Driving sans hybrid instrumentation experiment

I have been watching the HSI and power flow displays as I drive in ECO mode since day one, and am wondering how much they are helping.

So I am experimenting with a few tanks, driving completely without the hybrid instrumentation, and in NORMAL mode.

I have the HUD displaying speed only, the MFD showing SETTINGS and the date, and the Nav displaying a full size map. I am driving it like a normal car with an automatic transmission with no consideration of how the hybrid system operates. I am flowing with traffic, and exercising common sense, try to anticipate a red light, etc, like I would with a normal car.

I am about done with the first tank. So far the penalty has not been as severe as I had anticipated. I am only gauging this base on the trip end report, as I do not want to look at the number on the trip odometer, since it may influence my driving habit. Short trips seem to suffer a few MPG, and longer trips are as good as normal.

I will post results in this thread as they become available.

 

First tank, 49.6 MPG Calculated. Down 2 MPG from 51.6 last tank. This is #46 on my fuelly page.

 

Thanks. What I am really trying to prove or disprove, is whether that driving consciously in stealth mode (not EV mode), by accelerating slowly and keeping to the left of the centerline in the neighborhoods, would use more gas overall, to recharge the battery later.

Driving without HSI is more relaxing, although more boring.

 

My normal driving habit is to pulse right before the HSI enters the power zone, as long as traffic permits, and glide. When encounter low speed zones like in a neighborhood, I tried to use stealth mode only, pulse right before the middle line on the HSI, then glide, as long as traffic permits, and have enough juice left in the HV battery.

Right now I am driving blind and not caring the HSI. I just got home from a 26 mile trip and the trip end report said 61.9 MPG, which is roughly the same for the same trip under similar weather conditions, using the above technique.