aaronj1159 Report post Posted May 22, 2013 And the other possible culprit, or co-conspirator, is the Humidity. Humidity levels over the last week have been mostly in the mid-80% range. Mechanically, I don't know how that would affect the performance, but I have seen numerous reports in this forum regarding poor performance in rainy weather.This makes a lot more sense regarding what I've seen personally. My MPGs really drop significantly in wet weather. It's much more noticeable than when it's just hot. Just my personal experience in my vehicle. 1 gadgetguy reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
corncobs Report post Posted May 22, 2013 I was ready to post on "Not so Happy MPG Talk" due to rain during this morning commute; instead it looks like I have to change my personal best commute MPG goal. I guess slower traffic on the interstate portion did make the difference since it went into EV mode more often. 2 gadgetguy and fusionTX reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
acdii Report post Posted May 22, 2013 This morning I was like :happy feet: then I got stuck on Harrison behind all those morons who think bypassing 31 gets them to 62 any quicker and was like :baby: My lifetime FINALLY hit on 21 MPG, and then as I sat waiting to go 2 freaking blocks to my office, it dropped back down to 20.9. :banghead: 1 gadgetguy reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lolder Report post Posted May 22, 2013 Heavy rain can cost up to 10 mpg ! If you are leaving any mist going down the road, there is a mpg. hit. 1 corncobs reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
acdii Report post Posted May 22, 2013 As I mentioned above, the A/C was not a problem to getting good mileage during the August trip last year in the '10.Mine used to not have issues but the AC Compressor is now howling, and the fan I can tell has a bearing going on it, so they are both sucking down more juice, and it is impacting the MPG. I drove it Saturday to Woodstock with the AC one, and where I would normally be above 40, it was just a touch over 39. I could feel the car was not happy. On the return trip, turned off the air, opened the windows and sunroof and got 46. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
corncobs Report post Posted May 22, 2013 Heavy rain can cost up to 10 mpg ! If you are leaving any mist going down the road, there is a mpg. hit.I have definitely seen that before and therefore I expected "bad" things this morning but it wasn't heavy rain just rain nothing the highest wiper interval setting couldn't handle. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
acdii Report post Posted May 22, 2013 OTOH I had no penalty on the Flex in the rain, it still got the same MPG. Love rain sensing wipers too! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HenryVIII Report post Posted May 22, 2013 Still managing to beat EPA on my AWD Ti model and still not at breaking in point. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gadgetguy Report post Posted May 22, 2013 Here is this mornings commute taking my normal route which includes some interstate at 65-70 with the A/C on. This confirms even more that it's not worth it for me to take the back roads and add the additional time. One key factor is I started with a decent charge on my battery which really helps in my experiences to achieve good mpg on longer drives. Each time I have had good mpg on my morning commute I started out that way. I find if you start out with the battery low the ICE has to run too much right away and I don't get as good mpg. 1 fusionTX reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Da0ne Report post Posted May 22, 2013 Drive to tampa doing 70 with on and rain And the drive back this morning 2 corncobs and gadgetguy reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kuzzi Report post Posted May 22, 2013 Heavy rain can cost up to 10 mpg ! If you are leaving any mist going down the road, there is a mpg. hit. Those windshield wiper motors must be monstrous to sap that much juice. :) 1 corncobs reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
acdii Report post Posted May 22, 2013 Those windshield wiper motors must be monstrous to sap that much juice. :)HAHAHA NonOnO its the hair dryers that are switched on with the wipers to keep the moisture out of the electrical components! Its really just the drag on the tires from the water that drops MPG. 1 corncobs reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gadgetguy Report post Posted May 22, 2013 Drive to tampa doing 70 with on and rain And the drive back this morning Nice! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kuzzi Report post Posted May 22, 2013 (edited) HAHAHA NonOnO its the hair dryers that are switched on with the wipers to keep the moisture out of the electrical components! Its really just the drag on the tires from the water that drops MPG. Speaking of dryers, I bought a carpet shampooing machine this weekend that advertised "induced heat" at the carpet surface to dry quicker. All it is was is the waste heat from the pump being routed through a duct to where the nozzle meets the carpet. Rather simple engineering/design, but ingenious marketing. Back on topic, I was running late this morning so I didn't get a photo, but since I was running late I decided to hit it up to 70-75 mph on BW8. Traffic on I-45 kept me close to 60 mph, but I was intent on trying to use the ICE as much as possible today. 70*F, dry conditions, trying to keep above the EV cutoff point (60-75mph), managed 43 mpg. Watching instant economy, at 70-75mph and light throttle, I was able to keep it slightly above 40mpg. The extra 3 mpg came from leaving my neighborhood and entering the office campus. I'll figure out more scientific approaches as I drive more. Edit: The ICE was kept around 40mpg AFTER the battery was at a high charge. Edited May 22, 2013 by kuzzi Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
neod192 Report post Posted May 22, 2013 (edited) I just filled up for the 4th time and added it to fuelly. The car said I used 11.13 gal, but I decided to stop at the first click, which was at 10.566 gal. So the MPG on fuelly is 45.1, while the car showed 42.7. Either way, I'm happy - this is the longest I ever drove on a tank of gas :) Oh yeah, DTE was 10 miles. Edited May 22, 2013 by neod192 1 gadgetguy reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hybridbear Report post Posted May 22, 2013 Drive to tampa doing 70 with on and rain And the drive back this morningThose are some fantastic numbers!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hybridbear Report post Posted May 22, 2013 I wanted to pull together an overall summary of elevation and some of my MPG results on the amazingly high trips. It's interesting that there is an elevation change, yet I see almost identical MPG results both coming and going. It's also interesting how much up and down there is and yet I can still consistently get 60+ MPG on this route. This graph is going from my house to visit my parents at their house. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Riggo Report post Posted May 22, 2013 I wanted to pull together an overall summary of elevation and some of my MPG results on the amazingly high trips. It's interesting that there is an elevation change, yet I see almost identical MPG results both coming and going. It's also interesting how much up and down there is and yet I can still consistently get 60+ MPG on this route. This graph is going from my house to visit my parents at their house. It looks like there are only small changes though of only 25 feet or so most of the trip. I think the hybrid drive can probably deal with such slight changes easier than if it were 100 or more feet of change. That's my thinking anyway. My graph looks like this to work and I only get 45 mpg or so on average. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
fusionTX Report post Posted May 22, 2013 Drive to tampa doing 70 with on and rain And the drive back this morningLooks like you got an extra good car. The best I managed was 40.5 MPG doing a steady 68 MPH on a beautiful Florida day.45 is outstanding! 1 hybridbear reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
fusionTX Report post Posted May 22, 2013 I just filled up for the 4th time and added it to fuelly. The car said I used 11.13 gal, but I decided to stop at the first click, which was at 10.566 gal. So the MPG on fuelly is 45.1, while the car showed 42.7. Either way, I'm happy - this is the longest I ever drove on a tank of gas :) Oh yeah, DTE was 10 miles. Congrats! You could have made it to 500 miles on the tank. Group lunch at work today killed my average. 26 MPG going and like 21 coming back.very short distance to lunch place, with air blasting. 1 gadgetguy reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
neod192 Report post Posted May 22, 2013 Congrats! You could have made it to 500 miles on the tank.Thanks! I'm afraid to drive it past 0 DTE .... Going home and coming back to work tomorrow (where I usually fill up) would've been another 22 miles, but there's no point in risking it. I'm guessing my next tank will be even less because I stopped at the first click. 1 gadgetguy reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
corncobs Report post Posted May 22, 2013 I just filled up for the 4th time and added it to fuelly. The car said I used 11.13 gal, but I decided to stop at the first click, which was at 10.566 gal.I have seen the same thing and that's why I check the trip meter before filling up to figure out how much gas I need to put back into the car. 2 gadgetguy and hybridbear reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
acdii Report post Posted May 22, 2013 I wanted to pull together an overall summary of elevation and some of my MPG results on the amazingly high trips. It's interesting that there is an elevation change, yet I see almost identical MPG results both coming and going. It's also interesting how much up and down there is and yet I can still consistently get 60+ MPG on this route. This graph is going from my house to visit my parents at their house.Only about a 75' difference in elevation. Mine is 400' or more. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
corncobs Report post Posted May 22, 2013 Only about a 75' difference in elevation. Mine is 400' or more. No wonder you only got 35 MPG ;-) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
acdii Report post Posted May 22, 2013 yet 48 in the 10 on he same roads! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
