Who drives his c like a non-hybrid car? And what MPG do you get?

it is hard to get under 40 unless you floor it every singe time.

 

I don't have a C, but I find that the worst thing I do for mileage is short jaunts, like to a near-by grocery store and back. Coupled with my affection for the Power button, I usually see mileage in the 30's unless I combine multiple errands and let the technology warm up.

My work commute is 25 miles, and 80% freeway. No matter how I have driven my route to work, I have never seen less than 50 MPG. I try to set the cruise at 65-68 MPH, but sometimes traffic is too thick/spastic. I don't, however, see the EPA city mileage numbers, nor do I really endeavor to hypermile around town. hope this helps

 

I recently bought one about 3 weeks ago. I actually put up a post on the 43mpg avg I have been getting. I hear all these other comments and am jealous when I see the 50's because I haven't gotten that in a tank. You really have to be a grandma driver to get that. Even then I don't get it on the interstate. Mine has 13oo miles. I'm in hopes it does better when broken in better.

 

I have a c, rav 4 v 6, and a tundra. I drive them all about the same. My overall mileage for 8900 miles is 51.2.
I don't hyper mile...never pushed the Eco button or any of that stuff. These things get good mileage!

 

I am betting that trying to drive like a grandma is a cause of your low mileage.
Drive like you always did, and add gentle braking far in advance. See how that works for you.

 

43 MPG when in rice rocket mode, 55 when in miser mode.

 

If he's a truly conservative driver he should do pretty well. Conservative driving implements a lot of hypermiling practice like buffering, anticipation, driving without brakes and generally not driving like a bat out of hell.

So, assuming he's not driving wastefully the information we'd need is:
- typical journey lengths
- climate
- terrain
- speed and traffic

 

I traded in an '08 Subaru STi that was modified and very fast for my PC2. On day 2 of ownership I went on a 550 mile road trip. I had no knowledge of pulse and glide, hypermiling, etc... I do tend to think that I am a smooth driver (just my opinion mind you...) My trip was from mid state Illinois to I-80 thru the Chicago traffic, into mid Michigan and back again to Illinois. I was driving as I was accustomed to, keeping with the flow of traffic, passing when I could but not driving like a jackass, although for a portion I did weave my way thru traffic with a couple of other cars just to see what this little C2 could do. I was very happy with the way the car performed (I actually felt there was a little bit of the STi in my C) Here's a pic from that trip

 

I realise Fuelly will be biased towards people who think about fuel economy and drive to suit, but they do show an average of 51.5 across 321 vehicles.

For me I find short trips the killer. My drive to work is about 4.3 miles with an elevation gain (of about 260 feet). My indicated fuel economy for these runs lives or dies by how my warm up stages went which set the scene for the rest of the trip. Once that blowout has occured, it is then a battle to wrestle something vaguely respectable from the disaster. Half way through my commute my average to that point will be 23.5-29.4 mpg at best. I consider it a good day if I manage to hit 5.0 l/100km (47.0 mpg) by the time I get to work, although as time goes on I find I get this more and more. To manage this I need to pulse and glide as much as I can manage once the warm up is complete. I have once - with a spectacularly good run - managed to hit 4.5 l/100km (52.3 mpg).

Where do my averages come from? They come from the weekends, when I drive longer runs and the warm up cycle becomes almost irrelevant. Driving to my mother's place is 13 miles and I can get 4.0 l/100km (58.8 mpg) without really trying. My record for that run is 3.2 l/100km (73.5 mpg).

Keep in mind that the c does a lot to encourage you and more than one person has come here swearing that they weren't going to change when they got the c, then a few weeks later reporting that they had found their driving style changing anyway... keep that ECO Score screen on the display is my advice.

 

Well, I would get more but I drive a ton of freeway. I live in South LA and work in Woodland Hills. If you do not know the area, you can map it out. But I go up a large hill twice a day that kills the MPG

I do drive conservatively. Not super, just keep up with traffic and coast to the red lights.

On my way home in traffic now, that I do not need to use the AC I am getting 70-80mpg.

 

When I had mine on a car club fall color tour, I drove the piss out of it just to keep a respectable pace compared to all the hot hatches and sports cars I was with. I still got 48 mpg for the tank, though that would've been mid-to-low 40's on winter blend fuel if I had to guesstimate.

The more you floor it, the more you end up coasting and regen-braking, as it turns out.

High-speed [Interstate] and super-short trips are biggest fuel suckers.

 

It takes will power not to drive more efficiently in this car. When you have a readout in your face telling you your MPG you tend to drive differently. Even the people that say they drive their car normally have probably changed the way they drive slightly. Its hard to say "driving normal" if you have been driving a C for any amount of time.

 

I get over 50. I worry only about two things:

a) minimize braking (useful on non-hybrids, as well)
b) maximizing use of electric mode ONLY if I happen to notice my battery levels nearing peak capacity (indicating waste energy available).

I also find that mine gets good mileage in the city, perhaps even better than the highway. But the others are correct: the engine MUST be warmed up before the 50mpg+ can be achieved, whether city or highway. I suspect that those who find low city MPG are finding this not because of the nature of city driving, but rather because a higher percentage of city driving tends to with the engine not fully warmed up.

I also have found that one can drive too much like a grandma when accelerating. My perception is that it can sometimes be more efficient to accelerate quicker and reach high-mpg cruise, rather than accelerate less, spending less time in cruise mode. I have not reached a specific conclusion regarding optimum acceleration, but I suspect it best to go into electric assist mode when accelerating.

BTW, these findings are consistent with my former hybrid, the Honda Insight (the real one...not that model they are selling now).

 

I was getting 54mpg driving it "like a hybrid" for the first few months. For the last few months I've been driving it kind of aggressively at times, pretty much what you'd call "normal" driving and have been averaging 48-50mpg. My car's average is still above 51mpg.

 

This.

I was an aggressive and very fast driver before I got my c. When you have gauges in front of you that coax you into accelerating and braking a little slower than normal, it's really hard to drive like a maniac (like I used to). On my trip back from the dealer I got 51.5 mpg. I knew nothing of hypermiling, I just took it a little easy and watched the screens.

I'm no hybrid expert, but as a recent convert, I can tell you it grows on you. If your son already drives 'conservatively' he should see a nice transition. I have done very little except slow down and pay better attention to my surroundings, and I've had some really fantastic trip mileage (63, 57, 55 mpgs on various trips in the last couple days). My tank average so far (~150miles) is 50mpg on the dot.

The temperature makes a bit of difference, as well as the local terrain (hills/elevation during commute). The c was really made to scoot around town.

How is the c shopping going? How did the test drive go?

 

We drive normally and average 53 mpg over the last 3 fill ups.