Greetings, fellow FFH inmates! I'm a little late to the party but figured I'd check in and say "hello"... Bought a 2014 FFH SE In Ruby Red clearcoat the end of April. So far, am really enjoying the car...I knew up front that the 47/47 rating was probably "a bit" optimistic, but I AM amazed at some of the mileages reported by other owners. Due to the country being fairly mountainous here, I don't think I'll ever be able to match some of those "flatlander" figures... This is not our first foray into hybrids...we owned a 2005 FEH previously. Put a lot of miles of that and ended up trading it in for a 2011 Kia Sportage. A few years with that, disappointing mileage, but otherwise a very solid little rig, and very good in the snow, which we do get here locally. Wife drives the car 95% of the time, back and forth to work (and of course, I spend 100% of the time keeping it clean!). She got about 19-20 with the Sportage, and we really never got anything over 30 on longer trips. So far, with only 1600 miles on the FFH, she's getting ~38, so almost double the in-town mileage. She learned how to drive the FEH to maximize the mileage, and is having to relearn with the FFH. When I DO get a chance to drive, I can generally get 4-5 MPG more than her, as I know how to hypermile a little better than her. She tends to just drive it like a "normal" car, but she's learning to practice the economy tips more regularly. Observations: Biggest thing to get used to is the lower ground clearance! Pretty easy to drag the front spoiler when coming into the driveway.I'm 6'2" and am very satisfied with how I fit the car...and how the car fits me. Although we've not really done any longer trips, I think it will be quite comfortable.As Oregon is one of only two states (NJ is the other) where we can't pump our own gas, full fills can be a challenge. Fortunately, we generally get gas at the same station, and the jockeys there let me top off. Other stations usually stop at the first click, even on a slow fill. When you ask them to top off, they'll generally point to the Oregon DEQ sticker on the tank that says topping off is "illegal". I can generally get another 1.5-2 gallons in after the pump clicks off, and that makes me feel like my mileage figures are more accurate.The overall fit and finish is very nice...we'll have to see about the durability of some of the interior materials.I've had two people approach me so far and ask how I like my "Aston Martin"... ;)Questions: Since we are prone to winter weather here, what are others using for winter tires? I know on the FEH, we had a set of winter tires mounted on aftermarket rims that we'd swap in for winter and out for spring. I know the overall fuel mileage will drop due to the colder weather and the lack of low rolling resistance tires, so no surprises there. (From experience, I'll only run a set of four, not just snow tires on the front and all-season tires on the rear).What's the consensus on how the FFH performs in the snow? Any concerns about the lower ground clearance? Are there any issues with running snow tires with no TPM transmitters or should I plan on having those installed on any aftermarket winter rims?Appreciate the value of being able to check in with others and learn new things, or how to do things "properly" to maximize the potential of the FFH. Any comments and guidance is greatly appreciated! Cheers, Bendmac
