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Hi all--

The wife and I are heading to her homeland in SE Minnesota later this week, and it appears at this point we'll be taking my HCHII. It's a shade over 700 miles from Cincinnati, through Indiana on I-74 then hanging a right on I-39 in Bloomington IL, before joining I-90 in Rockford to LaCrosse.

Now, the wife drives a Prius but her commute is so short she has no desire (or, frankly, need) to learn much hypermiling. She has also only rarely driven my HCH, so I'll have to teach her its tricks when it's her shift to drive -- that is, if I decide she gets a turn. We did see the Mythbusters on drafting last week, so she's excited to try some "distant" drafting -- safety first.

Anyway, this will be the first long highway spell I've driven the HCH, too. Anyone have any highway tricks that I might not know from mostly suburban driving? Specifically, how does the HCH cruise control do at FE? Much of the trip will be flat or rolling, with few large hills. We're also planning to do the majority of the drive before 10 a.m. to avoid the heat of the day (read: I don't like to use the A/C, she might force the issue...).

Thanks for the advice... --RN

Well, I too have a mostly suburban commute routine and last year we did take a long weekend summer trip due west that neared 800 miles on my HCH-2. I noticed that the cruise control did an OK job if I stayed below 60 mph (100km/h) which I did gladly did.

However, I did also some distance drafting with a few 18 wheelers and found that I got less stone chip damage by letting them pass me than to try to follow one. Even at the distances that I kept between the car and the truck ahead, I found that small stones still impacted the bumper of the car. All in all, I was not too impressed with the damage and I decided to shift my strategy on the way back.
Instead of drafting at all, I opted for a notch below the speed limit. I also noticed that the use of cruise control while drafting is a little frustrating since the the trucks didn't always maintain a steady speedy forcing us to cancel/resume the CC often. For longer trips I prefer to use the CC... so drafting is perhaps not going to be something we'll use alot.

This summer we're going to Minneapolis which will be a ~500 miles trip each way and I at the moment, I have no intention of distance drafting unless the highways very clean and safe.


Cheers;

MSantos

MSantos--

You make a very good point about stone chips. I should say that I am all too aware of 18-wheelers' tendencies to travel above the speed limit, so I'm not sure how well that would work. I suspect if I find a trucker sticking around 60 or so (fat chance) I'll take advantage at 100 feet or so. Otherwise, I'll let the wonder of Honda engineering do its thing on its own.

My first goal would be to hit LaCrosse without refilling, or about 625 miles. I figure if I let the tank get pretty dry, I'd only have to average about 55-56 mpg, which I can do in the suburbs fairly easily these days. At 710 miles door-to-door, doing the whole trip on one tank might be a little too optimistic -- that'd be a minimum of about 60 mpg. --RN

Have a good trip and please let us know how you do,when you reture home. H

My first highway trip with my new HCH-II was this past weekend. We were in a hurry going down since we had to get to a soccer game and left late thanks to my 15 year old son. Set the cruise on 70 and had the air on 72 (I'm a Michigander after all, I'm more comfortable at 50 degrees than at 80). We got about 43 mpg on the way down. Coming back with no hurry and no cruise I only got it up to 45 mpg. Traffic moves along between 75 and 80 up here in Michigan. We didn't feel too safe below 65, but drove slower when we could. It was a hilly trip and the instant mpg gauge spent most of it's time well below 50. I certainly hope I can do better in the future.

That is not to bad at those speeds [70] and withe the air on. You might just as well have set her on cruise and at 70 on the return trip! Live and learn, H:D

Hi, Harold-- A few suggestions that work for us if you are after high FE.
-put plenty of air in your tires.
-clean your air filter before the trip
-use P&G when possible (see P&G techniques for the HCH-II)
-try distant draft behind vehicles that are not likely to throw stones (very important).
-hope for a tail wind

I hope this helps and as always, have a safe and enjoyable trip.




That is not to bad at those speeds [70] and withe the air on. You might just as well have set her on cruise and at 70 on the return trip! Live and learn, H:D

Hi all--

So the first leg is in the books, and I'd like to brag that the trip tank from Cincinnati to La Crosse, WI, took 10.044 gallons for 615.3 miles, or 61.26 MPG.

This came from a mix of distant drafting (thanks to the kind corn truck driver we followed most of the way through Illinois) and lower speeds (never more than 65). A fair chunk was even done with cruise control.

Notice it took 10.044 gallons, meaning I could've reasonably made it all the way to the wife's hometown, another 90 miles or so beyond La Crosse. By this point though, wifey wanted A/C (as did the dog in the back seat, along with pee breaks for all). Time to call it a tank, then. --RN

Hi HCHCIN:

___Great FE for a great trip across some of the Midwest. To bad most will never be able to say they received 60 + while driving the same :(

___Did you use any EV-Glides on the long downhill’s you must have encountered along the way?

___Good luck

___Wayne

Wayne--

Of course. Most of the way from Tomah to La Crosse (~40 mi) was glideable, as was the descent into Peru IL. The wife was even into it and put up some serious FE numbers herself. She drove from Central IL to a little north of Madison and increased the trip FE from about 55 to 57-8. I was proud, and also a little jealous... --RN

61 1/4 mpg. Very nice numbers. Are you going to post the return trip? Congates, H:Banane43:

Great numbers!!! What were your weather conditions?
-Temps
-Approx. wind speed
-Wind directions
-etc.

These are great cars and even better once we get to know them.

Hi all--

So back to the office, where I read CleanMPG...

A summary is in order:

1) The trip from Cincinnati to La Crosse, WI came in at 61.26 mpg. A couple of nights before I pushed the tires up to 40 (from 37), and lovingly gave the car a wash. We started early at about 6:15a. Four stops along the way for food, dog walks, and bathroom breaks. Weather was hot, especially Wisconsin, which is why the AC got turned on in La Crosse. Total trip FE was indicated at about 58-59 MPG over 710 miles.

2) Tank 2 was from La Crosse to my wife's family's house 95 miles away, about 150 miles jaunting to see family, friends, and go to a wedding, and then the return trip home, to around Janesville, WI. Total tank FE was 53.6. Mixed weather.

3) Tank 3 is sitting somewhere around 55 right now, and I have probably until next week left on it for commuting. It's lower because I was tired (see #1 below), and there were fewer trucks to draft. My summertime commutes have been 55 at a minimum, so I should be in good shape for an overall round trip, three-tank FE of about 55-56. Not too shabby.

Comments:

1) I must complain a little -- the feather touch required for great FE on the HCH gets fatiguing after a few hours. I'm 6'-2" and my ankle and knee were sore, and a late night before and early start to the day left my powers of concentration in the pooper.
2) Techniques included frequent EV-Glide where appropriate, drafting semis at 1-2 lengths, and the occasional "drafting glide" (not really a D-FAS, but similar). Drafting really does work, as I saw my trip FE climb steadily through Illinois, where I was able to draft a corn truck for hundreds of miles.
2a) Also, speeds not exceeding 65.
3) The low Cd of the Civic resulted in relatively few bug splatters. Nice.
4) Semi drivers seemed to be driving uncharacteristically conservatively on the roadways. Is it possible the trucking companies have taught the drivers how to drive more economically?
5) Curious observation: The morning of the return trip was cool (60 degrees?) and very foggy, and even along rolling hills I was killing myself to keep FE above 50 mpg. Once we climbed out of the Mississippi River valley and got into some sun, FE shot up about 2.5 mpg in no time. Has anyone noticed cloud- or humidity-dependent behavior in an HCH-II?
6) At one point in the drive out to Minnesota, the pack was so charged up that regenerative braking was disabled. I had not been doing anything to maintain such a high SOC, and it came as a bit of a surprise, honestly. It was also a little alarming -- I let off the gas to coast up to some slower traffic and didn't get any "engine braking" -- had to jam the friction brakes a little harder than warranted, too. Any insight?

That's all I can think to report for now. Questions? --RN

Hi HCHIN:

___Sounds like a great trip and it was pleasant to here that your wife is either hypermile trained or hypermiling friendly. I am still working on the tolerant step with mine ;)

1) About the sore knee and foot … fortunately, you have CC and although I do not recommend it under most conditions or vehicles, drop down to a slightly slower speed, set the CC and rest a bit. Sometimes it might just be the right thing to do?

4) I have been seeing this all over the Tri-State (I-294/94) through the Chicago area these past few months. When I saw the FedEx drivers finally coming to their senses about a month ago, I knew something was up in the trucking industry as a whole. Of course there were plenty of 70 + mph OTR’s this morning, their were still a few hanging in at 5 over in the far right lanes.

5) Pavement temps are probably the item that finally kicked up to provide the lowest RRc and the nice 2.5 + mpg addition. 65 or under is just not conducive to your HCH-II’s or your own “Best Stuff” :)

6) I am really surprised more HCH-II highway drivers do not see more of this. The Insight always hung at 19 of 20 on my 90% + highway commute way back when and there was only a scant amount of regen that could be forced into that tiny pack. I actually think this is great as you could use a little EV-Glide from way out to an off-ramp or rest area and still have an almost full SoC to help bring you up to speed once you stop. That is if you use assist to brig you up. I didn’t/wouldn’t but that is just me?

___It was great to read your round trip experiences given it would take some doing to see a Prius-I or II at 60 + receiving 60 + out on the Interstates. Seeing some of the Midwest that you may have not remembered from years gone by as well as visiting friends/family probably made the whole vacation worthwhile … I hope :rolleyes:

___Good Luck

___Wayne

Really nice results for a long trip like that. :woot: You and the family must be very patient to go as slow as you did and not go with the natural urge to "just get there".

I agree about the fatigue. My foot muscles tremble sometimes trying to hold a position for long periods, usually in the morning. Need to try more foot exercises. Also I've thought sometimes of using my sweater as a cushion under my knee. For a long trip that might be worthwhile. If it was very flat, I would try CC for some parts.

Those 'drafting glides' you mention are great aren't they when you're coming up to slightly slower traffic or trucks ahead. You can let your speed bleed off real slow and maintain it almost forever. I don't get any closer than the point I can't see their mirrors, but there is still some effect. Mostly I like trucks just for their 'pace car' effect. You were blessed with that corn truck. Again, don't know how your family let you stay behind one for "hundreds of miles" but glad it worked out.

Wayne--

The wife drives a Prius, and I think she once stumbled upon this site back when we were shopping for hybrids, though she no longer looks here or GH. She knows of the techniques but doesn't practice them much -- her commute is less than ten minutes. However, we saw the Mythbusters episode about drafting a couple of days before we left and she hopped squarely on board that technique. I think the simplicity of IMA and the HCH-II's instrumentation work well to engage "newbie" drivers, plus it was easy to explain what she could do with the car.

As for the completely topped-up pack, I can see the benefit of it in inducing longer glides, but you can understand my momentary alarm when there was no engine braking available...

Tarabell--

Hundreds of miles is no understatement. I know I followed one truck from north of Madison all the way to just north of Bloomington, IL. By my reckoning that's about 200 miles. The natural urge to "get there" was there, mind you, but in the end it took us 13 hours, about an hour longer than when we didn't drive hybrids. --RN

Howdy!

Nice lookin' numbers from your trip! I find myself often disappointed in my daily commute on the Garden State parway in NJ, since commercial traffic is restricted. No Semi drafting :( But there are still always a-plenty yukons and Escalades (almost always flying, though).

I have also noticed and been a bit taken aback by the full-pack phenomenon. Like Wayne, it seems to be an issue for me on long highway drives. There's no assist going on (if you are light-footed), but there is a slow trickle of 'stealth' regen that just fills up the battery. So when you hit your off-ramp, Boom, you go from 55 - 0 with almost no regen. A little wasteful, but since it only happens once a trip, it's not so bad. I have tried to EV-Glide some during my highway strecthes to try to bring the SoC down a bit, but it's hard to control that at 55mph, and it's also an avenue for wastage via energy conversion.

Cheers!