my2cents

Thanks JAZ. Very informative post. Your trip is very similar to the type of driving vacation my wife and I like to take. I live in SW MI now but I'm originally from Detroit so I can relate to driving in the Detroit area.

I'm well aware of the EPA highway test average of 48 MPH with a top speed of 60 MPH. Here's a link: http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/fe_test_schedules.shtml My question was very specific @70 MPH because within recent memory I've been able to achieve EPA highway numbers @70 MPH with my vehicles. Most recently I'ved gotten 25 MPG with my AWD Ford Fusion @70 (EPA of 25) and I've gotten 32mph with my Mazda 3 @70 (EPA of 31). I've done that consistently (of course under good weather conditions). Generally what I've read is don't expect to consistently hit (or even come close) to the 47 MPG EPA rating with the Cmax @70 MPH. I thought I would check on this forum what real world numbers the members are getting. My last long road trip with my Fusion was 5300 miles. We traveled the interstate to SoCal from MI went up through the High Sierras to Reno/Lake Tahoe and returned via Interstate and averaged 26 MPG for the trip. I live in a small town and we don't really have heavy city stop and go traffic. So yes my driving is heavily biased to interstates. I'm beginning to think there's not enough fuel savings with a Cmax over other conventional cars given the way I'll use the car.

Thanks for the input. My next test drives will be a Mazda 3 (highway 39 mpg) and a Ford Focus (highway 36 mpg). Then I'll make a decision.

Hi everybody I'm new to the forum, Stopped by the dealer yesterday to test drive a CMAX. I've never driven a hybrid before and I'm looking for a new car so I thought I'd check it out. I'm aware of the controversy about the gas mileage (recent lawsuits). I went on about a 30 minute test drive in cloudy, chilly (about 50 degrees) SW MI. Overall I was favorably impressed with the handling and the ride. But I was really focused on the MPGs. Here's my results. Leaving the dealership and doing about 25 MPH through town the car was on EV (999.9 MPG), doing 45 MPH on the way to the interstate yielded a consistent 48 MPG, on the interstate I first set the cruise on 60 MPH and got 35 MPG and then set the cruise on 70 MPH and got 30 MPG. I'm wondering about the real world cruising @70 MPH on the interstate MPGs. Is the 30 MPG I saw on a short test drive really indicative of what I could expect to see once the car had several thousand miles on the engine? Or what is your experience @70 MPH?