hi

again, you need to contact Ford and let them know what you are doing. An SUV getting even 54mpg by your conservative standards is so insanely good , they need to construct the vehicle to your specifications. Their modifications to your design will promptly shut down Toyota and Honda as who wouldnt buy a FEH with this kind of mileage? Its almost if not 100% better mileage than the nearest competitor.



congratulations dude

p.s. can you tell us how to modify the Highlander?, i would LOVE 50mpg.....

 

I've modified my driving mostly, not the vehicle.

Pump up your tires. 45psi vs 30psi will give about +3 MPG.
Make your car as light as possible.
Start gently and slow gently. Time stoplights. Pretend you have no brakes.

Drive in a way that shuts off the gas engine as much as possible.
In 1 hour of city driving, my gas engine is on for about 12-14 minutes.

My Dad's V6 fully loaded Buick gets 32 MPG over the highway.... but city driving keeps him in the teens. City is where Hybrids excel.

-John

 

I'm amazed at some of these milage figures I've been reading.

One question i have is what people consider 'city' driving. I live in San Francisco, but my milage around town averages around 22-23 mpg (Escape 4WD, about 1500 miles). Before hitting 1000 miles, we had a hard time getting the milage above 20mpg in the city. In contrast, on the highway we're getting around 27 mpg.

Our city driving consists probably of the worst kind of driving possible. Short blocks with stop signs, short trips, and big hills. I'm sure if I was driving in other cities around the bay area that the milage would be better with longer blocks and stop lights (with a chance of a green light instead of a mandatory stop).

Still I'm puzzled that I've never seen better milage than when I'm on the highway. I consider my driving to be on the slow and careful side (read: old fart holding up traffic). I haven't played with shifting techniques, but I do my best to keep the ICE off and coast my way around as much as possible. Still, I'm a bit disappointed with the 23 mpg.

 

The only time I was in San Francisco, I was 15 and not yet able to drive.
I do think you have unusually difficult conditions to drive in.
The electric motors do great in flat areas, but are not powerful enough for steep hills. In the Colorado Rockies, I have long, sustained hills, so I can re-coup what I spent going uphill on the return trip. I have some stretches of 7 or more miles of all downhill, highway, no stops. Having to stop every block does not let you keep your momentum up.

The bottom line of "Pulse and Glide" is to use gas to get moving, then electric ( or just coasting with neither gas or electric ) for as long as possible after. Sounds like you don't get the chance.

Short trips, trips of less than 5 miles between key on and key off also kill mileage.

I would like to try drivng in SF sometime, but don't know when that will happen.
I'm sure my numbers would go way down.
I'd still like to hear you get 30MPG. I do think that is possible for you.

The best tips you have already read. But make sure you have EXTRA air in your tires. The most you are comfortable with will help. I keep mine 45-49 psi.
Also, keep RPM's down as low as possible.
In flat areas, under 2000 RPM is desired.
On those hills, try keeping it under 3000 RPM if you can. 4000 tops, but for as short as possible. 4000 RPM has to fire twice as many cylinders per minute as 2000 RPM, and in theory, burns twice as much gas.

While your numbers are low, they would be even lower in the V6 Escape under the same conditions. Good Luck. Keep us posted!
-John

 

That is interesting, but obviously totally invalid and unrealistic for most everyday driving situations for most people. Pulse & Glide, fake shifting, unsafely over-inflating your tires, seeking the optimal temp to drive in (not everyone lives in the rockies), no A/C (no kidding, who needs it on a 55 degree day?), accelerating like a turtle, pretending you don't have brakes, having no one else ride with you, etc. I realize that you are just trying to get the absolute highest MPG to satisfy your curiousity, but I just hope people reading this aren't expecting results like this. I also hope they don't start driving like this everyday.

I guarantee you could get the most amazing mileage of all time if you cut down on the weight more... start by removing the engine(s). Then just cut a hole in the floorboards, and Fred Flintstone it around town, or put some tiny tires on it and make it a low-rider. =P

 

I believe it was fairly clear he was just experimenting and that these conditions aren't ones he routinely recreates or expects others to recreate.

For more "average" numbers, I'm easily seeing 33mpg when not even trying and have had as high as 37.3mpg on my last tank of gas in a just-broken-in '06 FEH (and that included trips to the home improvement superstore and landscape center to pick up ceramic planters, potting soil, 5 gallon fence/deck stain, etc.)

My Rig:
'06 FEH w/Nav, FWD
Tire Pressure: 40psi since about 2,200 miles on the odometer
Everything stock
Interior additions: Husky floor liners and cargo liner

 

Awww.... How cute..... You're just jealous! ( rover78)

Obviously, as stated, this was as near "optimum" conditions as possible.
Looking at the mileage database, you can see I get about 40 MPG during the "daily grind" conditions. And I never go less than 5 MPH under posted speed limits, and half the time, exceed them.

One key to success is, if you're late for work, drive as fast as is safe.
On the way home, take it extra easy, and the two will balance out...

I do hope everyone starts driving like I do.
Unless I'm testing on a deserted road at 11pm, I'm the safest driver out there.
Never had a collision in my life. 20 years of driving, and probably 500,000 miles.

 

Seriously though, I still say it's not safe to over-inflate your tires that much. It will make the vehicle handle differently, more so on loose surfaces, such as gravel. There is a reason they have recommended pressure ratings for the tire and vehicle.

And no, I'm not jealous. The Prius easily gets 50 - 55 MPG while driving it like a normal car, under everyday conditions, with the A/C on. Probably easily get over 100+ MPG if driven as per your instructions.

 

I'm very serious when I say 10-15 psi more in your tires makes them MORE SAFE and last MUCH LONGER.

It is a hard to kill myth that extra pressure wears out the center of the tire.
Unless you are on snow or sand, more pressure provides better handling, and higher performance. Not just better gas mileage.

Here's a report from the Highway Patrol. There is also a thread on here about a month back on this exact topic.

The tires are actually capable of 100psi without blowout.

http://www.officer.com/article/artic...on=19&id=27281

 

I guess that depends where you look, for example...
http://www.safercar.gov/tires/pages/...sureFAQ.htm#q2

For instance, if you go down a loose gravel or washboard road with over-inflated tires, not only is it going to be a considerably rougher ride, but you're also more likely to loose control than if you had your tires at the recommended PSI. That is not a myth. Obviously, it's not as much of an issue on maintained paved roads or interstates, but an SUV is intended to find itself often on rougher surfaces as well.