In AZ 75 all the way down inerstate 17 south about 90 miles with the cruse on, 65 on 101 south about 25 miles and back to 75 when I got to inerstate 10 west.

When I crossed into CA I slowed to 70 on inerstate 10 west and down to 65 on the rest of my stay in the LA area.

I used cruse on 17 & 10 both ways.

 

Your 80 miles per hour freeway speeds reminds me of when we went back to Dallas to visit relatives in 2004. We were on north LBJ/635 doing about 80 to keep from getting run over. Four cars in the 4 lanes in front of me were doing 80. All of a sudden a Honda Civic came around right next to the center divider guard rainl. He had to be doing 100 or faster. I was surprised he did not brush the guardrail. He sped out of site in less than a minute.

It was not like that in Dallas in the mid 90's. Back when I lived there I had a '94 Toyota Corolla and was getting 38 combined with the AC. I could drive 50 on the freeways. I had a route in downtown Dallas where I could do moderate takeoffs with light traffic.

No way could a person do that today. I did hear in that area of LBJ they had lots of wrecks and the cops started watching those areas slowing traffic somewhat. I have no idea what it's like there now. You would think the speeds everywhere would come down just to save some gas.

 

I have never been to Dallas, I like the TV show. I use a freeway in So. Cal. Called the 57, it runs from interstate 10 to the 22 Garden Grove freeway, if you are not going 75 to 85 you will be run over and the speed limit is only 65. That is the only freeway that the cops go as fast as everyone else.

 

You have to realize when and how you get maximum mpg. You get it mainly by not really hitting the gas all that often (cruise control, etc). LA/OC city traffic isn't like NYC city traffic. In NYC, you don't need to press the gas and still maintain traffic flow. I mean, you just cover the brake petal, let go to go, and press the brake to stop, the flow is really a forever 5 mph cruise.

In SoCal, the light turns green, its a HARD accelerate to the next red light. Its that hard acceleration that kills your mph. If you do want max gas, plus a little acceleration, try to keep the acceleration on all electric (it'll **** off the people behind you), but you'll get great mileage. I got 60mpg when I was stuck on the 405 going 5-10 miles per hour, I don't think I stepped on the gas pedal once in 30-45 minutes.

 

You are right about the hard acceleration, they race to the next red light and sit and wait, but while they wait, most of them are talking on there cell phones.

It kind of pisses me off that everyone is on the phone, when I am driving through the desert on interstate 10 between Phoenix and LA, about 80% of the drivers (Car & Truck) are on the phone, I don't have that much to talk about, all I am thinking about is getting to my hotel.
I am not sure what we did before the cell phone, I do remember the dirty pay phone.

 

In terms of altitude - we're at over 1300m above sea level here in the foothills of the Can. Rockies - and the dry air - both have had a positive effect on L/km - mpg (last tank was 4.9L/100km - which is close to 50mpg, I believe). I concur with everyone who has written that travelling DISTANCE and warm-up play a major role in improving your FE (at least 5 km in warm weather, and considerably more when the weather turns hostile - see the thread concerning the 4 stages of warm-up up to 'full' hybrid).

That being said, I think there are a few things that I have gleaned from this site, as well as my own observations which may improve FE for the average Joe:

Coast - coast, coast, coast...

Anticipate - then you may coast...

Cruise - when the going is flat, and you have to drive above 65km/hr (42 miles per hour) then let the computer figure out the delicate balance between the ICE, MG1, and MG2...you paid + for it after all...

Accelerate - modestly, moderately, briskly to just above your cruising speed - then let off the gas, and lock into your cruise (always disengage the cruise on an steeper uphill as the increased rpms do hinder FE, I've found) - you will see that the 'brisker' the acceleration up to speed will mostly yield a faster decline in L/100km or an increase in mpg.

FEather - the gas, when possible (the threads concerning 'Heretical Mode", etc. entice the driver to play with the accelerator until a 'fusion' becomes 'palpable' and you attain the FE you desire...) I believe that using EV (65km/hr or lower) and then coasting to regenerate the battery, when possible, has been the sole factor in my own continually improving FE...

CACAF...I'm sure there are more tricks out there - like having great WEATHER - which has been appreciable out here - so, good luck in smoky LA (assuming the fires have added to the smog??)! - the strategies above, coupled with good weather, have yielded 6 tanks of gas between 42-50 mpg...Hope some of this helps...