[hasarad]

Am I the Only One Exceeding EPA MPG Estimates?

I've only had my Insight for about a week. I've been on vacation, so today was the first time I've driven it to work - about 100 miles round trip.

For a goof, I put it in Eco mode and drove conservatively. It's mostly downhill going from NNJ to SNJ, so I wasn't surprised about the MPG when I got to work, but when I got home, the trip said I'd gotten 62 MPG for the entire r/t. Is this normal? I'm not complaining. Either I'm an awesome newbie hybrid driver, or I've got the golden Insight.

Which is it? Does anyone else have numbers like this? My first tank drove about 350 miles and only took about 6 gallons to refill. This was without even knowing the subtle nuances of hybrid driving.

I seem to be getting roughly DOUBLE the MPG of the 1999 Civic I traded for the Insight!

 

[ronnie]

Wow! To increase your MPG even more, you can also use the paddle shifters when approaching a stop or going downhill. The left one will increase the regenerative charging beyond the default amount. I'm using this feature more and more when approaching a stop or going downhill. It should add at least 2-3 mpg more to what you are getting.

I'm averaging the 55 mpg in town even though the A/C is running full blast all the time since it's an unusually hot summer here in eastern Washington. In July drove from Missouri where I purchased it to Houston and then to Spokane (our home), a total of 3,000+ miles and got 44.5 mpg. However, once again A/C was running full blast plus we were flying through much of Utah and Montana at 83-85 mph since the posted speed limit is 80 mph there.

 

[dj1anddt2]

Wow that’s awesome for sure. My first trip to work the day after purchase I got 54.6MPG in normal mode with A/C on my commute is mostly highway where speed limit is 70. I used paddle shifters for hills and lights.

Between Honda Sensing and this wonderful hybrid I am learning this car more and am actually improving my bad driving habits for sure. Was only getting 47 mpg on the commute home for a while but have since made the commute the same 54 ish MPG trips.

I am averaging 51mpg and only have 700 miles on it. I know it’s not broken in yet but my 15 Civic averaged 34.8mpg over its lifetime (my max mpg trip was 41) so it’s definitely a boost. Haven’t been to a gas station in about 14 days 🙂.

My max mpg trip on my Insight was 65mpg. Though I did see a 91mpg on a trip from stopping for my morning coffee - about a mile away from work, that was probably an anomaly.

 

[Data14]

Wow that’s awesome for sure. My first trip to work the day after purchase I got 54.6MPG in normal mode with A/C on my commute is mostly highway where speed limit is 70. I used paddle shifters for hills and lights.

Between Honda Sensing and this wonderful hybrid I am learning this car more and am actually improving my bad driving habits for sure. Was only getting 47 mpg on the commute home for a while but have since made the commute the same 54 ish MPG trips.

I am averaging 51mpg and only have 700 miles on it. I know it’s not broken in yet but my 15 Civic averaged 34.8mpg over its lifetime (my max mpg trip was 41) so it’s definitely a boost. Haven’t been to a gas station in about 14 days 🙂.

My max mpg trip on my Insight was 65mpg. Though I did see a 91mpg on a trip from stopping for my morning coffee - about a mile away from work, that was probably an anomaly.

Most likely not an anomaly since it probably just used EV mode to drive there.

After 2000 miles of about 65% city driving I have about 46.5 mpg. Seems I dont know the way to drive a hybrid like some people here!

Still not mad at the total mpg since its double my last car. Also I do use the paddle brakes when I can and try not to overstep the acceleration.

 

[ronnie]

Most likely not an anomaly since it probably just used EV mode to drive there.

After 2000 miles of about 65% city driving I have about 46.5 mpg. Seems I dont know the way to drive a hybrid like some people here!

Still not mad at the total mpg since its double my last car. Also I do use the paddle brakes when I can and try not to overstep the acceleration.

Are you in Econ mode with those numbers?

 

[Data14]

Are you in Econ mode with those numbers?

I use Econ about 75% of the time and AC is always one but not blasting.

 

[hobokencentral]

Hasarad,

Thanks for asking that question about mpg. I started an account on fuelly.com and am about to get it published this weekend when I fill up for the third time (filling up three times allows you to count amongst other Insight owners). I have an EX and my numbers on the first two fuel ups are 58 and 60. This third one looks like it will be around 60 or so (by tomorrow night's fill up). Am driving very conservatively: using paddle shifters to provide regen brakes, in eco mode about 90-95% of the time, not going over 60-65 mpg on Route 80 or Garden State Parkway (New Jersey), and average A/C use. 70 percent highway and 30 percent suburban (Bergen County) driving.

I watch the horizontal blue mpg bar on the dashboard all the time and sometimes try to "massage" the revs if the blue bar stays too low (hurting my mpg). Sometimes a slight tap on the accelerator and/ or the brake can do wonders in adjusting the revving just right - allowing the blue bar to climb in mpg. Sometimes not.

 

[hobokencentral]

Hasarad,

Quick question for you. Since you have your car in ECO and are going from NNJ to SNJ, don't you find it frustrating having to accelerate out of the all the toll booths in the State (especially assuming that you might be taking the Garden State Pkwy? Ten lanes can merge into four very quickly and I have now found SPORT mode essential in order to beat other cars to a chaotic lane merge.

 

[hasarad]

Hasarad,

Quick question for you. Since you have your car in ECO and are going from NNJ to SNJ, don't you find it frustrating having to accelerate out of the all the toll booths in the State (especially assuming that you might be taking the Garden State Pkwy? Ten lanes can merge into four very quickly and I have now found SPORT mode essential in order to beat other cars to a chaotic lane merge.

I'm happy to say I do not have toll boths on my drive. I'm mainly county roads with a 50mph average. I'm guessing this is a hybrid's sweet spot. I drive in ECO just about all the time. I'm rarely in traffic. As far as previous assumptions about being in EV, that's simply not possible for a 100 mile round trip. The 60+ MPG is an average over 100 miles. I'm on my seond tank of gas, and this is the first tank since th dealer (who I believe shorted me a gallon or two). Will post results from this tank when available. The tech stuff states I'm still pushing 60 MPG after 170 miles of ths first confirmed full tank. It'll be interesting to see what results the next fill-up show.

 

[kayvee]

I'm impressed with the mileage. 50.3 mpg overall, ~90% highway miles. Got 51.7 mpg over the last 274 miles, mostly highway.

 

[ronnie]

I'm impressed with the mileage. 50.3 mpg overall, ~90% highway miles. Got 51.7 mpg over the last 274 miles, mostly highway.

This is impressive. How fast were you driving on these highway miles and under what conditions? Did you have A/C on?

 

[kayvee]

I was going about 65 miles an hour, mostly in econ, the air was on. I'm sure the EV mode, used when closer to home (city miles), boosted the average.

 

[hasarad]

As many know, I've been blessed with what amounts to the perfect conditions for hybrid ownership - a long, 45-50mph drive over gentle rolling country hills with few stops as my work commute. After 15K miles (including a cold winter), my Insight has a 61+mpg average (65+mpg over last ten tanks).

Yesterday, I tried to screw that up with a test.

I drove to my son's school (about 15 miles each way) to pick him up, and did the following:

Put the Insight in sport mode for the duration of the round-trip.
Did 65-70mph for 80% of the trip.
Cranked the A/C on the lowest temp setting.
Played AC/DC loudly to encourage bad driving habits (with no rattles from the doors, I might add).
Used none of the tricks I had been using to get better mileage.

The end result was a trip I normally got 70mpg in the current weather conditions going down to 60mpg. How is this possible to still get better than EPA numbers when I'm intentionally trying not to?

I know some here don't like the word, but I think I have a unicorn Insight.

Since I've tracked mileage since new, I can make an observation or two. MPG numbers are higher than they were at the end of last summer when I bought my Insight. I've done one oil change to Mobil1. I doubt oil could bring on such an increase in MPG, but that, combined with a "break-in" of the car may have worked together to give some increase. I was initially thinking my driving habits had changed to contribute as well (I'm sure they did to some extent), but my test yesterday puts more of the credit on the car itself.

Has anyone else seen numbers increase as more miles are put on their Insight?

 

[PHILBERT]

I like the "AC/DC" music loudly "to encourage bad driving habits" part.

My kind of music, and my kind of driving! Although, I listen to Octane and Turbo now. That brings on the additional "rage factor".

I think the car has some algorithms working to adjust to conditions. I've seen the changes myself. What you "think" it will do doesn't always pan out. But that is very impressive. Good job!

Rage on!

Phil

 

[insightfully]

My guess is that the hybrid gods are smiling down on you, since your Insight was produced on a Tuesday... and perhaps current ambient temperature and terrain conditions helped even your 'aggressive' 15 mile drive:
- Sport mode must have rebuilt battery faster than you were using it, including electric power supply to the A/C
- 65-70 mph has been a 'good' operating range for me as well, before seeing a drop in fuel efficiency at 70+ mph

I don't have as many miles on my car as yours, but I don't believe in the 'break in' requirement that some dealers claim for mpg improvement. For your car, ~60 mpg in warm weather seems to be the worst it can do, matching your cold-weather fuelly lows at ~57 mpg. I think re-doing your 'aggressive' drive in colder temps would put you in the 49 mpg range, matching the EPA rating.

Here's some funky math/comparison thoughts:
- Your best tank in warm weather (68.9 mpg) is +21% versus your worst tank in cold weather (56.9 mpg) - suggesting that the mpg help from temperature is +21%. (This is in line with the +25% temperature help cited in some car/driving articles.)
- Scaling your 60 mpg warm weather result down by 21% would put you at 49.6 mpg for same drive in cold weather, similar to the EPA rating for the EX.

Net, maybe you ARE running at the EPA-rated fuel efficiency, but got some extra help (+21%) from ambient temperatures and/or terrain (extra battery charge) -?

 

[hasarad]

My guess is that the hybrid gods are smiling down on you, since your Insight was produced on a Tuesday... and perhaps current ambient temperature and terrain conditions helped even your 'aggressive' 15 mile drive:
- Sport mode must have rebuilt battery faster than you were using it, including electric power supply to the A/C
- 65-70 mph has been a 'good' operating range for me as well, before seeing a drop in fuel efficiency at 70+ mph

I don't have as many miles on my car as yours, but I don't believe in the 'break in' requirement that some dealers claim for mpg improvement. For your car, ~60 mpg in warm weather seems to be the worst it can do, matching your cold-weather fuelly lows at ~57 mpg. I think re-doing your 'aggressive' drive in colder temps would put you in the 49 mpg range, matching the EPA rating.

Here's some funky math/comparison thoughts:
- Your best tank in warm weather (68.9 mpg) is +21% versus your worst tank in cold weather (56.9 mpg) - suggesting that the mpg help from temperature is +21%. (This is in line with the +25% temperature help cited in some car/driving articles.)
- Scaling your 60 mpg warm weather result down by 21% would put you at 49.6 mpg for same drive in cold weather, similar to the EPA rating for the EX.

Net, maybe you ARE running at the EPA-rated fuel efficiency, but got some extra help (+21%) from ambient temperatures and/or terrain (extra battery charge) -?

Best tank was a recent 70.4mpg. I'm not sure it's EPA numbers + weather. My worst tank is still above EPA even in winter conditions. I suppose time will tell. Once I get through a "fiscal" year with my Insight (mine ends on August 7th), I will be in a better position to determine a true average mpg number for Simcoe. If things remain on course, I should be somewhere in the low-mid 60s.

There are a few Insights on fuelly.com with numbers in the high 30s. How can they possibly be that low? How fast are they driving?

@insightfully, I'd like to take a moment to thank you for your "insights" on the forum. You have always contributed useful information as well as help to others. I appreciate it and have learned a lot from you. Thanks again.

 

[insightfully]

Thanks for your kind words, @hasarad. And thanks for showing us what's potential/possible with this car. It keeps me aspiring for 'more' mpg.

 

[Insight_Driver]

@hasarad,
With no data, just anecdotal, evidence I am convinced sometimes some examples of a car/engine somehow are just assembled in a such a fortuitous manner that they defy the norm of that model in terms of mpg. Sometimes it goes the other way as well.

Seen and heard to many stories of both.
Looks like lucky in that regard. Don't question it, just enjoy.

 

[insightfully]

@hasarad,
With no data, just anecdotal, evidence I am convinced sometimes some examples of a car/engine somehow are just assembled in a such a fortuitous manner that they defy the norm of that model in terms of mpg. Sometimes it goes the other way as well.

Seen and heard to many stories of both.
Looks like lucky in that regard. Don't question it, just enjoy.

I like this theory! What's the opposite of a lemon... maybe a plum? When picked on a Tuesday?

 

[andrew28]

As many know, I've been blessed with what amounts to the perfect conditions for hybrid ownership - a long, 45-50mph drive over gentle rolling country hills with few stops as my work commute. After 15K miles (including a cold winter), my Insight has a 61+mpg average (65+mpg over last ten tanks).

Yesterday, I tried to screw that up with a test.

I drove to my son's school (about 15 miles each way) to pick him up, and did the following:

Put the Insight in sport mode for the duration of the round-trip.
Did 65-70mph for 80% of the trip.
Cranked the A/C on the lowest temp setting.
Played AC/DC loudly to encourage bad driving habits (with no rattles from the doors, I might add).
Used none of the tricks I had been using to get better mileage.

The end result was a trip I normally got 70mpg in the current weather conditions going down to 60mpg. How is this possible to still get better than EPA numbers when I'm intentionally trying not to?

I know some here don't like the word, but I think I have a unicorn Insight.

Since I've tracked mileage since new, I can make an observation or two. MPG numbers are higher than they were at the end of last summer when I bought my Insight. I've done one oil change to Mobil1. I doubt oil could bring on such an increase in MPG, but that, combined with a "break-in" of the car may have worked together to give some increase. I was initially thinking my driving habits had changed to contribute as well (I'm sure they did to some extent), but my test yesterday puts more of the credit on the car itself.

Has anyone else seen numbers increase as more miles are put on their Insight?

Perfect route? 40PSI tires? Gas quality? @PHILBERT managed to get 60mpg in one of his sport mode tests, too. Kind of curious what you would get in the Civic under similar conditions.