MY TCH now seems to be doing 32 mpg now, not yet the 37 I was getting but better than 23..Had oil change and changed the cabin filter, which shouldnt make a difference but ....now it is driving in hybrid mode more...It seems I get best mileage on highway which is strange and I'm doing a lot of local driving during the summer months...Intersting that so many of us are experiencing same problem..Could be AC though I dont remember this happening last summer and it was hotter than this one!

 

You are correct the fan uses little energy in comparison to the heavyamp drawing compressor.

I used to drive a '84 VW Rabbit diesel. It would only vary the temp if you had the AC set to outside air. I don't like a AC that had to cool 100 degree incoming heat.

I ended up cutting the fan wire and installing a heavy wire wound potentiometer from radio shack. Now using high or medium, I could vary the fan to control the cabin temperature. I kept the car on recirculate and all the windows allowed enough heat to keep the temperature comfortable.

I put a indicator light in front of the dash so when the compressor kicked in I could see the green lamp light up. I learned a lot by that. I found the higher I ran the fan the more the compressor ran to keep the car cool. I found for the very best mpg I ran the fan on low or close to it. Boy that little VW would put out almost icy air even in the hot summer heat.

I was hoping to put a similar lamp on the compressor on my TCH. With the high voltage lines going to the compressor, I abandoned the idea. But I still use my AC rules. Run the temp just enough where your cool. Here in NM when it's 93 to 96 I can get by on 77-78 degrees temp adjustment. I use only 2 notches of fan on the graph. This is once the cabin has cooled after a few miles on the highway to town. I use the 3 notches of fan to help cool the cabin.

I used to get 52 or better mpg in the city with that little diesel and 60 to 65 highway driving at 60. I drove it similar to our TCH. I'm working hard to get some fantastic gas mileage on my next tank. I want to see the numbers just once and i'm having to work around the weather to do it.

I'm retired so why not. Watching TV is ok and being on the computer, but I really enjoy driving the TCH.

 

You should get your best gas mileage between 4 and 6 pm when the humidity is down. That's on your sunny days. I just took a look at your NY wunderground weather history for yesterday. Your 87 to 91 deg temperatures look ok. But what about the high humidity. I see it was 5:30 pm when it dropped down to 75%. That could be part reason for you lower gas mileage.

I have been doing lots of experimenting on my last tank of gas. I am finding that the humidity has a pretty strong effect on the engines efficiency and the ability of the car to go into the EV mode.

I proved this to myself keeping a temporary record of my mpg gain each time we go to town and back. I started taking notes on the humidity while I was gone using the wunderground wx history for our area.

 

Thanks but not really sure it was the humidity. My worse mileage was July which was unseasonable cool..dont recall it being too humid. Probably a combination of factors. Hopefully it will improve. If not, into Toyota repair for them to look at....

 

Seaford, are you referring to mileage data for a full tank or tanks, or segments of trips while watching the gauge?
Your post refers to "...doing 32 mpg now", which leads me to believe you might be upset at the performance while you're sitting on the LIE watching your dials.
Your wild swings would be difficult to achieve over the course of a 500 mile tank (yeah, I know, there are those that get 700 miles...but NOT in the NY area!). Intra-tank segments are misleading, at best. My advice is to toggle the display to show you the outside temperature so you can see if the hybrids have been able to cure global warming, or not.
What is your average over the last 4 or 5 tanks?

 

most of my trips are short and im used to around 32 mpg and expect that but lately i have seen 26 and 29 on two tanks of gas.I believe the gas we are getting is not only high in price but crap.
I have heard from many that Kentucky is the dumping state for bad gas,cant prove that but i tend to think it is true.

 

I looked at your weather history. I see your lowest humidity was 75% on the 8th at 5 pm. Saturday is was lower at 66% but still rather high. I am finding this can lower you gas mileage.

Check your tires only at night when they have cooled off. I would run at least 35 or slightly more just to see if that helps your gas mileage.

Could be with the many off brand stations I see in Lexington. I hope your not using Speedway, that's just about taken over you city. A discount gas like that probably comes from some mom and pop refinery. We got a small refinery like that out here in southeast new mexico. I found our best gas comes from the large El Paso refinery.

Your best gas in your city and cost pennies more is Chevron or Texaco. They are the same company. Chevron comes from the Gulf of Mexico.

Your other choice would be Shell. Shell is owned by a Swedish company. It's a quality gas to use. I don't see Speedway on the top brands of gas to buy. I provided the list below. If you are using speedway or equivalent, it may take 3 tanks to clear out the other gas.

Look over the map, then page down to check the price vs quality brand of gas.

http://autos.msn.com/everyday/GasSta...=40502&x=0&y=0

Note that BP and Exxon are huge companies but they are not listed on the list below.

These brands below contain more detergents than the government requires. The extra detergents keep your fuel injectors and valves clean.

Top Tier Gasoline Retailers:

76
Chevron
Conoco
Entec Stations
Kwik Trip/Kwik Star
MFA Oil Company
Phillips
QuikTrip
Shell
Somerset Refinery
Texaco
Tri-Par Oil Company

Canada:
Petro-Canada
Shell-Canada
Sunoco-Canada
Chevron-Canada

 

duanerw, here is a project I have been working on for over a month. I'm trying to prove how high of gas mileage the TCH can get in near perfect conditions.

When I fill the tank and get the final total mpg I will start a new thread explaining the details. You can see I have a little over 1/4 tank left that shows 181 miles to go. I like the number I have worked to get. I'm looking for the next big number but I may not make it.

dbl click to open thumbnail

 

I've used discount gas (Speedy, Raceway, or Denco) almost exclusively for the last 25 years. I rarely, if ever get gas from a name brand (Exxon, etc.).
Let me tell you my experience. My 1996 Avalon has 190,000 miles. I've never had any engine trouble and my mileage (when I take the time to compute it) is usually in a very good range and consistent with the expected range for the car. I estimate that I've saved betwen 7 and 10% (price per gallon compared to name brand). So 190,000 divided by 24 MPG (fair guesstimate) is ~8000 gallons. Figuring I'm saving on average 15 cents per gallon, that comes out to $1200.
My 1986 Camry, also dined on the cheap stuff and served me perfectly until I got the Avalon. I think I got 140,000 miles (can't remember exactly, but I do remember paying exactly $0.00 for engine repairs)
I'm not sure what evil this 'inferior' gas has in store for my engine, but after all these extremely reliable years, I think my savings will more than pay for any repairs.
Been using the cheap stuff in my TCH for two years. My MPG is usually 38,5 MPG summer 34 MPG winter. I'm not obsessed with the tire pressure or other mileage enhancing techniques. I just drive it like the average driver (I do 65-70, or more, on the highway, etc.)
Gas is purchased all around the world and refined at various facilities. (Not positive about this, but...) Discounters don't have their own refinery, they're just marketers who buy from refineries that sell gas, probably the same refineries that markets gas under the major name brands.
Top tier gas sounds nice, but in terms of engine protection, the cheap stuff does a GREAT job and in terms of mileage, I've yet to see anyone compare it to name brands and provide any proof of an appreciable difference.

Haven't computed it yet, but since we are a two car family, if I extrapolated the Avalon's savings over 25 years I imagine I've saved about $5000 using the cheap stuff.

 

Could be your Speedy, Raceway, or Denco are better gasoline's than I experience when I lived near Dallas. I tried some discount gas back in the late 80's which was Mobil's Sello, Cosden and few others. I found my engine was harder to start and some loss of power. I also lost about 3 miles per gallon. I was saving about a dime a gallon back then.

On the Lexington gas price list I saw a Chevron station that was only a penny more than a Speedway station. I would prefer Chevron in a situation like that if the station was easy to get too.

Your right haroldo, if you can run good on a cheaper brand you will save lots of money over many years. My thoughts are the discount brands your using is a large operation.

I'm glad you found that Toyota was the better choice for a car. The $5000 savings is really nice and not having any engine problems with all those miles of driving.