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I just received this (Post) on a Thread I started in another (Forum) and thought that this was an interesting, "Statement".

What do you Members think about this?

Terry


New message posted in Honda Civic Hybrid Owners: MPG-Real World Numbers
#179 Re: HCH II FE [tigerhonaker] by refields Jun 10, 2006 (6:14 am)


I routinely get 51-54 mpg in my 2005 HCH. This is driving normally too - with traffic, not babying, etc.

Anyone with an HCH getting less than 50 mpg should try running a tank of mid-grade gas instead of regular. It makes about a 4-5 mpg difference for me which more than covers the price difference in fuel grades. With premium, my mileage dropped back to what I got with regular.

http://townhall-talk.edmunds.com/WebX?14@@.ef86571/179

Hi Terry:

___The young man or woman has no idea as to what he or she is talking about unfortunately :(

___Good Luck

___Wayne

I heard in some states plus is the cheapest gas, And regular is more expensive. I think this is because of plus being e10 and ethanol is heavily subsidized in that state. So maybe they think "mid-grade" is 89 octane when infact its realy 87 and the low-grade (cheaper gas) is realy 89 octane.

I doubt its that complex, but who knows. Maybe someone should respond and ask what octane the "mid-grade" gas is. At any rate they should at least stop using it for a month and see if there is any change. How do they know they get the jump? How long were they using regular? Did they ever go back to regular for a prolonged period to make sure it isn't a fluke?

Some people want to feel they are right and will ignore every bit of logic. I wouldn't try to argue because in this case I think it is pointless. Its a shame that this person will probably fool people into wasting money.

I tried using E10 when I was in Kansas, I didn't know anything about it, and they told me it was better for the car and would get me better mileage for a cheaper price and higher octane ...

Well, I would say in my experience, if anything, it LOWERED my mileage, this was in a 99 Accord LX Sedan, I am not going to say for sure because I wasn't taking the most accurate of measurements then, but it had the feeling of being less efficient (the needle appeared to drop quicker, less miles per tank). I could have had varying driving habits (speeding down my 30 mile empty road trips to the next town and back for groceries).

I say this because if that is the case, and they did move up to the 'more expensive' fuel, Tbaleno guess would be on point. They would have went to 87, paid more and recieve a few mpg in the process, and being that premium makes no difference in our hybrid cars since it is tuned for 86 (minimum), it would also not net them any better. The only thing that doesn't agree with me about this idea is that I can see E10 being maybe a tiny bit less efficient, but I would think that premium would have still been better than the E10 if the difference between the first two was the Ethanol.

The sad part is, that is all speculation, and it doesn't matter that much anyway :p Terry, I know you have watched the octane/brand/additive/full tank/low tank/etc discussions on GreenHybrid.com go into debates and I do believe Wayne is more than likely right for this individual, and also as Tom has stated, without a controlled experiment, using each fuel on multiple tanks and repeat (with similar driving conditions), there will never be a definate answer, or at least enough of one to convince either side, either way.

It reminds me of the magnets/acetone/tornado magic mpg booster. Although I do wish there was a miracle product, the best way to improve mileage is personal habits and luck with traffic/road conditions/construction/etc. OR ...find somewhere with the perfect weather, where every road is downhill, no stop lights or signs, no traffic ... then you tell Xcel where that is, and he will never have to start his car again!!! ;) We would have to use the infinity symbol for mpg (almost need it now!) My jaw drops everytime I see the 99.9 mpg on the Accord's screen. Truly a member of fuel efficiency royalty! (bows)

Good night, off to bed! Take care all :)

hmmm, the last tank of gas i got, i had to get 89 instead of 87. my numbers were way down, not up. ok, it's only one tank, but i had a heck of a time getting my normal FE.

I used to use mid-grade fuels and have tried once or twice since and it never helps. Either something bad happens or nothing changes at all. I'm just going to feed it the 87 octane that it asks for.