Either they turned A/C on and left econ off, or they left econ off while driving in winter weather.

 

Maybe we need to ask the members on the lower end of the mileage spectrum on this list probably starting from less than 40mpg. We even have one listed as 29mpg. I have no idea how 30's can be done with this car unless you floor it all the time, disable autostop with the AC on or maybe live around really steep mountains.

 

I'm right there with you on that more hybrids for the people that want to believe. We have alot of people trapped in the Matrix and some people are not ready to be unplugged. The sites like this one are what got me unplugged.

 

Mileage will vary and I often see 36mpg (according to car computer) or 38mpg (using math = odometer/gallons during fillup).

Driving conditions:

To work, average 42-46mpg Hwy 101 from near San Francisco to San Jose, no AC, traffic 55-68mph around 7:45am-8:45am

Home: average 32-35mpg Hwy 280 from San Jose to near San Francisco, AC full-on, traffic rolls around 70mph. Sure, I can go on Hwy101 and get 40mpg but stop and go traffic and 15 minutes longer, no thanks.

Around town: 34mpg and that's not on San Francisco hills

I tend to drive the flow of traffic and not be a lead foot. I'm sure I could raise MPG by driving ultra-conservatively but I don't.

My conclusions:

* Rolling hills on Freeway cause me to drop as much as 5mpg
* AC on causes me to drop 4-5mpg
* Higher speeds (above 65mph) drops my mpg by 3-8
* Lots of onramp, offramps will drop mpg
**NOTE: not cumulative, i.e. drop 5+4+3++ as I've never gotten below 32 even driving at a constant 90mph for 30 minutes.

So if you drive HCH same as you'd drive a regular car, I'd easily see 34-36 average. If you drive "lightly", no AC on a flat road, I can see mid-40s.

 

I live in the Oakland Hills and my mpg hovers in the 35 mile range; living in the hills does seem to take its toll. I have had my HCH 2 for almost 1 month and have 700 miles on it. When I drive down into Oakland on Highway 24, the mpg increases and when I return home, it decreases. My first tank averaged almost 40 mpg., which included a ride home from the dealer in Marin. Since then, it has sunk lower.

One day I drove to Rocklin on a full tank and the odometer rose to 48mpg at one point. On the return trip, we had added 100-110lb., were using the AC and the mpg dropped into the 30's! Did we profit from tailwinds on the initial trip?

Initially, I was using the AC, due to the hot weather, but now that it has cooled off, I have been trying to use the fan without the AC. I'm not sure I am seeing a huge difference in mpg.

At any rate, Consumer Reports evaluation seems about right to me. As the engine wears in, I am hopeful that I will see an increase in the mpg.

 

It's been a little bit but, if you want better FE is right around the corner. I've driven my car hard and still managed a 38.9 displayed amount. Four people in the car with AC blasting and no regards to FE driving up and down mountains. I even managed to take my battery down to one bar four times during this trip which was one day and over 150 miles. The rest of the tank was primarily stop & go and freeway driving. The tank ended up being 50.8mpg displayed and 53 mpg calculated.

If you want better fuel efficiecy you will change you habits slightly. Today I was annoying the hell out of a Mazda Miata and he passed me(blazing by). We ended up at the light and I waved to him and he waved back. I was doing 43mph(in a 35mph zone) gliding as the light ahead was not going to be made. Next light he had passed another car and was one car ahead of me. This time I honked my horn and before the next light he turned off into a parking lot and was ahead by maybe five car lengths. I passed him as he made his turn. He didn't really gain anything by driving fast and that is what I changed mainly in my driving. I'm looking further ahead than normal expecially during stop and go traffic. I normally give the car enough gas to get moving at a descent speed then glide with the engine off. Some of my best FE comes with my stop and go traffic driving.

When I purchased the car I expected at least 50mpg so far I have 6 of 15 tanks under that and all of them were in the learning stages. I still drive like a typical person sometimes but, I always try for the 50 at the end. Everything over that is just bonus points for me. Good luck with your new car it can get you further on a gallon if you ask it to.

 

In city driving, the entire issue is driving within the speed range that the traffic signals are synchronized at, faster (unless you go doubly fast) will simply result in needing to brake to a stop, then re-accelerate up to speed at the same time as everyone else. One thing that I try to do is coast from a distance out, and gauge my speed so if there is a lineup of cars at a light that has just turned green, I will arrive right as the last car is starting to accelerate, that way instead of stopping and starting ~5 seconds later, I coast down to ~20mph, then accelerate back to 45-50. Most of the time people don't pass me, and aso I actually improving the collective MPG of every driver behind me. Those that do pass me, I usually beat through the light (as they're still accelerating from 0 when I catch up).

Unfortunately most of my driving is either hilly freeway miles, or very hilly residential streets (with speed bumps and stop signs, most of which could safely be yield signs...). Going on city streets where I can get going 40+ MPH and synch the lights always increases my tank average significantly. I've been stuck in the mid 40s. Another driver I know though with a similar commute, who averages only slightly worse than I do when driving my car, gets 27.5mpg in a car rated 34mpg combined, so I figure it's more about topography than anything else.

Considering that, the EPA really should make the driving cycle more severe than the average driver will face, with the car cooled to 20 degrees under ambient temp for parts of the test. Also, another reason that I have always taken tests like the CR magazine tests with a huge grain of salt is because outdoor tests like that almost certainly do not control for things like cross-wind, temperature variation, etc. which can make a huge difference, so who knows, the Civic may have been tested on a day with a strong cross-wind, which can be a 10%+ difference in fuel consumption at high speed.

 

I've been driving my HCHII for my daily 40 mile (r/t) freeway commute since January and finally managed to record my first hypermile tank - 518 miles at 51.1 mpg by the computer. Having said that, I've had tanks as low as the high 30's, most of my tanks wind up in the mid-40's. I've learned a lot over the last six months and now feel that I have figured out how to maximize my mileage without doing things that make the many thousands of people I share the road with at rush hour experince road rage.

I think that the reason that many reviewers don't get what this board would consider good mileage in their tests with the hybrid is that it takes a while driving one to really understand how to maximize your mileage in the cars. If you are CR and you do a standard test based on how people normally drive I would expect that you wouldn't get great numbers with any car. The EPA is the exact opposite. A test rigged to give good numbers. That's why things like the real fuel mileage numbers on this board help give a realistic view of what these cars will do.

 

Lead feet, underinflated tires, A/C at igloo level, defroster on (so auto-stop disabled), trunk filled with bricks . . .

 

high standing winds on the track that they didn't bother to control for when comparing one car to another... hiring a really fat test driver?