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Who would have believed it? In the late 70s I drove a '71 Honda Coupe (four speed, 2 cylinder 600cc car with a top speed of 75mph) and now I drive a '07 Toyota Camry Hybrid and get better mileage :D Not to mention, more room, more power, more quiet, and lots more fun to drive!

Back in 2005, $2.00 gas had me looking around for a more economical car. I was driving my old F150 and my 75 mile commute was hard on the wallet. My father bought an 05 Prius and really likes it. I've driven it a few times and liked it. However I heard about the Toyota Camry Hybrid comming out in 2006 and decided to wait until I could test drive one before making the plunge. It was tough waiting as gas climbed over $3.50 and the trucks mpg would sometimes dip under 10mpg from the bumper to bumper traffic.

In June I found a Desert Sand TCH and test drove it. I bought it the same day and have never looked back. I have averaged 44 mpg (http://www.greenhybrid.com/compare/mileage/car/3035.html) over 14,000 miles so far. I am sure some of you have tips on how I can improve. So far I've just done a few simple things: keep the tires at 42psi, drive between 60 and 65mph when traffic is moving, use EV when in slow rush hour traffic, manage the SOC to avoid the ICE running when I'm not moving in rush hour traffic, and avoid braking when possible.

I heard about this forum from GreenHybrid. So hello everyone from sunny San Diego! :shade:

Welcome to CleanMPG!

Hi Nash:

___Welcome to CleanMPG! It sounds like you are doing great and have a handle on how your TCH works and doesn’t in your locale. One of the items I found in my last 2 minutes behind the wheel of a TCH last summer was how tough it was to get her into a pure glide using only the accelerator pedal. In that last 2-minutes, I learned to pull its light regen on coast down, shift to N and let her truly glide ICE-Off while waiting to shift back to D and continue on my way in EV or going ICE-On in a pulse. I do not know if this will help you or not but I would love to drive a fully optioned up TCH as my daily driver just for its real P&G capability as well as pure EV when stuck in the stop and crawls for a mile or so.

___My wife wants the TCH over the Prius II as well but in the end, I hope a PHEV capable Prius III will be sitting in the drive? Her 18 mile one way commute makes perfect sense for a PHEV-20 w/ a fully charged pack from my home for the trip to and plugging in at work for a fully charged pack for the return as well.

___Good Luck

___Wayne R. Gerdes

Wayne - it is difficult to "glide" with the TCH. I frequently will shift to N if I can coast a bit. One section of I-15 I can coast about 1 1/2 miles in N and only drop about 3 mph. I find I often set the power on hills by using the instant mpg gauge. I've learned I can set it to 30mpg on several hills and only loose about 5mph by the time I crest the top. I'm sure that helps the mpg improve.

I found that "B" will not start the ICE when coasting in EV mode unless I am over 18 mph. In rush hour traffic, I often shift to B to increase regen so I can control my speed better on downhill sections of freeway. Less tiring too as I'm not on the brakes all the time. I think it helps let folks following know when I do have to stop, as they don't see my brake lights unless I have to suddenly slow down.

I've driven over 5 miles in EV mode a number of times in rush hour traffic simply by limiting my speed and taking advantage of the downhill regen in B to hold back my speed.

General question - I have my tank fillups over at GreenHybrid. Should I enter them here and start tracking my mileage on CleanMPG? It would seem odd to enter 21 tanks on the same day.

Thanks Wayne and Delta for the warm welcome!

Welcome! It's great to have you aboard. I've read about some of your exploits on GH and it really does sound like you have a good handle on the TCH. As far as the mileage log, I don't think the database cares one way or another when you enter your tanks. There's a space where you can enter the actual date of the tank.