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We generally drive cross-country and back (AZ - MA) once a year so highway driving is around 50% of total mileage. Our supercharged Audi A6 gets between 30mpg and 33mpg depending on the stretch of highway. Best is generally Albuquerque to Oklahoma City which is a gentle downhill and which we can do on one tank of gas.
I check my MPG with each tank of gas. My average around town is 30 with virtually no highway miles. True, a hybrid would give me better MPG around town, until power runs out and it's all gas engine. The other factor is cost of initial purchase. Dealers like to point out the money you'll save over time with gas. But that recovery of price difference depends on time of ownership, price of gas, and the type of daily driving you do. A compact sedan priced between $15 to $20 thousand dollars offering 30 MPG city/40 MPG hwy is a better deal in the long run. Have the benefit of good fuel economy in the city, great fuel economy on the highway, no loss of fuel economy with heater running, and a slight loss of fuel economy with AC running and still have plenty of power for acceleration and steep roads. Heck, at one time back in the mid to late 70s some V8 cars were lucky to get 145 HP and my 1.8L 4 banger has that much. Those who drove cars of the mid70s to mid80s know what are truly slow cars. I'm fine with my acceleration.
I see a lot of comments on articles, posts on forums, etc where self-proclaimed car enthusiast declare that so-and-so hybrid car makes no sense because some other small car gets better gas mileage. Or that a Corvette gets the same gas mileage as a compact car.
Generally people seem to be focusing on the highway gas mileage, but for most commuters that is an irrelevant number! If there is even the smallest bit of traffic on your commute, or if the highway is anything but perfectly flat, highway mpg isn't what you'll get. You'll get city mpg, which is where hybrids clobber conventional cars.
Do people actually check what fuel economy they're getting?
Do you have a hybrid? If so, what are your fuel economy numbers and type of roads you drive on?
Do you have a hybrid? If so, what are your fuel economy numbers and type of roads you drive on?
Kind of funny but if you look at something like the Prius the MPG is actually lower on the highway than it's rated for around town.Firstly you have all that extra weight to drag around, the battery and everything else is somewhat dead weight on the highway for long trips. I'd imagine it also has to be run at higher RPM's, I wonder what speed they are using for rating it?
What kind of MPG does it get at 75MPH when you're going to need a lot gas to keep that speed? Does it go 75MPH? LOL
I see a lot of comments on articles, posts on forums, etc where self-proclaimed car enthusiast declare that so-and-so hybrid car makes no sense because some other small car gets better gas mileage. Or that a Corvette gets the same gas mileage as a compact car.
Generally people seem to be focusing on the highway gas mileage, but for most commuters that is an irrelevant number! If there is even the smallest bit of traffic on your commute, or if the highway is anything but perfectly flat, highway mpg isn't what you'll get. You'll get city mpg, which is where hybrids clobber conventional cars.
Do people actually check what fuel economy they're getting?
I must be one of those self proclaimed enthusiasts with only about 24 yrs of hands on experience of working on my and friends cars. So what do I know. Also, I happen to own two hybrid vehicles.
As of course my opinion does not count to a self proclaimed guru of automotives, I can only safely say that hybrid cars, as I know them, actually do real well in exactly that - HWY traffic and do just opposite in city driving. NORMAL city driving mpg - red lights, accelerations and traffic kills hybrid performance as system practically works like a normal ICE. I had MULTIPLE mpg graphs posted at say toyiotanation proving that, cleartly showing mpg drop the very moment I enter Seattle proper traffic.
I have no idea what EPA or Toyota uses for city cycle estimates but I know 200% that it is very far away from what the reality is. Maybe in small townships with no traffic and one street light or somewhere in hybrid heaven of Florida that is the case, but otherwise - I do get much better mpg in HWY traffic and on long backroads where I coast below 42mph.
But then again - what do I know, right?
I see a lot of comments on articles, posts on forums, etc where self-proclaimed car enthusiast declare that so-and-so hybrid car makes no sense because some other small car gets better gas mileage. Or that a Corvette gets the same gas mileage as a compact car.
Generally people seem to be focusing on the highway gas mileage, but for most commuters that is an irrelevant number! If there is even the smallest bit of traffic on your commute, or if the highway is anything but perfectly flat, highway mpg isn't what you'll get. You'll get city mpg, which is where hybrids clobber conventional cars.
Do people actually check what fuel economy they're getting?
This is a good point. I've noticed that over the years, I would think of my car's mileage as what it got once in a great while, gas station to gas station with a trip between of all freeway driving; something I rarely do and that I suspect most drivers rarely do. My actual day to day driving, with maybe half of the tank used on a freeway, was significantly worse. But manufacturers love to tout that highest possible number in their advertising and most drivers play along.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 28173
At $2/gal it does not matter for most....
Fuel waste is a more important issue than dollar waste to many people. Sounds like you might advocate both?
Quote:
Originally Posted by victimofGM
Do you have a hybrid? If so, what are your fuel economy numbers and type of roads you drive on?
Bought one a year ago, a 2014 Ford Fusion. It is my self-powered mobile-phone-booth-with-a-gen-set-powered-air-conditioner, with battery-backup. It is the perfect vehicle for living and darting around an overcrowded, auto dependent city with a very hot climate. Every time I sit at a light (often) the engine shuts off and the a/c keeps on blowing cold; it's a great car for in car meetings, etc. It gets me 45 mpg without ever breaking a sweat. This is not some of the time, this is all of the time since day one to now, 15,000 miles later. It includes several out of town highway trips at 75 to 80 mph, when the mileage goes down slightly. It cost me a whopping 4 grand more than the same car with a straight gas driveline. Oh yeah, and the styling (same as the other Fusions) doesn't say "look at me, how virtuous I am." It's a 5 passenger sedan of normal size. The honeymoon is still on.
Do people actually check what fuel economy they're getting?
I check mine almost every time I fill up just out of curiosity. One car averages between 11-12, while the other car averages between 15-17. And I'd say more than half of my driving is on highways.
I check mine almost every time I fill up just out of curiosity. One car averages between 11-12, while the other car averages between 15-17. And I'd say more than half of my driving is on highways.
Screw MPG, I need a 4WD eight months out of the year. I am not going to die in a vehicle because I can't afford the gas. My trucks get 18 MPG around town. I drive maybe 6K miles a year. I'm good with that footprint. Kill me now.
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