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Hello all! I found my way here by way of the MotherJones article and I'm very impressed with the level of knowledge and maturity on this forum!

A bit about myself: I work as an automotive industry analyst at a management consulting firm. We receive a regular stream of press demonstrator vehicles, so I've had the good fortune of driving nearly everything on the market. About a year ago, I spent a weekend with a 2006 Honda Civic Hybrid, and I was quite pleasantly surprised. I'd driven hybrids before, but I had always approached them as regular cars. Yes, I altered my driving style enough to avoid firing the gas engine on slow starts, but no other mileage tricks were employed when I had my go-rounds with the Prius, RX400h, Ford Escape Hybrid, Saturn VUE Hybrid, etc.

The Civic was different. For reasons I still don't know, I made it my mission to squeeze as many kilometers out of every liter in the Civic Hybrid's gas tank. It was a "when in Rome" situation; clearly it's not going to satisfy on the same level as a sports car, so why not use it as it's supposed to be used? My diligence resulted in a weekend average of 3.9 litres per hundred kilometers (equivalent to 60.3 mpg), a number that handily beat both the EPA and Canada Energuide official mileage numbers (though likely pales in comparison to what's being achieved in this community!). I achieved it with slow starts, momentum conservation, lots of drafting, and careful finessing of the brake pedal to provoke auto-stop while still rolling. Most oddly, I really enjoyed myself!

My personal "fleet" is comprised of a 2006 Mazda MX-5 Miata (6-speed manual) and a 1992 Honda Accord EX (5-speed manual). The former is used 8 months of the year, while the latter is my winter car. The Miata gets an average of 9.4 L/100 KM (25 mpg) while being driven fairly hard, and the Accord gets 10.2 L/100 KM (23 mpg) under a much lighter foot. I've recently begun hypermiling the Accord using many of the methods detailed on this site, and my most recent tank showed 7.8 L/100 KM (30 mpg)! Not great, but also a not-insignificant improvement considering my commute is only 11 KM in either direction.

Anyways, I look forward to contributing to this community and hopefully generating some bigger (er, smaller!) numbers! :bananajump:

SmittyNC, welcome to CleanMPG!

Very encouraging getting an endorsement from someone in the automotive industry.

Hi SmittyNC:

___Welcome to CleanMPG!

___Having access to a number of automobiles and then being able to drive them for a few days at a time is indeed an interesting job position and one ¾ of the members here would love to do as well. Taking the hybrids to their natural conclusions on one of those few day drives is a sign you have the “Hypermiling Gene” and are interested in more ;)

___If you need any help or have any questions, an Accord with a stick and even that Miata is a worthy candidate of some obscene numbers once you set them up and equip them for your particular daily grind. Max sidewall and a SG-II to start.

___Good Luck and welcome.

___Wayne

Delta Flyer and xcel, thanks for the warm welcome! I certainly have the "Hypermiling Gene" and I'm actively integrating all the great tips and tricks as I read about them. I'm amazed by the quantity and quality of information available on here.

The SG-II is on-order for my Miata! However, I'm afraid my OBD1 Accord won't benefit from it.

Hi SmittyNC:

___Whoops, 92 Accord :( Still a great year however ;)

___Good Luck

___Wayne

Re: Greetings from Toronto!
Hi SmittyNC:

:woot: Greetings from another 2006 HCH II (Honda Civic Hybrid) owner. Welcome to the USA :flag: and sounds like you have a very "Interesting" job.

Here is a Thread you might find interesting.

http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=666

http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/styles/greenleaf/statusicon/post_old.gif 05-01-2006, 08:09 PM
http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/styles/greenleaf/statusicon/user_online.gif
Platinum Contributor
Join Date: Feb 2006
Vehicles: 2004 Mercedes AWD & 2006 HCH II
Location: Franklin, Tn. in U.S.A.
Posts: 1,418
http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/styles/greenleaf/misc/im_aim.gif (http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=680#)

http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/images/icons/icon2.gif See Pics of (Tigers) 719.3 Miles Driven on 1-Tank of Gas:
Hi Everyone;

If you own a Honda Civic hybrid, either the HCH (http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/glossary.php?do=viewglossary&term=24)I or the HCH (http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/glossary.php?do=viewglossary&term=24)II, have you gotten this kind of Mileage from 1-Tank of Gas?

This was done by driving on the Interstate at 55 MPH and then to work for 2-weeks and that is 6.0 miles one-way. Not exactly the ideal miles for FE (http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/glossary.php?do=viewglossary&term=21). (Fuel Economy). Then I had the "Brilliant Idea" to drive the HCH (http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/glossary.php?do=viewglossary&term=24)II back to KY on the remaining fuel in tank. The tank was showing 5-White Bars. So I knew it would be close but I said to myself "Why not give it a try".

Now that did not work out and there is another Thread that explains that "Amusing Adventure".

http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=666

However; I did drive this HCH (http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/glossary.php?do=viewglossary&term=24)II until it literally ran out of gas. Here is a picture of that Tank of Gas:
Click on Pic. to Enlarge:
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/500/thumbs/picture_of_MPG_and_And_miles_driven_4_30_06.jpg (http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/showphoto.php/photo/434/cat/500/ppuser/5)

I have never owned a vehicle that you could drive {719.3 Miles} on {13.220 Gallons} of gas.

That gives you an actual MPG (http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/glossary.php?do=viewglossary&term=20)of: {54.41 MPG}

Now I don't know about you, but that is "Amazing Numbers to Me". What do you all think?
__________________


Terry (tiger)

About a year ago, I spent a weekend with a 2006 Honda Civic Hybrid, and I was quite pleasantly surprised. I'd driven hybrids before, but I had always approached them as regular cars. ...
... My diligence resulted in a weekend average of 3.9 litres per hundred kilometers (equivalent to 60.3 mpg), a number that handily beat both the EPA and Canada Energuide official mileage numbers (though likely pales in comparison to what's being achieved in this community!).


HOLY MACRO !!! 3.9L/100Km ?

Gee, I am definitely humbled by your fuel economy numbers. A year ago would have been still winter. :)

The best I ever did was 3.8 l/100k (62 US MPG)... but that was during the summer, on the highway driving at (or slightly below) the speed limit of 100km/h.

Impressive nonetheless !!!

Cheers;

MSantos

Wayne: They’re all good years. :) I’ve previously had 1990 and 2000 Accords and I’ve always found them to be uncommonly good cars.

Terry: Those are amazing numbers indeed! I’m sure that if I had a vehicle with such FE potential, I’d be very tempted to do a distance run like that. Must have been nerve-wracking!

Msantos: Looking back through my records (the nerd in me keeps spreadsheet logs of all the press cars I drive :cool: ), I had the HCH-II in April 2006, so temps were likely cool but not freezing. My weekend consisted mostly of crosstown freeway travel, with an even split between highway and suburban/ex-urban streets. I encountered very little stop-and-go traffic. I was especially impressed with the car because, several months earlier, I had spent two weeks with a smart fortwo cdi – a significantly smaller, slower vehicle – and averaged 4.6 L/100 KM. Admittedly, the smart benefited from a heavier foot and virtually no technique modification, but I was still amazed at the contrast.

In reading tarabell’s thread on “Adapting Basic Hypermiling Techniques to the HCH-II,” I recognized a number of the techniques I was quasi-consiously using. The officially-undocumented ability to coax the “EV-Assist” mode to maintain a certain speed while the ICE consumes little-or-no fuel was one of my favourite tricks – sort of like an Easter Egg hidden in a piece of software. I’d love to own one.