Woo Hoo, I just got my hypermiler star today. Now the challange will be to get the vehicle life average over 40 MPG.

 

Congratulations! I made it today too.

 

Congratulations. I just lost my star on my last tank. (Cold weather and snow) I will probably get it back when it warms up again.

 

How do you lose your star?

I thought all you needed was 3,000 miles of above EPA rated averages.

 

With the cooler weather my tank averages have been in the 36's (33 when the temps were in the low teens and sleet and snow were on the ground).

With my hwy/city ratio set to 75/25 after enough 36 mpg tanks my overall average dropped to 38.3 and my star went away.

When things warm up and I get my 39-41 mpg tank averages again I will get my star back.

 

Still looking for the secret to high mileage, I have been driving like a wimp and still get poor results, as you can see! Although I do get an "excellent" quite often, it just doesn't seem to show up when I fill up and check the distance travelled. Most of my trips are fairly short and I have the tyres inflated to the recommended 32 PSI, is that my problem? Below the average of my first 3 fill-ups. What am I doing wrong?

One more thought, I am wondering if I should be using the "Econo" mode? Has anybody found this to make a difference?

 

I have tried 40# tire pressure and went back to 35# and saw no difference in milage. have never gotten under 40mpg so don't know what to say.

 

Paul,
I've always used the ECO mode so I don't know what the difference would be.

My normal driving is heavily slanted towards highway use.
It's 18 miles to work and 15 are on the tollway. In 70F weather if I'm not running the A/C or the heater I can easily get 40+ mpg on this trip.
I get the best highway mileage at 55 mph. One time when I filled up and drove 63 miles on the highway my tank average was 47.7 mpg.

30-35 mph is also another good mileage speed. Once the engine is warmed up you can drive a couple of miles in EV mode at 30-35 before the engine starts to recharge the battery. I use moderate acceleration to get up to speed, take my foot off the accelerator to kick it in to EV mode and lightly touch the accelerator to use the battery to maintain my speed.

Short trips are horrible. One week where all I did was drive to and from the train station 2 miles away my trip display never even hit the 25 mpg mark. Also, just going from stop light to stop light without some distance between them to get into EV mode will hurt.

I have the Bridgestone tires and have them at 35 PSI.

That's what I can tell you but in summary, longer trips at constant speeds (cruise control works fine) will help your mileage.

 

My vehicle life average is under the 39.1 weighted average you need for the star classification, but I do have the required 3,000 miles of over 39.1 MPG, so that is why I am curious on how you lost your star. I though once you have 3,000 miles over the epa ratings, you were a hypermiler.

 

The calculation is based on the EPA ratings of 40/38 and the percentages that you set in your profile. You have 25/75 set so 40x.25 + 38x.75 = 38.5. So once your overall total average based on all the tanks you have entered is at or above 38.5 and you have more than 3000 miles of mileage data entered you will get your star. If you enter tank data that brings your total tank average below 38.5 your star will go away. Your signature shows that you are at exactly 38.5 that is why you have a star not that you have entered 3000 miles of data of above 39.1 (though that is what helped get you to your current total of 38.5)

If I wanted to get my star back right now I could change my profile percentage to 10/90 city/hwy which would mean that 38.2 mpg would get a star. Even if I did that though with the 36 mpg tanks that it looks like I'll be getting through most of the winter that will keep pulling my total tank average down. Once your average is below 38 even setting your profile to 100 percent hwy you won't have a star.

What I'll need to get my star back is to have a number of tanks that will bring my overall average above 38.5 mpg. I don't see this happening until warmer weather comes back to northern Illinois. Based on the temperatures you've entered with your tank data you should not have any problems keeping your star.