Fast Hybrid Car Tips to Keep MPG Up

Has your hybrid car’s mpg been low lately? Well, you can get it back close to specifications easily. Increasing the mpg is just a matter of making a few easy adjustments to your driving style, assuming you have maintained your car regularly and you are not driving in Chicago during the dead of winter.

First, change your shoes. Yes, shoes do affect your mpg because heavy soled shoes increase pressure on the accelerator. A shoe with a 1 inch platform increases pressure on the accelerator. Wear a thin soled sandal and your foot alone applies pressure. You can see the actual difference while driving by monitoring your car’s mpg display screen on different days. One day wear a shoe with a platform and on another wear a shoe with a thin sole. You will see a 15 to 20 mpg difference.

Next adjust your seat backwards slightly and do the same monitoring of the mpg screen while driving. Many times I have seen an immediate increase of 10 mpg. You can see the same immediate mpg increase by driving heel-to-toe. Do the reverse, put your entire foot on the accelerator while driving and the mpg drops.

Also, consider changing your driving route: MPG falls on streets with stop lights and increases on smaller streets with stop signs. I have repeatedly gotten 50 – 99 mpg in my Ford hybrid driving around the block, eastward, from my home. There are 4 stop signs on this route. But going around the other way, I only get 20-30 mpg. This route includes 1 stop light.

But expressway driving always produces the best mileage. Chicago’s Dan Ryan expressway is one of the busiest expressways in the nation. It was engineered with a slightly hilly topography throughout the route. I coast on many parts of the route. But when it’s not congested, I use cruise control to exceed mpg specifications. On Lake Shore drive, a flat curvy highway with a few stoplights, I use cruise control on the straight parts of route to stay close to mileage specifications. According to Ford’s 2010 Hybrid Owner’s Guide, cruise control should not be used in heavy traffic or on winding roads.

Lastly, remember to have maintenance performed on your auto regularly, especially transmission services. An efficient transmission tremendously increases mpg in newer, late model cars.

Then go back to routinely checking your car’s mpg full screen monitor if you have fallen away from the habit of glancing at it often. This is the only way to easily pinpoint driving style preferences that keep your mileage up or falling down.

Sources

2010 Ford Hybrid Owners Guide website> Driving Controls> Speed Control

http://owner.ford.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=Owner/Page/OwnerGuidePage&year=2010&make=Mercury&model=Milan


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