40 mpg ?? Tell us how you do it !

[rtb3rd]

Okay. I give up. 3000 miles now, and we need to know how some of you who claim to average 40+ mpg are doing it !

No deep technical stuff here - just list 2 or 3 things you do, or the conditions under which you drive, that gets you those results. Such as:
"Everything is downhill where I live." or, "I like holding up traffic while I mosey along at 10-30 m.p.h. on my electric motor." or, "I purposely take forever and a day to get up to 55 m.p.h."

Seriously, though, many of us who can get 32-34 mpg without even trying, can only get 36 when we try real hard !! So - you will be doing many of your fellow TCH owners and the environment a true service by letting us in on your secrets. It will also be good for my health since the only reason my wife let me get the car was because I swore to her it would get over 40 mpg.

[Jer]

We've had our car a few weeks now and are getting ~40mpg. We're not too committed to it either. Just accelerate briskly (not WOT) to the speed and then set the cruise. I think one of the keys here is using the cruise almost all the time. I will also take the cruise off well before the stop and coast to a stop instead of locking up the brakes as you arrive at the stop point the way some people do. NEVER use the 'B' setting on the transmission as this forces the gas engine to cycle on to allow for engine compression braking. This takes your consumption to 60mpg which is still pretty good but leaving it in 'D' and coasting or braking to a stop allows the gas engine to stay off entirely in most cases. Also, EV mode doesn't kick in above 42mph so I find myself cruising at 40mph sometimes when I normally might do like 43mph or 44mph or even more. We also haven't needed the A/C too much so that helps as well. Also, make sure you use at least 87oct as 85oct will cause decreased fuel economy as well.

So, accelerate moderately to your desired speed to take advantage of your battery as soon as possible and use your cruise as it keeps from surging the gas for no reason.

[Jer]

Originally Posted by Jer

We've had our car a few weeks now and are getting ~40mpg. We're not too committed to it either. Just accelerate briskly (not WOT) to the speed and then set the cruise. I think one of the keys here is using the cruise almost all the time. I will also take the cruise off well before the stop and coast to a stop instead of locking up the brakes as you arrive at the stop point the way some people do. NEVER use the 'B' setting on the transmission as this forces the gas engine to cycle on to allow for engine compression braking. This takes your consumption to 60mpg which is still pretty good but leaving it in 'D' and coasting or braking to a stop allows the gas engine to stay off entirely in most cases. Also, EV mode doesn't kick in above 42mph so I find myself cruising at 40mph sometimes when I normally might do like 43mph or 44mph or even more. We also haven't needed the A/C too much so that helps as well. Also, make sure you use at least 87oct as 85oct will cause decreased fuel economy as well.

So, accelerate moderately to your desired speed to take advantage of your battery as soon as possible and use your cruise as it keeps from surging the gas for no reason.

Edit: (even though somebody doesn't see it fit for me to have an edit button) we also live at high elevation where fuel economy isn't as good as y'all at lower elevations since our vehicles have 20-25% less power which means we almost have to floor the gas to get anywhere.

[Ed_T]

All good advice posted above. To add a datapoint, at ~sea level I'm getting
41.+ mpg using techniques to minimize gas engine use. Accelerating on downhills helps immensely versus accelerating uphill or on the flats. If done with a careful foot the mileage needle stays at the upper end. Slowly letting speed decrease on uphills helps also.

Hyper-milers use a pulse-and-glide technique. Cruise control on the highway is very important as previously stated. Steady speed is your friend with the caveats above. Foot off the gas well in advance of a slowdown or stop is a major plus as well as Jer stated.

[rtb3rd]

Thanks for the tips.

Another question: Has anyone determined an optimal speed at which to set the cruise for the highway?

[Jer]

Originally Posted by rtb3rd

Thanks for the tips.

Another question: Has anyone determined an optimal speed at which to set the cruise for the highway?

Since there isn't a power band due to the CVT there really isn't a sweet spot where the available engine power is greater than the wind resistance (w/o getting into physics here) so the slower you go the better for fuel economy. That's why the people getting 80mpg in the Prius Hybrids are doing 55mph on the highways. For me, I prefer to get to wherever I'm going at normal pace so I'll be happy with setting my cruise a couple mph above 75mph and losing a mpg or two as my time is valuable and I can put a price on it and it's higher than traveling at 55mph on the highway for 2 more mpg.

So, to summarize, I really don't think a sweet spot exists with these cars and as you increase your speed your fuel consumption will also increase exponentially as wind resistance increases with each mph.

[Superkane]

The slower the better *until* you drop out of the longest gearing.

[Jer]

Originally Posted by Superkane

The slower the better *until* you drop out of the longest gearing.

No... it's a CVT so there is no 'longest gearing'. It requires more energy with each MPH faster you want to go so this means less fuel economy. If it had a transmission with gears in it then this would not be the case.

[Ed_T]

Originally Posted by rtb3rd

Thanks for the tips.

Another question: Has anyone determined an optimal speed at which to set the cruise for the highway?

The sweet spot is where you stay at the highest mpg the longest. This would vary per road.

[Jer]

Originally Posted by Ed_T

The sweet spot is where you stay at the highest mpg the longest. This would vary per road.

Read my previous post. There is no sweet spot on a vehicle w/a Continually Variable Transmission as that's the point of a CVT. So, since RPMs are varied your mpg will decrease as your cruising speed increases and the increased drag will take more power to overcome.

[ksyrah]

I know they call it a CVT but, as I understand, its not really a true CVT. I have found that you need to find the "sweet spot" where the gearing will actually go higher. In my TCH, the "sweet spot" is between 75 and 80 MPH. I can cruise there and get 40 MPG. I have found that at lower speeds, it has a hard time staying in the right gearing/ratio. I hate the around town mileage. In most instances my Highlander does just as well. There seems to be no rhyme or reason when it will run on juice. Frustrates the hell out of me. But I have noticed at times when I'm on juice, the speedo will read 47 before the motor starts and other times at 30, it won't run on juice. And yes, the battery bars on the display are green.

[stevil]

Haven't been driving my TCH for long, but I have found one technique that seems to work well - as indicated in the manual, get yourself to speed smoothly (don't worry about using the gas engine for this).

Once at speed, I find that, if I remove my foot from the accelerator, and then place it back down, feathering it to maintain speed, the MPG display will improve dramatically (if, of course, I'm not travelling up a moderate to steep grade).

[EugeneC]

Originally Posted by Jer

Read my previous post. There is no sweet spot on a vehicle w/a Continually Variable Transmission as that's the point of a CVT. So, since RPMs are varied your mpg will decrease as your cruising speed increases and the increased drag will take more power to overcome.

If it's like the Prius (Hybrid synergy drive) and I believe it is, it isn't a CVT transmission. It emulates it but that's it. Actually there isn't any transmission at all. It's one engine, two motors and a torque splitter unlike a CVT belt and colapsible pulley system. There are a couple links in the Prius section that describe the whole system. It's worth the read, sorry you will have to find the link.

As a way of comparison on Prius mileage and TCH, I recently got back from a 3500 mile trip in my Prius. I crossed the continental divide three times, the AC on for the whole trip. I averaged 47.06 at an average speed of 75-80. My around town mileage is similar driving it like a normal car. TCH must be considerably less due to extra weight etc. I almost bought a TCH but the small trunk was not acceptable. Still not sure which one I would like best.

[LOL TCH]

Let me start off by saying that I'm not an engineer. But it sure would be nice to have an advanced degree to help figure out some of Toyota's secrets. So far I have over 20k miles on the car and I'm constantly impressed with it. My MFD displays over 50mpg all the time now. The best thing I've done so far is to read what Prius owners do. Check out Cleanmpg.com or Priuschat.com for some tips. They've been doing this alot longer than we have. Most of their tips for higher mileage apply to the TCH. When they start talking about specific numbers (rpm and such) I tend to fade since this is a different car. One thing I've discovered is that the learning curve is about as long as the break-in period (a good 5k miles). The engine really settles down after this period. I wouldn't expect too much until you reach that point. Here are some things I would suggest for better mileage.
1. Take it very easy for the first few miles on a cold engine. I try to creep along under 30mph without stopping for about 2 miles. It usually takes me about 1.8 miles to get the water temp to 150-160 deg which is where I find car able to go into the EV mode. It takes a long time to recover from this cold engine- gas guzzling hit. Driving slow seems to minimize this.
2. I never use the cruise control. Maintain or better yet bleed off speed on inclines, get back up to speed on declines. I'm only talking about a few mph difference here. You don't want to mess with the flow of traffic. CC is only good for ICE only cars.
3. Only use the EV mode when your positive that you can recharge the battey or else on the last 2 miles or so of your commute (the battery will recharge the next time you start). I find going into the EV mode too often hurts my overall mpg.
4. Coast.
5. Do the speed limit or slower. Again, don't mess with traffic.
6. Find an alternate route. You may find that secondary roads will get you where you want to go in about the same amount of time with better FE.
7. Avoid freeways. There's too much drag at speeds greater than 65. Although one good point for taking the freeway is that they're generally flatter than secondary roads.
8. Try using warp stealth. When coasting with your foot off the pedal, gently re-apply just enough pressure so that the MFD shows only one arrow going from the battery to the wheels. This will eliminate regen braking letting you coast further. This is the equivalent of high speed EV mode. It uses battery power but don't expect to maintain speed just a longer coast.
9. The TCH does have a sweet-spot between about 45-52 mph. Try this. Accelerate to 52mph, ease off the pedal so that the engine sounds as if it's lugging. Let the speed bleed off very slightly just remember to keep the engine load high. As the speed decreases, watch your fuel consumption gauge. It should drop quickly to 60mpg and stay there! At that point my ScanGauge tells me I'm cruising between 70 and 110mpg. I can usually hold this for a several miles. You can also do this while accelerating from 45mph. When going up a slight incline, give the car just enough gas so that it sounds like it's gasping for air. you'll get the same result. If you press too hard on the pedal the engine will speed up and you'll have to start all over again. My best stretch was about 56mpg for 150 miles using this technique and careful EV mode use. I've only been able to do this between these speeds. When practicing this, turn the radio and A/C off and close the windows. The best indication that your doing this correctly is by ear. The car will go dead silent. All you will hear is tire noise. Also, the MFD will indicate power coming from both the battery and the engine although it doesn't discharge the battery like pure EV mode does. It helps to have a fully charged battery. That's why I avoid the EV mode. My mileage is usually in the low 50's in the city and upper 40's on the highway. It gets easy to do once your right foot muscle memory is there.
10. I've never bothered with P&G since the only way to do it in the Camry is by shifting to neutral.
Hope this helps.

-Ed

[Jer]

This is all very interesting.