Where did you find the information that a non-Hybrid AWD Highlander achieves better highway mileage than a Hybrid AWD Highlander? The HSD makes up for any energy conversion losses by keeping the engine in an optimally efficient load range at cruising speed through constant grade/wind changes. This is unlike the fixed RPM locked torque converter of a standard Highlander.

Also, stop and go driving may yield significantly improved mileage on a hybrid but non-stop driving at or below 40 MPH yields the best HSD hybrid MPG advantage.

 

do you have a lot of cold trips? and when i say cold trips i say 2-5 km and then you park the car for 8 hours?

 

My normal daily on-way commute is 7.2 miles where it then sits until needed. I normally do not go out for lunch.

I also drive on extended trips via the interstate highway and average ~28,000 miles per year.

I drove ~300 miles on the interstate yesterday (150 x 2) at speed around 70 (speed limit) with an 5 hour stop at the other end and achieved 22.24mpg (329.7miles/14.820gallons). I didn't start with a full tank, but had to fill up with my 4th tank about 60 miles from home so it wasn't completely "highway" miles.

The terrain was "gently rolling hills"...with some slower speed (55) for about 30 miles going through a major metropolitan area.

Has the experience been:
1)that FE increases over time (from new to first oil change)
2)that the ambient temperature makes a significant difference due to the ICE requiring more time to reach a stable temp?
3)that short trips yield lesser FE results, again, due to the ICE requiring time to reach a stable temp?
4)?
5)?
...I'm sure that there are more....

Please don't misunderstand my "disappointment" - my quest for better FE is only to achieve equal or better FE than what the "sticker" states. Supposedly the EPA reformatted the calculation to be more in line with real world driving habits/styles, but I'm not so sure that the results are any better than what we had before they "messed" with it.

To that point -- re: the ScanGuage II - I'm still NOT convinced that it will improve my understanding of what the ICE or the HSD system is doing (in relation to what the driver is doing) to achieve a better FE. It's not a question of money, but more about the function and the net result of using it to improve my understanding of how the HSD is managing the overal powertrain of the vehicle.

I won't spend the money if it won't help me understand and improve my driving habits. It would be nice to get a strait answer (ok, ok..., ANY answer) from ScanGuage about the additional data set that is available for the Hybrids...but I guess that fall under the missing categoy of "Customer Service".

I also think that there are *many* people on this and other forums (with better and more experience than me) that would be willing to provide real world data as feedback (and I don't mean "give me a free unit and I'll give you some feedback" ... that is NOT what I am advocating or suggesting).

If ScanGuage wants to be a leader in this field (HSD) and promote their product as one that will improve the Hybrid owners understanding of their vehicle - then they should consider extricating their proverbial head from the sand and look around to see how the world around them is changing.

If they don't care about Hybrid owners - then by all means keep the "status quo" and cement my opinion that they only care about "the money"... and not improving their product - and standing - in the free market place.

It really "ticks me off" when companies ignore their customers - and especially "potential" questions with complete disregard to the fact that "dissatisfied" customerspotential customers usually talk louder than ones that are "satisfied".

...just my "humble" opinion...

 

My '01 AWD RX300 gets ~22MPG on a 800 mile trip, Seattle to Lewistown MT, much of that (ID-MT) at 75-80MPH.

 

lol if the scangauge can get the data that the prius users are drooling over (battery voltage, amperage, coolant temp, throttle position ect ect) that would be a major understatement...

the scangauge even lets you know how many dollars you spent on that particular trip.

if you had an iphone perhaps you can get this app instead?
http://www.devtoaster.com/products/rev/

hm 70 mph... it really depends... im a 60 mph and under kind of guy, actually i love 50 mph at 70 mpg since hehe can't beat those numbers!

i assume you drive with econ button off, i'd leave it on 24/7 and pretend i don't have 270 horsepower in the first place unless some ***** pisses me off. And I'd constantly hit the EV button if my speed is under 40 km/hr.

check your tire pressure? i never believe whats rated on the side door is best for FE, maybe best for ride comfort... but **** man the crossover has 4 wheel independent McPherson struts for gods sake!

also the hybrid supports 0w-20, switch to that oil asap for 1-2% better mileage and cold start improvements!

i always recommend synthetic, but the dealerships charge you up the *** for synthetic (unless u bring ur own oil). But use toyota filters always!

 

philmcneal -
I drive in Econ mode all of the time. I do hit the EV mode button when I drive into my neighborhood, but most of the other time I keep up with traffic.

About the 70 mph thing .. I do drive at the speed limit - and that may adversly impact me FE, but it's better than getting the single finger wave from other drivers if they have to slow down to go around me. That's just me.

I have checked my tire pressure and adjusted them all to the "33" recommended on the doorjamb. The spare is still at whatever the factory set it at so the on-board screen shows it at 36.

I'll check into the ow-20 before my first oil change and see what the dealer charges so I can decide if I want to "brown bag" my own oil. 1~2% improvment if FE may not be worth the added cost, but I can figure that out when I find out how much it costs compared to the normal oil.

ScanGuage has an extended (additional) data set that is available to "prius" owners. My beef with the guy from Scanguage is that I asked the question that "since the Prius and the Hybrid Hylander are both Toyota vehicles - is the same extended data set available to the Highlander HSD system owners?" -- and received NO answer.

I do not have an iphone as they are not offered through Verizon ... and I still have over a year left on my "contract".

 

actually the prius gauges were founded by learning to program the scangauge to find those values. For the highlander I guess no one has learn to attempt to program the gauges for the car ( i assume because there is a bigger fan base dedicated prius users as opposed to highlander users.) .

hm if you really wanted to dale, you can try bumping the PSI to 35 psi and try driving for a week and see if you notice any difference? For now I"d recommend resetting the fuel consumption gauge before you drive and start recording your segments (like today i got lucky with a 10 mile segment at 72 mpg!). By resetting the mileage counter every trip you can get more instant feedback on how your drives are affecting your scores.

yeah i understand that sometimes the money is not worth the extra oil, or how the money is not worth the block heater, and so forth, but you know what... getting that nice 30 mpg + segment for some reason just makes it all worth it hehe.

Honestly if I drove a highlander anything under 30 mpg per trip would force me to choke myself... but that's me, as for me and my prius anything under 50 mpg i'd force myself to choke as well!

haha if i can get away with going slow in the prius, surely with the highlander no one dares to rear end you

when you accelerate, you keep within the white bars of the KW bars right? i believe it lights up 1 to 5 bars if i'm not mistaken?

 

I wasn't aware that the ScanGuage II could be programmed. Seem to me that they need some better Customer Service reps answering e-mails so they don't tick off their potential customer base.

I'll add some air to the tires (cold) to 35psi and see what difference it makes. I normally go into the screen that shows the 5 minute mpg intervals to see what I'm doing right (....or wrong). I've also decided to run a tank on my current route and then change the route for the following tank to see if there is a difference in 1) the lower average speed of the road 2) the impact of increased stop signs / traffic lights.

The block heater is an interesting idea - but if you are using electricity to keep the engine block warm - what's the difference from lower FE (added gasoline cost)? .... of course it's hard for me to bring this up since I have the on-board start......

This morning - I am running at 25.2 mpg. Better - but it's still not where I think it should be.

 

I wasn't aware that the ScanGuage II could be programmed. Seem to me that they need some better Customer Service reps answering e-mails so they don't tick off their potential customer base.

I'll add some air to the tires (cold) to 35psi and see what difference it makes. I normally go into the screen that shows the 5 minute mpg intervals to see what I'm doing right (....or wrong). I've also decided to run a tank on my current route and then change the route for the following tank to see if there is a difference in 1) the lower average speed of the road 2) the impact of increased stop signs / traffic lights.

The block heater is an interesting idea - but if you are using electricity to keep the engine block warm - what's the difference from lower FE (added gasoline cost)? .... of course it's hard for me to bring this up since I have the on-board start......

This morning - I am running at 25.2 mpg. Better - but it's still not where I think it should be.

 

i've been reading a lot of stuff about your car (hehe i work as a service advisor for a dealership) and I've found some interesting things....

Econ mode will try to keep the accelerations in the 1 to 5 white bars mode (after 5 white bars your past 50KW so anything above 50KW your using more gas to achieve the same amount of power), and one quoted that at times when the engine NEEDS to idle, ECON will limit the amount of gas consumed for that given moment and knows that your trying your best to conserve fuel, so perhaps shut down the engine quicker than usual?

the block heater will never pay itself in terms of money invested vs money saved, however, having the block warmed speeds up lubrication process. Even during the summer when its 100F out there, the block needs to be at least 80 degrees C (178F?) before it even lets you enter EV mode!

About EV MODE the times EV mode is only available:

state of charge (SOC) of the battery must be 50% or above
battery can't be too hot
battery can't be too cold
speeds must be under 40 km/h (25 mph)
engine coolant must be 80 degrees C! yikes in the prius you can do it ANYTIME! but once the engine fires on the first time it must complete its stage 1 cycle before you can EV mode again! (degrees 40C >)
Can't depress more than 45 kilowatts I'm guessing? My test drive with the EV allowed 30 KW without turning on the engine with ECON button on.
you can go as far as 500 meters to 1 km (.6 miles basically).

When you add or remove air in the tires, you have to recalibrate your tire pressures! Check your owners manual for more information, unless you want to ignore the tire pressure light system.

And if your battery is disconnected, you must perform the idle control speed check, basically only the techstream tool from the dealership can calibrate this check..... so if you disconnected your battery, prepare for terrible gas mileage? I believe the 06 had to perform this calibration as well, the 07 the option vanished and now the 08 you have to calibrate it again? Hm the 06 you can do it without the techstream dealership scanner but now its a requirement... uh oh.