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Toyota Highlander Hybrid MPG-Real World Numbers

417 messages,  Last post on Oct 16, 2009 at 11:34 AM

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What is this discussion about? Toyota Highlander Hybrid, Fuel Efficiency (MPG), SUV

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#398 of 417 22 MPG??? by mcgusto May 17, 2009 (10:39 pm)
My wife and I just went through our first tank of gas with our 09 HH Limited. 311 miles total and 14.4 gallons to fill the tank. (21.59 mpg) I would say the driving was 50-50 city/highway. 22mpg seems a lot lower than we would expect. Any ideas on why this would be? We have been using the air conditioning, probably at least 50% of the time. Could it make that much of a difference?   Tire pressures on the display were showing a variance from 33 to 43 psi, but when I checked at the gas station (manually), all were just above 31psi.   Also, could someone post the major points of getting the best gas mileage? I read through the first 9 pages of this post, but to go through all 40 pages...UGH!   Thanks in advance,   Gusto   p.s. I notice the gas engine will frequently turn on when we turn the car on, even while we're sitting in the driveway and the battery shows almost a full charge. Is this normal? Replies to this message: pf_flyer (May 18, 2009 2:43 am) cdptrap (May 20, 2009 1:34 pm)
#399 of 417 Re: 22 MPG??? [mcgusto] by pf_flyer HOST May 18, 2009 (2:43 am)
Replying to: mcgusto (May 17, 2009 10:39 pm) I think I'd wait for more than one tank of gas to make any judgment about mileage performance, especially the first tank of gas. I'd wager that once you fill it up, run it through the next tank of gas, fill it again and do the calculation that you're going to see a higher number.
#400 of 417 A few keys from our experience by fishferbrains May 18, 2009 (3:04 am)
For us it was a combination of things and it took substantial time before we saw increased improvements.   1 - Multiple tanks of gas to break in. It really took 2000 miles or so to stabilize our mileage. 2 - Driving habits. Anticipating accelerations and learn to "glide" helped a bit. 3- Tire inflation. We inflated to the tire limits and that helped a bit. 4- Location, location, location. - We lived in a relatively hilly area and those short trips always included going up and down a series of moderate "hills". When we moved to the (flat) burbs our mileage improved by about 3-4 mpg.   Good luck, be patient and enjoy the ride. It's not a bad car at all.
#401 of 417 35.3 MPG by monte8 May 20, 2009 (12:28 pm)
Last week I had to drive 350 miles to Duluth, MN (from ND) for my daughter's college graduation. I made it to Duluth on 10.02 gallons of gas, 353 miles between fill-ups. I admit there was a brisk tail wind for the first 200 miles.   I returned hauling almost 500 lbs. of my daughter's possessions in the back of the car. That dropped my milage to 29.5 for the first 655 miles of the trip (I filled up about 85 miles east of home).
#402 of 417 Re: 22 MPG??? [mcgusto] by cdptrap May 20, 2009 (1:34 pm)
Replying to: mcgusto (May 17, 2009 10:39 pm) The '06 HH always runs the ICE for 30 seconds or so from a cold start to warm up the engine. This is normal. We complained about this way back in 2005 but I guess there is no way around this.
#403 of 417 re:22mpg by mcgusto May 21, 2009 (9:04 am)
Thanks for the tips and knowledge in dealing with the hybrid system. It just struck me as kind of odd only getting 22mpg, when on this forum I routinely see people recording 26mpg+. Something's telling me my wife is running the air conditioning more than I'm aware of (Here in SoCal we have had almost 2+ weeks over 80 degrees). Does anyone have any experience with lower mpg due to excessive air conditioning use? We also just had our tire pressure adjusted, and the tires are reading 32-34psi.   Thanks again,   Gusto Replies to this message: mmccloskey (May 21, 2009 12:29 pm) monte8 (May 21, 2009 7:29 pm) mcgusto (Jun 25, 2009 8:56 pm) wvgasguy (Jun 26, 2009 8:15 am) bobok (Oct 15, 2009 8:28 am)
#404 of 417 re:22mpg [mcgusto] by mmccloskey May 21, 2009 (12:29 pm)
Replying to: mcgusto (May 21, 2009 9:04 am) Greetings:   I don't have a 2008-09 HH, I have a 2007 HH FWD. I reside in central VA. Anyway, I believe the A/C in the 2006-2009 HH is electric and runs off the battieries so it shouldn't have that much of an affect on your MPG. I was stuck in a traffic backup for about 20 minutes last Summer. The ICE was off most of the time but did cycle on/off for brief periods to keep the batteries at a certain level while the A/C continued to pump out cold air. I have been averaging 26-27 MPG during the cooler months and have gotten over 29 MPG during the Spring/Summer early Fall timeframe. I've had my HH for a bit over 2 years and am extremely pleased with the overall quality, performance and MPG.   Regards -   M. J. McCloskey
#405 of 417 re:22mpg [mcgusto] by monte8 May 21, 2009 (7:29 pm)
Replying to: mcgusto (May 21, 2009 9:04 am) Yes, running the A/C does lower your gas milage. The A/C is electric (as opposed to being belt driven from crank shaft pulley), but the electricity is supplied, in part, by the ICE driven alternator/generator. I believe that the A/C in the HH has less effect on the milage than on belt driven A/C compressors.   There are sites on hyper-miling you might want to read. The first thing is to increase your tire pressure. I run mine (2008 HH) at 39 psi. This is within the limits for the tires.
#406 of 417 06 HH MPG by annielouwho Jun 17, 2009 (2:03 pm)
I've had my 06 HH sinc the first of May. I have driven almost 2,000 miles and averaged 25.1 MPG. 90% of my driving is city and 10% is highway. This is a huge improvement over the 14 MPG that I was getting in my '00 Explorer 4x4!
#407 of 417 re:22mpg [mcgusto] by mcgusto Jun 25, 2009 (8:56 pm)
Replying to: mcgusto (May 21, 2009 9:04 am) I just wanted to follow up on my previous messages. Like I said before, my wife is the primary driver our new HH Limited, and I had expressed concern over her first 2 tanks of gas returning only 22mpg.   This past week I had the pleasure of being the sole driver of our HH for 2 straight days, and drove it over a 100 miles with a mix of city and highway driving, probably 50-50. By doing the things previously stated on the board - we had just filled the tank up the day before- I was averaging between 25-27 mpg. I quickly came to realize my wife wasn't adjusting her driving style to the hybrid synergy drive.   A couple of quick notes: 1. Trying to coast as much as possible 2. Trying to keep the power meter on the very bottom 2 bars seems to use the electric motor more 3. Cruise control on the freeway - Speeds of 75mph returning around 24-25mpg 4. Gently depressing the break while coasting downhill to optimize battery recharge 5. Letting your foot OFF the gas pedal when not accelerating (This kind of goes with coasting, but it's kind of habit, at least for me and my wife).   We did not inflate the tires up to 35psi yet. They're still running around 30-31 psi, so I'm thinking this will increase mileage a bit more too.   Thanks to all who've contributed to this forum.   Gusto Replies to this message: wvgasguy (Jun 26, 2009 8:15 am) bobok (Oct 15, 2009 8:28 am)

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