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Hi everybody,

I purchased a honda civic hybrid 2007 and have been trying out some of the hypermiling techniques. I only have 200km on the car and I'm getting 7.0L/100km (33mpg). Do I have to work harder to improve the fuel efficiency (get it up to the estimated 42mpg) or is it just a matter of the engine not being broken in yet? Some input from other honda civic hybrid owners would be appreciated

Thanks,
Bill

Probably most of it is just being aware of all the nuiances of hybrids...actually any car to get better fuel economy. Get to know your dashboard - the instance FE display, Assist/Charge...

Keep at it . It will all come together. Enjoy the ride! and wellcome. H

Hi Bill:

___Welcome to CleanMPG!

___Let us start out with the easy stuff first. I can almost bet your tire pressures are at or around 30 – 35 #’s. Take them up to a minimum of 44 or 51 depending on which tires your HCH-II are equipped with.

___With that little setup tip, your car will roll a lot better. After that, empty it out, warm it up and reset a Trip meter. Watch the new numbers and I am sure you will see something completely different. Are there any other owners in your area that can take you out on a clinic? Even a new HCH-II should show you some of its 70 + mpg goodness in brief spurts. The hard part at first will be maintaining the 70 + mpg level during most of your drive/grind. A few months from now it will be second nature but short trips and the cold you are already probably experiencing depending on where in Canada you live are FE killers.

___Read Tarabell’s Hypermiling the HCH-II article again, take it slow and ask questions as they come up. We will help where we can if your commute allows and you are willing ;)

___Good Luck

___Wayne

Wellcome on the CleanMPG site.

The best thing you can do during the first 3 months is read read read. Start with "Beating the EPA - The Why’s and how to Hypermile", then the tarabell's article and you should quickly improve your performance to 50mpg.


Pierre M.

ACK!!! 33 mpg... WOW

Thanks for the replies guys, this forum is a great resource especially Tarabell's HCH II guide but anybody know of any videos? I found some on youtube but most have been removed, it would be great to see somebody using some hypermiling techniques

xcel: I'll be sure to try giving my tires a bit more air and yeah your right about the weather where I live, In the lower mainland (BC) its pretty cold in the mornings when I leave and my trip isn't that long only about 20mins and almost half my trip is up 2 steep and long hills

Thanks for the replies guys, this forum is a great resource especially Tarabell's HCH II guide but anybody know of any videos? I found some on youtube but most have been removed, it would be great to see somebody using some hypermiling techniques

xcel: I'll be sure to try giving my tires a bit more air and yeah your right about the weather where I live, In the lower mainland (BC) its pretty cold in the mornings when I leave and my trip isn't that long only about 20mins and almost half my trip is up 2 steep and long hills

Welcome Bill,

Congrats on your HCH2! Here are my basic tips:
- Tires pressures up to 44psi (as stated above)
- When accellerating, I try to keep RPMs at or below 2000
- FE pretty good at 30-55mph - much faster than that and FE drops
- Anticipate stops/lights - let off throttle early versus mashing the brake to slow down
- Cold starts will hurt FE, especially on only 20 minute trip. Keeping car in garage, engine block heater would help.

Other experts on HCH2 have more good tips. Tarabells article a good start.

the biggest problem for me aside from cold starts (i'll be clearing out my garage soon) is a long 3-4km hill that I have to drive up everyday, any tips reducing fuel consumption going up the hill? I try to keep my RPMs at 2000 max and tried the gas pedal pulsing described in tarabell's HCH II guide but I still lose mileage going up the hill