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Hello everyone.

I'm Steve from Connecticut, and I just got my mag pearl HCH-II 2 weeks ago, and what an ordeal it's been. - After waiting 3 1/2 months as one dealership kept telling me "oh, it should be in any day now" for the past 2, I finally found a dealership in MA that had 3. Very happy. :)

Oh, but let me not forget our little hail storm we had, 3 days after buying it, and getting 2 good sized dimples on my hood, and 3 smaller ones on the roof. :mad: :eek:

Anyhow, driving it home, and the next day of driving, I drove by experimenting, and managed to get my FE up to around 46-47 MPG. After reading Tarabell's wonderful article, I was able to get the full Trip A mpg up to 50 filled up full at around half a tank (236 miles?) and have been able to keep around 50-52 mpg.

If anyone has any good techniques for large rolling terrain, like some sort of advanced rr (http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/glossary.php?do=viewglossary&term=8)'ing, I'd really appreciate it, as the stretch of I395 that I drive to work everyday is nothing but one huge hill after after another.

Thanks,

- Steve

Ahh, 395. I was just there about an hour and a half ago driving north from 32 (from 95) to 2 and can vouch for the hills. I've never driven an HCH-II but I have to think that you could do something analogous to the HS P&G that I've been using this weekend to get 45-46mpg in a non-hybrid. You ought to be able to beat that by quite a longshot with a bit less effort given all the technology in that nice little car!

Anyway, welcome! I'm glad to see another CT resident on the board.

lol brick when you say new england, that is a city in the united states right? i keep visualizing that your driving in europe :S

mmm MoGrpyh, congrats on your car as it will serve you well as you learn to fine tune it to your liking :)

Thanks guys. Yeah, the eastern part of CT isn't exactly hybrid friendly with it's rolly-polly features. To tell you the truth, I'm actually getting better FE on the highway, than I am on back roads. I can't think of a single stretch in this gawd-forsaken state, that is flat for more than 4 miles.

@Brick- I work at Mohegan Sun, and live in Franklin, right off of Rte 32 towards Willimantic, which is pretty much the only major exit off that Rt 2 connector that you mentioned, so I know it all too well. If you see someone P&G and rr'ing down the right lane stretch between those two areas, in a magnetic pearl HCH-II (I'd describe the color more of a Charcoal Grey), be sure to Road-Runner double-beep at me. A wave won't work- I'm trying to ignore whatever 1 finger salutes I might be getting :) . I can't even begin to imagine how many people have passed me expecting to see a 70yr old in the the driver seat, instead of this 30 yr old. LOL

I've actually just finished a 2-week tour of dog/house sitting for a friend another 20 minutes further up 395, since I've gotten my new HCH-II, so I haven't gotten a good taste of how efficient my 12 mi ride to and fro work from my house is going to be. Hopefully, I will be able to keep up this 51ish mpg avg, though I do have to fight the engine warm up time. Never-the-less, I'm sure it will be better than my last car, a Ford Escort with 100,000 miles on it, which even with my best attempts at getting good FE in the latter days, was only getting, at best, 32 mpg.

@Brick, yes, I feel much closer to the boards, when I see that another CT who is self-conscious about FE is in the area. Perhaps we'll end up leap-frog Drafting each other someday- that is, if I ever get the nerve to draft someone again. The past 2 times I've drafted with other vehicles have ended up (just by coincidence I'm sure) with bad results. lol. But, that's a whole different story itself.

Happy Hypermiling everyone...

MoGryph
(Steve)

Greetings, MoGryph! I live just over the border in NYS, about 30 min from Danbury with the Appalachian Trail virtually in my back yard. I sure do know the terrain! I've had my HCH2 since late April and don't do much "highway" driving (other than an occasional dozen miles on the Taconic State Parkway). Most of my drive is on 2 lane country roads/2 lane state roads. You are doing a great job by getting 51 mpg on those hills after only having the car for 2 weeks!!! Congratulations on the mpg and the new car.:)

Thanks for the warm welcome Scott. I do feel pretty good knowing that I'm getting the EPA's City averages, with mostly highway driving.

Tarabell's article has done wonders for me. I'm using only FS, HS-P&G, DWL, DWB and rr. I'm not sure how safe FAS is, and I'm afraid I'll go messing up my CVT trying to do it, so I'm going to hold off on doing that for awhile.

Last night I pumped up my tires from around 33 psi to the labeled max of 44, so I'm curious what type of change, if any, I'll be seeing. All the talk about pumping them up over the max gets me a bit nervous.

It is natural to be nervous about it. But if you have them at max sidewall don't worry about them heating up and gaining a few lbs. max sidewal is no where near burst pressure.

In the winter you will have to get used to them because the snow traction is a little worse. But rain and dry will get you better traction. You can rest assured you are safer running your tires at max sidwall than factory recomended pressure. Sure, you could get a blow out with them at max sidewall, but the same can be said about any pressure. The chance isn't any greater from what I have seen.

I've had my tires at 44psi for months with no negative effects. The ride is a little harsher but it has yet to bug me. I do like the better wet-weather handling, too.

Personally, if I had a HCH-II I would probably leave FAS alone and stick to modulating the accelerator to catch the "dead band" where the valves seal and there isn't any regen. It might not be quite as good as disconnecting the engine but I imagine it gets you most of the way there. Wear and tear on is the one thing I worry about from all of the keying-off and bump starting I've been doing, so your concern is understandible. Especially with a brand new car!