Archives

___40 mpg? That is some seriously great FE coming from an FEH as you know! Keep that kind of FE up and you will be inducted into the CleanMPG - female all-star hall of fame :D I am sure Cynthia (Insight 5-speed), Laurie (HCH-I), and Tarabell (HCH-II) will be honored knowing you are showing others the way to much higher FE from the FEH then they had ever dreamed possible.

(I moved this here from my intro-post - if it would fit better somewhere else, feel free to move it.)

I'm amazed at the FE I'm getting this spring/summer - I was happy with doing a mile or two better than the EPA for city driving. But the number just keeps going higher! (Except for yesterday, when even along the lake we had temps in the 90's :( )

I *literally* can't explain it - I don't have the technical knowledge. When I first got it, I drove it like I'd driven any other vehicle, & the mpg was satisfactory - 35-36mpg for mostly city driving. Then I started trying things to get the ICE to shut down more. I took to watching both the energy flow screen & the fuel economy screen on the NAV/AUD unit (those 2 screens alone make it worth every penny!).

Now I am logic/technology-challenged - I'm a librarian, a musician & a lover of cats; most of what I did was more out of intuition than any kind of knowledge. Things like accelerating slowly & coasting up to stops (I did this all the time when I drove a manual transmission), sticking to the speed limit, trying to avoid hills, & being a more defensive driver. Remembering 2 things from my driver-ed class: that a good driver could fill a dixie cup with water up to the line (about 1/2 inch from the rim, for those who don't remember the old dixie cups), set it on the dashboard, & start, drive, & stop without spilling any; & the old "accelerate as if you have an egg between your toe & the pedal".

The numbers got better, but they really went up after I found Gary G.'s article & some of the other suggestions for hypermiling in the FEH. I started using L to slow the car as I approached stops & turns, discovered that I had been doing a kind of fake shift without even knowing it, & have even tried coasting in N with the ICE off a few times (although I'm not always comfortable with that one when I'm in traffic). Then in June I met Wayne at a gathering of the Milwaukee Hybrid Group, & he gave me some advice about increasing my tire-pressure & taking the cross-bars off the roof rack. The result is that for the last 2 tanks, my mileage has been above 40mpg! :) :) :)

So thanks to all of YOU for showing me the way to great mpg in my FEH! :D

Looking forward to meeting many of you at Hybridfest!

Ahh, you're a musician! That's explanation enough ;) I'm convinced that ridiculously high FE driving is at least as much art as science.

Hi Debbie

There's plenty more MPG left in the FEH to be had. Your doing just great now, but you will be even more excited when the weather is cool enough to push a tank in the 50's.

Today, while driving across town, I was thinking that someone in my back seat with a vidio camera filming the gauges, SG with the current trip, shifting and road ahead would be a great learning tool here on cleanmpg. The sound could be me explaining what I'm doing and thinking to give people an idea of how and when I go EV, FS, accelerate and glide. I know it must be hard for people to understand how easy it can be to watch the FE climb so fast into the upper 40's, with the A/C on. The myth that this kind of mileage cannot be had in the same type of traffic as everyone else, needs to be broken.

Wonder if Bill Ford and his engineer's would like to see a copy of such a DVD?

GaryG

you go, girl! that's kind of the way i learned, too. the first time i got in my HCH, and watched the gauges, i got it.....and i'm an artist, so go figure :)

Hi Debbie

Today, while driving across town, I was thinking that someone in my back seat with a vidio camera filming the gauges, SG with the current trip, shifting and road ahead would be a great learning tool here on cleanmpg. The sound could be me explaining what I'm doing and thinking to give people an idea of how and when I go EV, FS, accelerate and glide. I know it must be hard for people to understand how easy it can be to watch the FE climb so fast into the upper 40's, with the A/C on. The myth that this kind of mileage cannot be had in the same type of traffic as everyone else, needs to be broken.

Wonder if Bill Ford and his engineer's would like to see a copy of such a DVD?

GaryG

Hi Gary --

I don't know about Bill & his engineers, but I would love to see that :D

(Sorry about taking so long to respond - I guess it's not just in driving that I'm a little slow, but I get there ;) )

Hi Gary --

I don't know about Bill & his engineers, but I would love to see that :D
)

Yeah, what she said.:)