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I've stopped looking at my mpg!!


reedmother
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I'm sick of driving and constantly looking at my gauges. I'm giving it up!!  Cold turkey!  My little information screen now just has miles to go before fill-up (boring, I know) 47 average mpg can't be achieved, so it's fruitless to keep obsessing about it. I've got 4K on the car. Had it 6 months. I was up to 44 average mpg, then the dealer did an oil change, and I haven't been able to average more than 42 mpg. Same driver, same roads and I haven't been using AC yet.  So I surrender! I'm just going to enjoy the car.......and not think about when it's in EV mode anymore.  It  drives nicely and I don't put gas in it very often, so this should free up some space in my brain for other things.  Kind of liberating.

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FE driving is not for everyone and as u found out, may detract from enjoying the car. As well, gauge watching is extremely dangerous, like learning to drum with both hands..takes practice.  Anyway, keep posting and driving as there is so much good things to talk about  :shift:  &  :)

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I used to drive a Camry hybrid, that my husband now drives, and I did the same thing. Had one eye on the EV mode gauge most of the time - and would creep into the driveway or post office just to get it to an even 45 mpg before I stopped or some damn thing like that.  I just wish the EPA mpg was 44, then we could all relax :)

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I'm with you reed mother I can't get a consistent AvMPg to go past 44 driving the same roads everyday.  It is so exhausting that I'm ready to just say the hell with it and just enjoy the ride for what it is at 38-44Avmpg

 

I had a Camry Hybrid and watched for a few years. It does become exhausting

I don't watch that close anymore.

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I am a hyper-miler by my very nature. That being said, I do enjoy ignoring the MPG at times and just driving the car with the windows down and hitting the gas from time to time.

 

Honestly, with Jus blowing me away on his latest tank, I am not too concerned with staying in the lead in the MPG race. So, though I am still paying attention to my mpg, I am beginning to have more fun with the car too. I love throwing the car through a hard corner to show off to whoever is in the car with me that this "Fat hybrid" really does handle exceptionally well.   :)

 

I love nearly everything about this car.

 

Matt

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What Matt and I do is pushing the limits of this car in a real world driving. No loops around a test circuit. It ain't easy to clock up these miles and MPG but it really has thought me so much more about roads/terrain, traffic and driver behavior which when I was driving a gas car, I was one of Mr Oblivious.  However what I find is that my hypermiling is now "normal" driving and I reap the rewards of passing gas stations and waiting in line & saving beer/food money. 

 

I think we all forget we have choices with this Cmax, no push buttons.... jus your right feet. No right way to drive nor wrong and whatever expectations you have, it's all you to keep or change. 

 

Blue pill or the red pill?

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I get 54-57 MPG going to work every day and about 40-45 going home. My overall average is 48 right now.   Of course Its not warm and I dont really drive much over 60.  I drive 20 miles each way to work.  Half of it is a busy freeway.

 

My wife drives 1.5 miles to work and she can't get over 38MPG.  Clearly there is a warm up penalty. 

 

I reset my lifetime once I got past breakin and a few hiccups where I forgot to turn the car off (Its so quiet).

 

I do notice big drops if I go back to my old behavior and play race games with other cars or I run the AC.

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Cold turkey? Go for it!  Have an enjoyable and safe ride and hey - you're still going to get twice (yes, 2x) what we got in the "sixties".  My MPG interest comes the old fashioned way, "inherited" from my dad.  60 years ago he was thrilled to break 20 mpg in a Rambler Classic sedan with a good ol' OHV straight six, three speed on the column and, oh yes, overdrive!  And that would have been on 55 mph roads.  Plus you don't have to change oil every 3000 miles, change spark plugs, points and condenser over and over, adjust the "dwell" and the "timing", get new tires 4 times as often, fiddle with all the carburetor adjustments, get a "grease job", hope the "choke" worked properly in cold weather, remember the different starting techniques for cold weather, hot weather, cold engine, hot engine, flooded engine - good grief - I better stop.

 

So yeah, just relax and enjoy your C-Max! :)

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I get 54-57 MPG going to work every day and about 40-45 going home. My overall average is 48 right now.   Of course Its not warm and I dont really drive much over 60.  I drive 20 miles each way to work.  Half of it is a busy freeway.

 

My wife drives 1.5 miles to work and she can't get over 38MPG.  Clearly there is a warm up penalty. 

 

I reset my lifetime once I got past breakin and a few hiccups where I forgot to turn the car off (Its so quiet).

 

I do notice big drops if I go back to my old behavior and play race games with other cars or I run the AC.

Yeah - that happened to my wife one time - the car was in the garage when I came home, with the lights on (since it is otherwise dark in there), and the avg mileage had gone down some, so all I can figure is she left the car "on", and as soon as the battery level went down, the engine would start and charge the batter for the next cycle.  Now, she makes sure she see "Thanks for driving a hybrid" before she leaves the car

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Yeah - that happened to my wife one time - the car was in the garage when I came home, with the lights on (since it is otherwise dark in there), and the avg mileage had gone down some, so all I can figure is she left the car "on", and as soon as the battery level went down, the engine would start and charge the batter for the next cycle.  Now, she makes sure she see "Thanks for driving a hybrid" before she leaves the car

That could have been dangerous because of carbon monoxide.

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Yeah - that happened to my wife one time - the car was in the garage when I came home, with the lights on (since it is otherwise dark in there), and the avg mileage had gone down some, so all I can figure is she left the car "on", and as soon as the battery level went down, the engine would start and charge the batter for the next cycle.  Now, she makes sure she see "Thanks for driving a hybrid" before she leaves the car

 

The CMax will emit two very loud horn honks if you leave the car powered on and shut the door completely.  I guess she didn't.  Also if you don't shut the doors completely, the marker and puddle lights will stay on (30secs ?) which is a visual cue I use often.

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The CMax will emit two very loud horn honks if you leave the car powered on and shut the door completely.  I guess she didn't.  Also if you don't shut the doors completely, the marker and puddle lights will stay on (30secs ?) which is a visual cue I use often.

The problem is my previous car did that to indicate the doors were locked.  They really should change the tune on the horn honks to be more in your face when this happens.

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