's AH). Your next jump (and this will probably be the largest) will be between 1200 - 1700 miles. That's when your initial break-in will be completed (this may vary for you, given your short trip / low speed commute).
After that, you'll see (much) smaller increases after 3000 mi, then again at 5000, and then finally at 10,000 (based on my / others' experience with Honda's J30 V6; I've only got 7600 on this one so far I'm talking tenths here; the one at 1700 should net you 1-2mpg, if my experience is typical.

Next, we'll address 'practice'. Keep up with this, and you'll net yourself another 1-2mpg, as you get better.

Finally, consider increasing your tire pressure by 5-6lbs, as less rolling resistance will net you 1-2 mpg on a tank. If you tolerate that loss in ride comfort well, consider 40, and then 44. I don't use 44 myself - it's a bit harsh for in-town. But there's a thread here that shows a 45+ mpg segment obtained by Xcel and myself from Gurnee, IL <> Madison, WI. That was done with 44lbs in the tires, and since it was all highway, it was tolerable. I run about 38 now.

Good job, and have patience. It takes time to learn a new style of driving, and forget everything you knew about driving to a speed. You now know some extent of the possibilities. Enjoy the car - I know I enjoy mine - and don't forget to add your car to the mileage database, now that you've broken the 20mpg barrier

 

Well congrats on getting close to 30 mpg! I've had trouble getting that with almost half the horsepower you have. Obviously driving technique has a large amount to do with gas milage, especially with the hybrids. If you'll look at my milage database (non-hybrid named flower, its at 31.4 mpg right now i think) you'll see that when i started out here i was getting 23 mpg, a year later and i averaged over 30 for the same month. Harder tires here, and a little slicker oil there, but the big change has been the way i've been driving. Reading the article here will give you a good idea on how to achieve max milage, but heres a couple of the basics. First is to accelerate slowly, the amount of energy it takes to get the mass of your car remains the same, but with slower acceleration it requires less work (yay physics!). Another is to look ahead at trafic and try not to stop, if you see you are coming up to a stoplight..go ahead and start slowing down, if you time it right, you can keep right on going. Hope that helps some..good luck!