you drove all highway?????




I test drove a FEH today and enjoyed drive the vehicle. Most of my driving is open highway. I drive close to 80 miles/day round trip with 90% of it on the highway 65+.

It seems to me that everyone agrees this car is not meant for the highway.

The dealer did offer a good price...but I am more conerned with long term gas milage.

Any thoughts

 

I would. This version of gas engine is more efficient than those in regular Escapes, and the transmission is better.

 

If you are going to buy an SUV anyway, then I think it's worth it. Otherwise, you could certainly get better economy out of any number of other cars.

 

I had a similar situation - except I was doing 80 miles/day one way - that's 160 miles/day roundtrip. I drive about 70 - 75, occassionally getting to 80 - 85 when passing. I test drove an Escape Hybrid, Prius and the Civic Hybrid.

The Escape didn't get enough gas mileage for me and the engine seemed noisy on the highway. I didn't like the handling of the Pruis on the highway, plus the Toyota dealer was a real jerk. I drove the Civic Hybrid, really liked the handling and the aside from the road noise that was evident in all the cars, you couldn't hear the engine, even at a slow speeds.

I have no regrets with the Civic as I now use a little more than 3 gallons/day to travel about 160 miles/day. A significant improvement from the Nissan Titan 4x4 (11 gallons/day) and my Ford Explorer 4x4 (8-9 gallons/day) as well as my 88 Iroc Convertible (8-9 gallons/day, premium).

 

I've found alternate routes that avoid the highway for the most part (and are actually shorter driving distance; go figure -- typical San Antonio/Texas highways!) I did this after getting the FEH and noting the difference in MPG I could get via the different routes. I'm still new to the FEH and could do better highway mileage now if I tried, or had to for a roadtrip (like the one we took from San Antonio to Dallas in it in its first month).

It's nowhere near as aerodynamic as the Prius, or any other sedan, and that is in part the big 'ding' against it on the highway. Otherwise, it can and does get good mileage, on highway or off, it just takes acclimating oneself to the vehicle (and allowing it time to break in, as well.)

My 2 cents...

Purchased ours March 6, 2006.

 

For my long commute, I drive 83 miles round trip. 80 of them are expressway, 65 MPH. I just logged my third consecutive tank over 36 MPGs, and I tend to haul a nearly obscene amount of stuff, I've usually got the second row of seats folded down and loaded to the gils. In fact, I have the back seat headrests on the top shelf of my closet at home, all of my passengers who use sit in the back regularly don't want/use them, and you get a better view from the mirror without the headrests eating up your space.

Having an AWD SUV that's loaded at times, and getting over 36 MPGs, I feel it does well for my needs, and on the expressways.

However, if you don't need an SUV, and you do nearly all your vehicular driving on the expressway, you may want to look at an IMA hybrid, like Honda's, the HSD hybrid system that Toyota and Ford uses is more beneficial at city driving.

 

When i got my FEH, most if not all of my driving was on the freeway, but now, a year later only about 20% is. It was a slow change, but a good one. with my freeway dirving, i was getting 32-34 mpg and now im gettting 34-39 mpg. I have a more relaxed driving style and no longer feel rushed to get everywhere. I would have gone with something smaller like the HCH, but after a few bad accidents i needed to feel safer, so an suv was the only "practical" choice for me.

 

I drive 120 miles round trip every day with 90 of that on the highway. I feel safer with the AWD and being able to see better with the SUV. It really depends on what your priority for the vehicle is. If MPG is everything to you then maybe this isn't the right vehicle for your drive.

 

If you drive slow(er) than yes. Typical, or faster than typical, no.

45 MPH = 45 MPG
55 MPH = 38 MPG
65 MPH = 31 MPG
75 MPH = 26 MPG
80 MPH = 23 MPG

* number for 2WD

subtract 3 MPG from everything for 4x4.

-John

 

I would. My commute is 90 miles round trip with only about 8 - 10 miles of "city" driving. I also have to drive in the Washington DC commuter corridors. I average around 33 mpg with my ICE-friendly AC running on the recycle cabiin air setting.
This is the second SUV I have driven on a regular basis and the third my wife and I have purchased.