Archives

Well, technically it wasn't a *full* tank, but it was 568.4mi. into one - according to the Message Center, I had a little over 100MTE, & that was still increasing. But on Saturday we drove down to Roscoe, IL to see my step-son, his wife & our grand-daughter, so I filled the tank before we left - put in 11.025gal.

This tank was almost entirely my commute - a couple of other trips around the Milwaukee metro area, but no real highway driving - so it's not something I'm really counting on seeing regularly :( But I'm pretty pleased with it anyway, & it did finally lift my lifetime average back to 40mpg :)

I kept doing the math over & over again in my head until I could get back home to my 'puter & post this tank on CleanMPG - then I'd know it was *real* :) :) :)

I'm *so* proud of my FEH :) :) :) :) :)

Well done debbie!!! :Banane13:
My next goal is to get over 600 with one tank on my HCH-I
Congrats though and continue to hypermile with a smile!!:flag:

And Spencer says:

http://www.spencerthelion.com/images/spencer-roar.jpg

Congrats, Debbie!

OMG! :eek: That must be nearly a world-record for an hybrid-SUV. I am embarassed to say that beats my best tank of 50.5 MPG in my little-bitty Tercel, even though your ride weighs 1,520 pounds more, as well as, a 29% higher drag coefficient (0.40 versus my 0.31). Well done! :D

Ho-lee-cow! That's amazing! Well done!

If that was with RFG it is even more amazing! What was your MTE after filling the tank and driving for awhile? Break the 700 MTE barrier?

Congratulations, Debbie!!! That is quite the achievement! :D:thumbs_up:

waytogo, deb :D:D:D

Thank you for all your congratulations :) :)

Chuck - I don't know if Spencer is roaring or yawning ;) My tuxedo boy Woolly-Willy was singularly unimpressed - he has no use for cars whatever :D (Fortunately I have a house-call, cats-only vet :))

A024523 - You're definitely doing better in your Tercel than I ever did in mine - I was too much of a lead-foot back then (until I had to spend $3000+ to replace the engine I burned out, & to rent a car while the work was being done :o). I'm sure you'll see a lot more 50+mpg tanks than I will :)

CarlD - I did break the 700MTE barrier - when I started the car after the fill-up, the display showed 732MTE :) :) :) Unfortunately, that didn't last long, once we got on the Interstate to go to Roscoe :(

Laurie - Sometimes, we just have to show these guys that we can do it too :woot:

Incidentally, the trip down to Roscoe was into the wind (I don't know what the wind-speed was, but it's always a bad sign when you can *hear* the wind rushing by the car :(), in full sun, with temps in the high 70's-low 80's, requiring A/C, & lots of long, rolling hills - more up than down. I pulled into the driveway there with 34.2mpg on the FCD - I wasn't too disappointed, all things considered :p The trip back was much more gratifying - wind was down, or coming from behind us, temps were in the 60's, same rolling hills, but more downhills than uphills. I pulled back into our garage with the FCD showing 37.9mpg - which means I did a little better than 41mpg on the trip home :)

Now I've got to try to "rehabilitate" my average mpg's for this tank back to at least the mid-40's :o

Incidentally, the trip down to Roscoe was into the wind (I don't know what the wind-speed was, but it's always a bad sign when you can *hear* the wind rushing by the car :(), in full sun, with temps in the high 70's-low 80's, requiring A/C, & lots of long, rolling hills - more up than down. I pulled into the driveway there with 34.2mpg on the FCD - I wasn't too disappointed, all things considered :p The trip back was much more gratifying - wind was down, or coming from behind us, temps were in the 60's, same rolling hills, but more downhills than uphills. I pulled back into our garage with the FCD showing 37.9mpg - which means I did a little better than 41mpg on the trip home :)


Debbie,

First, Congratulations on a great tank! That is awesome. I haven't busted the 700 MTE barrier yet, but I'm still trying (up to 683 so far.)

Second, Are you using DWL, P&G, or something else on the rolling highway hills? I have been driving more highway miles lately and haven't been able to get above 38 mpg. :(

Thanks for any insights,
- Rob

Hi Debbie:

___Hot damn that is so smoking hot for an FEH tank!!!! You are beating 99% of the Prius and HCH-II drivers in fact :D Congratulations! :Banane27: :Banane48: :woot:

___Do I hear 53 next ;)

___Good Luck

___Wayne

Thank you for all your congratulations :) :)


CarlD - I did break the 700MTE barrier - when I started the car after the fill-up, the display showed 732MTE :) :) :) Unfortunately, that didn't last long, once we got on the Interstate to go to Roscoe :(


This is great news Debbie! Your going to a force to be reckoned with at the MPG Challenge this year. A 51.6mpg tank on E-10 is just owesome, no matter how you cut it.

Florida has gone to E-10, and my last 4 tanks hasn't adjusted near too my straight gas numbers yet. I think E-10 just can't handle the flat roads and if things don't adjust real soon, I'm going to see a solid loss of 4mpg. The sad part is we didn't see a discount in gas prices when they forced E-10 on us.

A 732 MTE reading is more proof that I can confirm when you start breaking into 50mpg tanks in the FEH. With a trip reading of 568.4 with over 100 miles to empty, that puts you at ~670 miles at 0 MTE. That would leave you with ~13 gallons burned with about 1.3 gallons left in the tank. This means you didn't have a complete fill-up of 15 gallons at the last fill, but only a total of 14.3 gallons. If you had burned a total of 15 gallons which is the size of the tank in general, you would have gone ~773.2 miles on a tank of gas in a ~3800 lb SUV running on E-10. Great Job!

GaryG

And Spencer says:

http://www.spencerthelion.com/images/spencer-roar.jpg

That is one ferocious (sp?) kitty!

Karrie

My nickname on pet forums is SpencerTheLion - after my boss cat.

He eats the lion's share - first and the most. :D

Debbie that is really great!! Congrats on the 51.6 mpg tank!!

Awesome job Debbie!:woot::Banane54:

Great job. :Banane02: What were your speeds? Did you draft?

That is awesome. Congrats.

Debbie,

First, Congratulations on a great tank! That is awesome. I haven't busted the 700 MTE barrier yet, but I'm still trying (up to 683 so far.)

Second, Are you using DWL, P&G, or something else on the rolling highway hills? I have been driving more highway miles lately and haven't been able to get above 38 mpg. :(

Thanks for any insights,
- Rob

Hi Rob --

Thanks for the congrats :)

I kept my speed between 50-55mph (this was on a divided 4-lane interstate freeway, the speed limit is 65mph, but it's not heavily traveled, & faster traffic had no problems getting around me), not exactly P&G-ing, just trying to keep the RPMs between 1600-1800 on the uphills, & letting gravity assist on the downhills, definitely DWL.

Also, when I'm driving at speeds above 40mph, I set my NAV screen to the FCD display. The feedback I get from that & my SGII helps me keep those mpgs as high as I can :)

Beyond that, all I can offer is Bradlee's advice to "keep workin' it". I swear this car & I are still learning from each other, & the numbers keep going up :) :)

Hi Debbie:

___Hot damn that is so smoking hot for an FEH tank!!!! You are beating 99% of the Prius and HCH-II drivers in fact :D Congratulations! :Banane27: :Banane48: :woot:

___Do I hear 53 next ;)

___Good Luck

___Wayne

Thanks, Wayne :) :)

53 :eek: Can't I just bask in the glow of 51 for awhile first ;)

I wouldn't write off the possibility of seeing a 53mpg (or more :p) tank, but this 51.6mpg was accomplished almost entirely on my commute, which I know *very* well, & which seems to be very well suited to hypermiling - lots of long stretches without stop signs or lights, & mostly nice wide streets where faster traffic can get around me (unless they're trying to make a point :rolleyes:)

But I'll keep trying :) This vehicle is still surprising me with the mpg's it can give me :) :) :)

This is great news Debbie! Your going to a force to be reckoned with at the MPG Challenge this year. A 51.6mpg tank on E-10 is just owesome, no matter how you cut it.

Florida has gone to E-10, and my last 4 tanks hasn't adjusted near too my straight gas numbers yet. I think E-10 just can't handle the flat roads and if things don't adjust real soon, I'm going to see a solid loss of 4mpg. The sad part is we didn't see a discount in gas prices when they forced E-10 on us.

A 732 MTE reading is more proof that I can confirm when you start breaking into 50mpg tanks in the FEH. With a trip reading of 568.4 with over 100 miles to empty, that puts you at ~670 miles at 0 MTE. That would leave you with ~13 gallons burned with about 1.3 gallons left in the tank. This means you didn't have a complete fill-up of 15 gallons at the last fill, but only a total of 14.3 gallons. If you had burned a total of 15 gallons which is the size of the tank in general, you would have gone ~773.2 miles on a tank of gas in a ~3800 lb SUV running on E-10. Great Job!

GaryG

Thanks Gary :) :)

If I don't get flustered this year at the MPG Challenge, I'm confident I can get 50+mpg. With what I learned from you & Rich (Pravus Prime) last year, my FE increased right away after that weekend. This past winter, I only had 1 tank below 35mpg :), & I started seeing 40- & even 50mpg on individual trips much earlier this spring (& at much cooler temps) :) :) :)

Ever since I read about the fuel trim maps, I stopped worrying about buying straight gas, since most of my access here in SE WI is to RFG, either winter or summer. Why mess with what's working for me ;)

I've seen upwards of 700MTE more than once after a fill, but it usually drops off faster than I'm putting the miles on :( Often, it drops, then comes back up again towards the end of the tank (not to 700+ though :p)

Still, I'm more than happy with my FEH :) :) :)

Thanks for the tips, Debbie. I've been trying to watch the TPS on my sgii (I don't have the NAV), but I'll also watch the RPM range as well. My route is more heavily traveled, so my speed range is more like 70 mph on the downhill and as low as 45 on the steepest uphill. Luckily I had a few 18-wheelers in front of me on the uphills, so I wasn't the only one with my flashers on. ;) Perhaps I can find another route where the speed limit is less than 70 and is hopefully a little less traveled.

Thanks again and good luck getting to that 53 mpg tank!

Great job. :Banane02: What were your speeds? Did you draft?

Thanks Lone Ranger :)

I kept my speed betwee 50-55mph, even though this was on an interstate with a 65mph speed limit (after seeing how much difference came from cutting my speed just 5mph from 65, I refuse to drive faster than 60mph) - it's not heavily traveled, & faster traffic had plenty of room to get past me.

Do I draft :eek: Heck no - nobody drives slow enough :D :D

Thanks, Ken & Larry & p3t3blair :) :) :)

Amazing. Congratulations. Success like that is very encouraging to everyone. Thanks for letting us know. I think I may have a glass of wine to celebrate now.

Thanks for the tips, Debbie. I've been trying to watch the TPS on my sgii (I don't have the NAV), but I'll also watch the RPM range as well. My route is more heavily traveled, so my speed range is more like 70 mph on the downhill and as low as 45 on the steepest uphill. Luckily I had a few 18-wheelers in front of me on the uphills, so I wasn't the only one with my flashers on. ;) Perhaps I can find another route where the speed limit is less than 70 and is hopefully a little less traveled.

Thanks again and good luck getting to that 53 mpg tank!

Hi Rob --

I must be about the only FEH owner that wanted the NAV system, not for the navigation capability, but for the FCD & the Energy Flow screens :p When I'm driving at speeds under 40mph, I have the Energy Flow screen up - this shows me when I'm in EV, when the engine is running, when the 2 systems are working in tandem, when I'm getting regen, & most importantly for me, the SoC in my HV battery. On my SGII, I have MPG (instantaneous), RPMs, GPH, & FWT (I think that's right - it's for the coolant temp). By keeping an eye on the FWT & the SoC icon, I can usually tell when the engine is going to kick in, & in some cases I'm able to time that to a hill or a light. The MPG & RPM displays on the SGII give me instant feedback on how I'm doing when the engine is running. When I'm going faster than 40mph, I put the FCD screen up on the NAV - this gives me an approximate instantaneous FE, a graph showing my FE over my last 15min. of driving, & the average mpg since the last time the display was re-set.

Does this make any sense? I'm afraid I'm not of an analytical turn of mind like Wayne or GaryG; I operate more on intuition, but I've taken what they & others have learned & put it to work in my own vehicle - & it does work well :) :) :)

I know what you're talking about with your route, & I feel for you. But if you're getting 38mpg out there at those speeds, you're actually doing pretty well :) And you may be surprised what you see from your FEH in another year or so :) :)

Amazing. Congratulations. Success like that is very encouraging to everyone. Thanks for letting us know. I think I may have a glass of wine to celebrate now.

Thanks :)

You can have a glass of wine for me, too - I never touch the stuff - just don't drive for awhile afterwards :)

Hi Rob --

I must be about the only FEH owner that wanted the NAV system, not for the navigation capability, but for the FCD & the Energy Flow screens :p When I'm driving at speeds under 40mph, I have the Energy Flow screen up - this shows me when I'm in EV, when the engine is running, when the 2 systems are working in tandem, when I'm getting regen, & most importantly for me, the SoC in my HV battery. On my SGII, I have MPG (instantaneous), RPMs, GPH, & FWT (I think that's right - it's for the coolant temp). By keeping an eye on the FWT & the SoC icon, I can usually tell when the engine is going to kick in, & in some cases I'm able to time that to a hill or a light. The MPG & RPM displays on the SGII give me instant feedback on how I'm doing when the engine is running. When I'm going faster than 40mph, I put the FCD screen up on the NAV - this gives me an approximate instantaneous FE, a graph showing my FE over my last 15min. of driving, & the average mpg since the last time the display was re-set.

Does this make any sense? I'm afraid I'm not of an analytical turn of mind like Wayne or GaryG; I operate more on intuition, but I've taken what they & others have learned & put it to work in my own vehicle - & it does work well :) :) :)

I know what you're talking about with your route, & I feel for you. But if you're getting 38mpg out there at those speeds, you're actually doing pretty well :) And you may be surprised what you see from your FEH in another year or so :) :)

I wish I had gotten the NAV system, but the dealer talked me out of it. :( So I have to depend on the Tachometer for RPMs and to know when I'm in EV and the Charge/Assist to know if I'm adding or taking away from the HV battery. I use the sgii for MPG (instantaneous), MPG (Current Trip), SoC, and FWT. (I had my 15 year old add the XGauges :p) Then when I reach the highway, I switch from FWT to TPS so that I can DWL.

I know what you mean about getting close to the engine kicking in, I always try to Neutral Glide as far as I can with 40.1 SoC :D My kids call it Free FE.

Wayne and GaryG are great/smart/fantastic guys, but I don't always understand what they are saying. So I try it a few hundred times, it finally clicks, and I realize once again how thankful I am that they are willing to share what they know. (I wish there was a thankful/grateful smiley or banana)

You and GaryG are my inspirations to know that I can get better, so thank you! I'm very curious about what I will see from my FEH in another year or so. Will it be the FEH or will I have to get better? Either way, I look forward to it!

Way to go Debbie! Saw your numbers from IN too. Woo Hoo! I have just got my 2008 FEH to 100% of EPA (32 MPG) at the 5 month/10,000 mile period. Missed you on Saturday at the MiHG meet. Not sure if I can make it to HybridFest yet. Have a project scheduled in PA the week before and probably that week too. Not sure when I will get back to WI. Keep up the good work!

Thanks,
Bruce

A little late to respond, but congratulations Debbie on the +50mpg! I've worked hard to keep mine between 37-38 the last couple of months. Hills and wind are my biggest challenges in addition to mostly interstate on my daily (I keep it between 50-60mph in all but really bad traffic). I can't seem to break 40 very often.

I have an occasional +40mpg trip in or coming home, but my wife seems to do even better. She had the FEH all day today on various trips and her ave on the SGII was 41.7mpg (around 60 miles total).

-- Rick