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Hybrid Vehicles Toyota Highlander Hybrid Toyota Highlander Hybrid MPG-Real World Numbers
417 messages, Last post on Oct 16, 2009 at 11:34 AM
You are in the Toyota Highlander Hybrid Forum. Your Host is pf_flyer
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Replying to: stevedebi (May 27, 2008 11:49 am) |
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This past weekend I did a 180 mile round trip. Going out was east against strong (25-30 mph), direct head winds. I got about 24mpg. The return trip was with strong quartering tail winds (I was driving generally west, the winds were from the southeast). I got 33.6mpg. Overall, the round trip was 28 mpg. This is in a 2008 HH with only 2900 miles.
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Replying to: monte8 (May 29, 2008 7:17 am) It looks like Toyota did listen to early adopters and really made the car efficient. I am envious of your 33+ MPG!
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Replying to: cdptrap (May 29, 2008 8:27 am) Mine beat a Jeep 5.7 Hemi in an 1/8th of a mile stoplight launched street drag. The traction batteries have to be fully charged and the preferred technique is a firm steady press on the pedal. There is torque steer. |
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Replying to: cdptrap (May 29, 2008 8:27 am) I am happy with it. I believe that the LA Times review by Dan Neil reported 0-60 mph times of about 6.7 seconds. |
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Replying to: 2008highlander (Mar 17, 2008 11:43 am)
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Replying to: drlonline1 (Nov 15, 2007 1:18 pm)
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Replying to: mevander1 (Jul 14, 2008 3:11 am) We have the '06 and test drove an '08, the following is a combo of our '06 experience and impression of the '08. First off, hypermiling is fun and addictive but unnecessary in most cases unless you want spectacular MPG. If you are a mild driver, then how many people/things you carry, tire pressure, summer vs. winter gas, terrain, traffic patterns and even wind can impact MPG. The heavier the car, the lower the tire pressure, winter gas, challenging terrain, short light-to-light stop and go and stiff headwind can impact MPG from tank to tank. Deal with those factors, hypermiling becomes just a hobby. One thing about jack-rabbiting, the '08 HH is very smooth and quiet (more so than our '06) and can accelerate very quickly (ECON=OFF) without you knowing it. So relearning that characteristic is important. A gentle tap on a gas engine car may be considered "gentle" but the same tap on the HH may have it out-accelerating other cars and come up to speed in a blink. We have had to learn to really soften our tap in our '06, same is true for the '08. 2008 has an EV switch and an "ECON" switch. These two addressed our biggest gripes on our '06 HH. We are really glad Toyota "listened". When batteries are charged up, EV mode allows one to drive 1 mile on electric only, no gas engine at all. On favorable terrain and a stiff tailwind, we rolled the '08 on electric-only for about 1.5 mile in our test drive. The sales guy was impressed and said he would do the same for the next couple test driving the car  . The ECON mode tempers the power curve so that instead of instant torque and get-up performance, it is much slower and gentler with acceleration. This is a fantastic mode to use on gentle rolling terrain on CRUISE. It can really save gas. If we buy the '08, I would have ECON on whenever I can CRUISE. The car cannot self-detect terrain nor your intention so we cannot just drive the '08 HH normally (even when gently) like a gas engine car and expect to get fabulous MPG. We will need to learn the characteristics of the car and its features (EV, ECON) to take full advantage of the available technologies. Our test-drive experience showed that with judicious use of EV and ECON modes, and by picking favorable terrain and traffic pattern, the '08 can get really decent MPG for a mid-size high-power SUV; better than our '06. Without EV and ECON, in challenging terrain, in frequent stop-and-go traffic, MPG will still be better than comparable gas-engine car but may not be as dramatic. It could be a difference of 20-MPG (other SUV) vs. 24-MPG for the '08 HH without any work but 20 vs 26+ if we learn to take advantage of the EV and ECON modes. Our '06 now gets 26-MPG on average on summer gas. If I choose the road carefully and drive 5-MPH lower than posted limit, I can get about 28-MPG. If I hypermile, our '06 eeks out 29+ MPG but our area and traffic pattern rarely allow this. Good luck with your '08 research! |
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Replying to: mevander1 (Jul 14, 2008 3:06 am) If you can live with a smaller car, consider the Ford Escape Hybrid. The FWD is rated at 34 city / 31 highway (2009). They are hard to find, since Ford is only making 25K for 2009. The 2009 has a number of improvements over the 2008. However, it is a smaller vehicle and only seats 5. One other note. The HH rides soft, the FEH rides firm, more like a truck or SUV. |
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Hi, I am happy to report that my average is more than 30 mpg. That is about 85 % highway. I thought that I had to sacrifice speed to get this kind of mileage but not anymore. By driving as if you are driving a bicycle, you get the most fuel economy. That is to say, accelerating when there is downhill and maximizing the use of momentum that is gained, avoid accelerating on uphill but apply the same power as if you are on level ground and let the speed fall as you go up (just like in a bicycle). Coast as much as you can to the next stop. Avoid rapid acceleration and deceleration. I had no problem going above traffic speed and still get more than 30 mpg. In the end, it is all about driving technique since I even get much better highway MPG on my wife's subaru outback (35 mpg). |
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