turbotaguy
05-13-2011, 08:55 PM
I just moved from my 07 FEH AWD to a beautiful 2010 FFH and love it. I know many of the tricks to the 07 FEH so always did a bit better than the EPA estimate.
My question is - is there a published "how to" guide to getting the most out of the FFH? I have read many general hypermiling articles, but I'm looking for all the specifics to the FFH.
I'd appreicate the input. I am looking to get as much out of this great car as I can!
Right Lane Cruiser
05-13-2011, 09:44 PM
Great vehicle choice!! My wife loves hers. :D
Be sure to read up on Wayne's review and his DC loop challenge — there are good tips to be found there. Also re-read what has been posted by GaryG on the techniques that work best in his newest FEH. Those carry directly over to the FFH but the older methods reallly don't.
The car likes to settle the state of charge very close to the middle of the gauge with gentle or highway driving. Don't try to get much speed from a stop in EV — it doesn't do this nearly as well as the second gen Prius when it comes to saving fuel from a stop. Use the accelerator blip to control the engine start time and avoid the draining "gentle start" the programming likes to do for seemless transitions. It is pleasant but costs significant power to implement. Use neutral for your glides when you engage EV mode to avoid using power. Keep accesory use to a minimum. Cruise a decent distance in EV at steady state speeds when you've got the charge up over the top of the battery symbol on the Smart Gauge to get it under the symbol for pulse and glide work — you can pulse a good bit harder and harvest charge at the same time while getting better mileage than you can at a higher state of charge trying to pulse without assist. Once the SoC is back up, do another EV cruise. For steady state, choose a throttle position with the energy bar right above the EV threshold and the car will give excellent mileage while charging as long as the SoC is half way up the battery symbol or higher.
For gentle P&G or steady state higher SoC is better. For heavier P&G, lower is better. Avoid assist whenever possible by modulating the throttle pedal appropriately. Note that glides in N at speeds over 38mph actually use some power — I believe that this is due to the same RPM limits governing warp stealth engine spinning in the Prius to protect the MGSET which is spinning fastest. So high speed glides are fun but they are like a mild EV propulsion and will sap your charge level accordingly.
That should get you started. ;)
