Lower octane should NEVER be substituted for regular driving only in an emergency. Mpg will be lowered, as the engine cuts back timing to keep itself from detonating.


I saw no change in overall mileage going from the standard file to tuning, however I have not tried any long-term tests like this on the stock or standard MTH programs.

 

I owned a Honda Civic Hybrid until the middle of July when I bought an '05 MC. A fuel efficient car for sure if you drive it as I describe below, but it's also a very boring and vanilla car and the four available colors SUCK!

Here is how you get the published gas mileage out of a Civic Hybrid and this comes from months of driving this way.

NO jack rabbit starts. Nice slow and steady acceleration is the rule.
NO speeding. You MUST drive the posted speed limits.
NO A/C. Turning on the A/C sucked as much as 7-8 mpg.

When I drove the hybrid conservatively as above I would get 48-52 mpg and this was commuting from Ellicott City, MD to Reston, VA (a RT of 100 miles). Now I work closer to home and drive a MC. I am much happier.

MTFBWY,
--Will & Red 5

 

I have a friend that is getting 55 mpg on average with their hybrid. It may be boring but it saves alot more money than my 15 mpg truck

 

Yep - there are a LOT of guys here right now very sad, having the bohemouth pickup trucks (that never have seen cargo). I have heard more than one comment like this: Man I'm thinking about trading it in for a small car, this sucks.

 

PLEASE PROVIDE SUPPORT FOR YOUR ARGUMENT! I'm sorry but the accord hybrid IS marketed (and is) a more powerful car than the I-4 or V-6 version and thus they market is as a higher performance version. Read up if you don't believe me... MSN auto

 

Why did you ignore what I said about the hybrid Accord performing better than the standard V-6 Accord, let alone the 4-cylinder? That's very good performance AND good fuel economy........not just good fuel economy. There is a difference.

 

Regular unleaded won't hurt your MINI but a lot of people think it will. You may or may not see a change in mileage.

This has been discussed a zillion times if you want to do a search for the many different opinions on this subject.

 

Who care about performance on an Accord?! I only consider an Accord as a transportation appliance. Not for enjoyment.

 

Illogical...but better than no answer.

 

Back to driving style for a moment . . . Doesn't fuel economy follow an output curve like torque and hp? At low rpm, the engine is lugging and you're wasting fuel, so looking for the lowest rpms that the engine will tolerate may not be the answer. I notice, first off, that what eats up the mileage is going from zero to just barely moving and of course whomping the throttle. Once you overcome inertia, gas mileage increases and levels off until, as pointed out, you get up above 70-75. You're turning about 2.9k rpm at this speed, but my perception is that the car eats up more fuel than turning the same rpm in 4th or 5th, at a lower travel speed. I also notice that downshifting rather than braking to slow down also increases the engine efficiency, at least according to the on-board computer. Any of this make sense?

 

A good friend has a Passat TDI. 45 mpg combined.

If you want to ride in the HOV lanes it's cheaper to get a passanger than a hybrid

 

That's true if you are in too high of a gear and giving it more throttle than it can handle at that RPM. Your argument would work if you were going wide open throttle AND shifting low. Your argument has shifting as it's primary variable.

My style has throttle position - which is the KEY factor in fuel ecconomy, period - as the primary variable. I'm not shifing low for the hell of it, I'm shifting low because at small throttle positions, the natural shift points are lower. This is where the increase comes from.

Reducing throttle position works wonders, everytime on any vehicle. How much, depends on the design.

 

The sad fact is that, economically speaking, you've gotta drive a heck of alot of miles to recoup the higher purchase cost of a hybrid. If you want the "cool factor" of a hybrid, go for it; they are pretty cool with the all of the technology, cool dashboard displays and stuff.

It's simple math (just for example - Honda's got the same kinda comparison):

Toyota Prius:
60 city/51 highway (estimated)
approx $23,000 (ROUGHLY - I know you can pay more or less)

Toyota Corolla:
32 city/41 highway (estimated)
approx $15,000 (again - ROUGHLY)

* Not much difference in "real-world" mileage (be honest with yourself ie: lead-foot, A/C running, etc)
* Ya gotta drive a TON of miles to recoup the extra eight grand or so (okay, $4,500 after the tax break)

The bottom line -- if you're thinking of dumping a car to get a high-miler, save your dough and get a cheap fuel-efficient "regular" car. Your wallet will thank you. :smile:

 

I was taught that if you want to drive for best mileage, pretend you have a egg between your right foot and the gas pedal. Always push it very gently. I do that, and I'm getting a consistent 32-33 mpg in mixed driving. I usually shift at 4000. Of course, sometimes I have to scramble that egg.

 

I've attached a short strap with a quick release coupling to my front tow hook.

At stoplights I have my passenger get out and connect it to the giant SUV in front of me. . .

 

I remember a study done years ago, by I think BMW, that found if you get up to cruising speed quickly, not going to WOT, but at a good rate, you would get better MPG than if you doddle along.

 

I tried tht too - getting more out of 1st and 2nd rather than shifting both low and using 3rd and 4th. I got the better mileagle from shifting low.

 

Okay, so I've been trying this more consciously since this thread went up. Kinda fun really. I admit I've never taken time to purposefuly explore the more fuel efficient side of my Cooper. Reminds me of the 'ol breakin period, but I enjoy the challenge. I suppose I'll enjoy it even more when I eventually have to tank up again.

 

Yeah, on the MINI, you'll get better mileage by shifting low. A/F ratio's drop way too low at higher rpm's to be worth it. It's on hybrids that flooring it up to speed is worth it. A lot of my hyper-miler Insight comrads (~100 mpg lifetime) use this method to get up to speed as full electric assist minimizes the time the gas engine is out of it's efficiency range. I've tried this but the amount of charge lost just didn't make it worth it for me. The other thing about this method is that it's really only worth it on onramps or places where there isn't another light for a long way. Driving the Insight for the past five years really gives you a feel for everything the car's doing...from effects of giving it just a little more gas to the A/C cycling on and off.

On the MINI, shifting at or just over 3k rpm seems to give me the best mileage.

 

Another great way to get good mileage on the highway is to use your cruise control (if you've got it and its safe to do so). Get up to some safe and legal speed and lock it in. Also stay over to the right so people can pass you. Even on the highway you are varying your speed constantly owing to road conditions (like you see a big space in front of you so you speed up to eliminate it, slight grades up and down, etc.) which burns off extra fuel. If you do a lot of highway driving you'll easily get another couple MPG by doing this

 

the honda accord hybrid isn't particularly setup for economy.
the electric booster motor actually gives a significant HP bump over the
non-hybrid accord (even w/ the battery pack, this particular hybrid
has better 0-60 times than it's non-hybrid cousin)

that said, i believe it still gets better mpg than the non-hybrid v6.

it's fast and boring!!

 

I'm feeling pretty smart about ordering my '06 Cooper about now, and I'll be interested to see what kind of mpg I can get. I've read some things about how the turbo MC due in '07 will probably get better fuel economy than the supercharger - probably so based on my experience with my '02 TT 225 - I use the "drive like an egg between right foot & accelerator" technique at times, & can get about 26 mpg on mixed hwy./city driving. Not bad for 225 horses.

 

I remember that one too. 3/4 throttle and upshift as soon as possible was the recommendation as I recall.

 

Yeah, cruise control is usually helpful to but you can actually get better mileage without it. Cruise control will increase throttle position for just a small overpass. The idea is to get to a certain throttle position (enough to keep certain speed) and keep it there. Allow the car to slow down while going over an overpass, it'll speed up (and more) on the way back down.

The Insight has a mileage bar right under the instrument cluster. We tell new drivers to find a place on the bar that will keep you at the desired speed on the highway and then try to keep it there. The same principle applies if you don't know your mileage. Just keep the throttle position the same.

 

One important factor can also be tire width. Skinnier tires will increase gas mileage by a fair amount - not sure quite how much in the MINI.