Funny, your 'DLG' acronym. My #1 gauge is my SOC, which I watch like a hawk. My city acceleration is not rocket-like, but "purposeful." I aim for the sweet spot between 40-55 MPH. Additionally, I try to be very mindful of pedal pressure, so that I am cruising rather than engaging the ICE whenever possible. I find that minor speed adjustments can give unexpectedly big fuel economy rewards. That's about all I do, as a lazy city hypermiler. But it's enough to consistently get me into the upper-40s. I always use "Auto" A/C and find that it doesn't ding fuel economy much at all. Buy your synthetic oil on sale and take it to the dealer. Oh, and remember that even a 1/2-quart overfill will certainly rob you of 5+ MPG. My dimwit dealer mistakenly added all four quarts, thinking he was doing me a favor, and my fuel economy plunged to an all-time low... I took it back and had the excess half-quart of oil removed, and my fuel economy immediately skyrocketed to its current best-ever level. The dealer was unaware of the HCH's extreme sensitivity to oil overfills. Sorry to repost this reminder, but it bears repeating to those who may misidentify or wrongly attribute the source of their car's poor fuel economy.

 

Steve, this surprises me. I obsessively read these forums trying to learn more and more (I do try to do my bit by posting any information I might have but I suspect I am a novice compared to some here). Can you expand on this or point met at a thread that explains this further? I feather the pedal in city driving, especially when I know I am going to hit more lights. Should I perhaps accelerate faster, and try to cruise? As another reader pointed out, I tend to lose a lot of SOC if I try to accelerate quickly so I instead choose to usually turn the headlights on (to prevent excess assist), and feather the pedal. Any advice would be valuable.

FWIW, I get anything between 44-48 in city in warmer weather; and 35-40 in winter weather in the city. 37 PSI in warmer weather (I empirically noticed higher PSI does not have much effect in warmer temps) and ~40 PSI in winter.

Cheers,
-ag

 

Hmm, seems like Steve, you've answered my question (at least partially, just as I hit Post).

And I agree with you on the amount of engine/transmission oil. Excess robs MPG.

I tend to hardly ever use the climate control (auto) in summer or winter. Perhaps on longer drives in summer, I tend to use it. My guess is that your use of the A/C triggers more (almost hidden( one-bar charging ala turning on the headlight, and thereby prevents excess assist?

 

I use the auto setting on the climate control.I set it as high as I can stand and still be comfortable. You have to remember the pack is cooled by this same system. So be comfortable for your pack sake! A hot pack will have a short life. H

 

I used to accelerate so slowly that I'd take twice the time to get to cruising speed, never realizing that I was belaboring the ICE mode and reducing my cruising time. I still don't accelerate fast, by any means, but I am clear that I'll do better by getting to my desired speed where I can then coast with ease. By practicing, you'll find the right balance.

 

thanks for the update, Steve. I hear you about watching the SOC. Based on posts by MSantos and others, I've been doing my best to keep it in the middle range, but the terrain and speeds I have to cover are a constant challenge. I don't even get up to the happy speeds of 40-50 very often, and that clearly makes things more difficult (though I HAVE found a nice speed around 37 mpg when I'm climbing a long steady hill, which allows me to keep the assist to one or two bars; small victories where I can get them).

Hmm, I'll definitely check whether they overfilled the oil at my recent service. I'd forgotten about that. Probably a stupid question, but how full is 'full' on the dipstick? Is the fill line a reliable max. optimum, or should the level be kept a bit below the fill line?

I'm not sure what to do about the AC. I usually just toggle it on and off as my defroster needs it; most of the time, it seems like the auto setting ends up blasting me more than I want it to, while my car is running at less than fully warmed up.

Philip

 

Philip, I also live where there are extensive hills. I have a 2-mile uphill to my house, so have spent a lot of time considering the best strategy. I've found that downshifting from 'D' on uphills will greatly preserve my SOC with no noticeable FE downside. On downhills, you can often recharge quicker by downshifting, as well. Downshifting one 'gear' seems to have many worthwhile rewards with the new software updates.

As far as the oil level, I can't recall for sure what the dipstick level should indicate... but it seems that it was at or below the midpoint of the MIN and MAX levels. If you're at the top mark or close to it, you're too high.

 

thanks for the tips; I 'discovered' the trick of downshifting on the downhill to recover charge, but I've not tried it on the uphill. How fast will you take your car in S? I grew up with manual transmissions and don't have a good sense of how far I can push it in S (or L) without causing undue strain. I HAVE read the manual btw, but would welcome your input!

Philip

 

You can go to relatively high revs in the S mode without too much worries. Remember, you've got a CVT, and therefore shifting to S is roughly equivalent to really stepping on the gas. Roughly. I downshift for all steady long or sharp (but short) hills. And yeah I try to use downshift for additional regen on a downhill if I know the car will speed up too much otherwise.

I tend to not use the A/C in winter for the same reason, Philip, it tends to try too hard to warm up the interior. I am usually wearing my jacket, etc. so I don't feel too cold.

Harold, in summer, that is what I do. However, I don't need to use the A/C to keep the interior relatively nice for too many months where I live.

 

I use 'S' exactly the same as btownmadness, except I use my A/C year-round. I've driven freeway speeds in 'S' without realizing that I forgot to shift back to 'D.' Not a problem. Hope these simple tips will help some — try them, and then report back here!

P.S. Tonight I observed my ordinary rate of acceleration – it's around a steady 2,000 RPM. Then I cruise as close to 1,000 RPM as possible without losing speed, generally around 1,100 while observing the Instant Fuel Consumption gauge and trying to peg it at its maximum. Often I'll do a 'false shift' where I briefly let up on the accelerator – often I can get it to register much higher fuel economy with this technique.