Well it would seam that the 5.8l/100 is short lived as I am now back to 6.5l/100km and it seams quite consistent there. Tha equates to 36MPG. I guess I will have to live with taht milage since there is nothing I can do. the car drives good and no trouble lights. You guys that get 50MPG what kinda speed are you all doing? can you please let me know. Thanks

 

How long is your commute? Tell us about it--is it highway, city, or suburban? Do you hit a lot of stop lights? Do you have the stock tires on, or are you running snow tires? Are you able to park in a garage, or does it sit on the street? The HCH is very dependent on conditions so things like that are going to play a huge role in your economy.

In my old commute, I drove 10 suburban miles of rolling hills each way, and I took my wife's Mariner in bad weather (so I missed the worst 5% of winter driving). On that commute, built my average up to 51.2mpg by driving ~45mph, maximizing glide, driving with load on the hills, and "driving without brakes" (to miminize re-accelerating after the 10 stop lights). It took some time to build up my average--I had to learn how to drive the car first. In the summer, I would consistantly hit mid-to-high 50mpg tanks (as high as 61.4mpg), and in the winter I would get 40-45mpg depending on the temps.

In my new commute, I drive 5 rural miles downhill to work, and 5 miles uphill back home at a similar 45mph average/driving style and about 5 stop lights. Without the studs, the best I could manage (milking it) was 50mpg in the summer, and now that I've got studded snow tires, I'm lucky to hit 40mpg. On days when I'm driving through snow, I've gotten as low as 32mpg.

Based on my conditions and experiences, the 36mpg that you're getting sounds pretty low, but I'm curious to hear about your driving environment before totally weighing in. It took me a good year to really learn how to drive the car, and it's hard to learn those skills in the winter when you really aren't able to milk it.

 

I live in Toronto so it is relatively flat...no major hills to talk about. My commute is some city then highway for 25KM then two stop lights to my office. Back home is the same route. I sometimes go to the mall and that is usually stop and go traffic but not bad. No snow tires on the car and the dealer put on Nokian tires since I just purchased the car 5 days ago. I have just driven the car since I got it and I am driving it as I do any normal car. The weather here is cold, today it is -8C and should drop to -12C tonight. I know that the cold will have a negative impact on FE as well as my driving. I guess the 36MPG I am getting all things considered I should be happy. It is a lot better than my other car, 2003 Saturn LW200, I was getting 25MPG. However I look at it I am getting better mileage but just wanted to get like you guys at around 40-45MPG, which is the EPA estimate for this car. I have booked a service appointment with the dealer as I complained about low gas mileage. They promised to check the car out just in case to answer the low mileage since I just only bought the car from then 5 days now. Maybe they will find nothing wrong which I suspect. Driving this car very slow to get 45MPG is not in my plan. I intend to drive it as a normal car, I will try some of the hypermile techniques but only if it is safe to do so. Traffic around here goes fast. Highway speed limit is 100KM/hr (62MPH) and city roads posted speed limits are 60KM/hr (38MPH).

 

I'm lucky that my commute is on roads with a limit of 45mph for the first half and 55 for the second. I drive the speed limit on one lane roads and 10mph under if on a multi-lane road where people can pass. This was a big switch for me--I used to be always going 15mph over the limit.

I think your 36mpg sounds about right for what you described in the winter, and I would guess you should see about 45mpg in the summer. If you get bit by the hypermile bug, reset either your Trip A or Trip B every time you get behind the wheel. Doing this will help you focus in on the segment you're driving and allow you to see what helps or hurts your mileage.

 

Today I drove as I would normally and I am at a consistent 36MPG (6.5L/100km). I am happy that driving like this without any stress gives me this mileage. I wish it could be better but it is a lot better than my other car so I won't be greedy. I am saving some money on gas.

Winter is not a good time to hypermile so I will do it in the summer and hopefully see better mileage. I am just disappointed that this technology is not what it is cracked up to be. We should get 50MPG without hypermileing techniques, just normal driving and that would be a great break through. Maybe as the technology evolves.

I am still taking my car tomorrow to the dealer for a check just to be sure it is not something wrong with any of the systems. This is my 6th day of driving this hybrid and I believe she is fine. IMA Battery charges to 6 to 7 bars and auto stop functions as advertise.

One question - how much do you all get on a tank of gas. So far I am at half tank 10 bars remaining and I did 350KM. At this rate I believe I should get 500Km easy with gas left over. Cheers