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Highway speed sweet spot for MPG?

8K views 10 replies 7 participants last post by  Boldlygo 
#1 ·
5-4-16
What is the hybrid highway speed sweet spot for MPG?

Thanks,
archiveman2977
 
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#2 · (Edited)
So far in my experimenting I can maintain just over 42mpg at 50mph, at 55mph on the same route MPG drops to 39. That's by the display, I haven't driven far enough at a steady 50mph to get an actual calculated yet, but it looks promising. Having been retired for 14yrs I'm rarely in a hurry to get anywhere, so driving at 50mph is pretty easy when conditions allows, driving at 50mph on a two-lane 60mph zone doesn't make other drivers very happy!


https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/driveHabits.jsp


While each vehicle reaches its optimal fuel economy at a different speed (or range of speeds), gas mileage usually decreases rapidly at speeds above 50 mph.
You can assume that each 5 mph you drive over 50 mph is like paying an additional $0.15 per gallon for gas.
 
#3 ·
Mileage is pretty much inversely related to speed. The faster you go, the lower the mpg. As a general rule, for each 10 mph increase, mpg drops by 5. YMMW!

For me, the time vs mpg tradeoff depends on the length of the trip. On an all-day drive, I'll generally sacrifice a few mpg to reduce the time. As Quickdtoo notes, it's not polite to slow down other travelers so I would always "go with the flow" if the traffic was heavy.
 
#4 ·
Depends on how you define that sweet spot and especially where you live. Best MPG, regardless of vehicle speed and time - or are you constrained to a fixed time (ie, commuting to work?) There is no single "sweet spot" on these cars, as there are too many factors that can influence this number. My sweet spot is keeping up with traffic, so I don't get run over here in the DC Metro area. Try any of that hypermiling stunt here and people WILL run you off the road. That said, most efficient operation will vary from vehicle to vehicle and driving conditions. Owners that really want to find out what they are capable of usually get something like a ScanGauge or similar device. Gives you way more information that the what the onboard stuff can, you can collect data under various conditions and then pump that into a spreadsheet. Then you can calculate your very own "sweet spot".
 
#5 ·
For me, the sweet spot on the highway (that is, major highways with a 100 km/hr limit) is just below where the mileage starts to drop significantly. With my previous Lexus CT200h it was just under 110 km/hr. Now with my RAV4 Hybrid it's around 115. That also keeps me well under where our Provincial Police start to notice you - that's usually anything over 125 km/hr on the major highways that have a 100 km/hr limit in Ontario.
 
#6 ·
5-5-16
Thanks Boldlygo,
I converted your km/hr to mph: 100km/hr=62mph, 110km/hr=68mph, 115km/hr=71mph.
Using those speeds, what MPG have you experienced?
Thanks,
archiveman2977
 
#7 ·
Hard to say as it's dependent on many things like weather - I'll be taking a trip tomorrow and will check. On this tank my mileage reading is 6.5 l/100km but I have not done any major highway driving.
 
#9 ·
5-6-16
That 40mpg figure is a good number to mark your calendar with.

Thanks,
archiveman2977
 
#11 ·
So did about 140km trip today - mostly highway. Kept it around 112 kph and got 6.6 l/100km (35.64 mpg US). That's probably the best I'm going to get on the highway - weather and road conditions were as good as it gets.
Even my fill-up today calculated out at 6.6 l/100km with no driving over 90 kph on the tank (474 km). It was my best fill-up so far with my car.
 
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