Hybrid envy?

[bluezipper]

I'm just wondering if anyone else has run into the same phenomena as I have. People are always asking me what kind of mileage I get. It is a fairly obvious question so I take no issue with it, and actually rather enjoy bragging about my cute little Z. What I have found though is that most people really have no clue what kind of mileage they really get unless they have a mileage computer. Some people I have met don't even know how to estimate mileage the old fashioned way(on a fill up-from a fill up, and using the trip reading to divide miles by gallons.)

I get mid 30s around town, and mid 40s on the HWY. I can get upper 40s to low 50s if I really try, but I don't often. Anyway when I tell others this they swear up, and down their standard gas car does better, and act dissapointed that it doesn't practically make gas that has to be drained off, and stored after a few days of driving, or at least get some spectacular 50 - 60+ MPG or something..

So I challenged a friend of mine at work to really figure his mileage as accurately as practical, and trend it for a week or two. He has a '94 civic EX stick shift with 160K miles, runs good still. He found he got mid 20s pretty consistently in town, and lower 30s on the HWY. He originally stated "My old civic does better than that! when I told him my mileage. After actually estimating it for a while he found he was getting about 10 MPG less mileage. He was a bit... dissapointed. I have repeated this challenge with a few other buds that just swear their standard gas cars do "just as good" as my little hybrid. I haven't heard back from most of them yet, and they are avoiding me,

Just wondering if anyone else was having the same experience sometimes. I have another friend at work that drive an '09 Prius and she does get a little better mileage, about 5 MPG better city, and 2 or 3 better HWY. The Prius also doesn't look as cool, or have as much power though so it's a fine trade to me. I just find the anti-hybrid bias in some people interesting. The tech really does work, and well. IMHO.

[gordonfc]

I had a new 1974 Austin Mini.
1,000cc engine.
Half the weight on the CRZ.
The best I could get on the highway at 60mph was 34 mpg US gall. (41 IMP).

My CRZ hits 46.4 us 51 imp. at 105km 67 mph.

That is great in my opinion.

[bluezipper]

Agreed gordon, for some odd reason some people have a false expectation that a hybrid shouldn't use any gasoline or something. 40 MPG is darn good mileage, and you aren't sacrificing power to get it. The Zs go just fine. I would challenge anyone to find a car that gets better mileage, and has the same, or better performance, without some serious modification.

[CR-Z Canadian]

There are hybrids, and there are hybrids, and we've shown here umpteen times that you can't expect Prius type economy with this car. Pretty darned close, though, for a car that is not modelled after a bar of soap, that is.
Mileage isn't everything. Twenty years ago, a VW Golf diesel would make close to 60 MPG, and take 4 people. So, the CR-Z fuel economy per passenger mile is not earth shattering. I have a dozen minivans in the fleet I manage, and when they go out of town full, they beat the economy of the Z by two or three times, by that metric. But compared to anything in its class, you cannot beat it for fun, effiecient, and economical transportation. It's the whole package. Not "just" a hybrid. That's a one trick pony. The CR-Z is the whole circus!

[dingleberry]

If we wanted a Prius we would have gotten a Prius. We all knew the CR-Z wasn't going to get Prius mpg. But, at least I don't drive a vehicle that's butt ugly. I, for one, am pleasantly surprised with what I get. My last 4 fill ups have been 44, 46, 45, 44mpg. I have a friend with an '09 Prius that he says gets in the 48-50mpg range.

My brother drives a '09 Civic Hybrid and averages 48mpg, and he lives in very hilly terrain.

It all depends on your driving habits.

[Talk2meGOOSE]

Your average car naive person only knows what's in the brochure, and doesn't even understand what it takes to get good gas mileage.

I've had kids in Civic Si's rip roaring around town tell me that they get like 32.

Noooo, your brochure tells you it is possible to get that with your car- but that is not what you're getting with that led foot- nor do you have a computer telling you what you are getting.

[Lankysean]

People are actually surprised when I tell them that I get 35~40mpg, I'm not sure if it's because they don't know it's a hybrid or if they think it looks too sporty to pull decent milage.

[Koala Yummies]

Originally Posted by bluezipper

Some people I have met don't even know how to estimate mileage the old fashioned way(on a fill up-from a fill up, and using the trip reading to divide miles by gallons.)

Yep, most drivers don't do this, and never have. So they have no basis for comparison to anything else. The only people I have known to actually reset the trip meter and do their own calculations at the gas station are my gear-head car friends, and not all of them do it either. If they don't do it, and or never have, they probably don't really care about gas mileage as much as they say.

The simple fact of the matter is, if someone doesn't do their own real-world driving calculations of their mileage, then they really don't have any place to make an argument on whether a car is good on mileage or not, or worth buying a hybrid etc. The EPA ratings are not a good source or comparison either, as every Honda I've owned has always gotten more than those ratings, while other manufacturer's cars are seemingly limited by that rating. So if they haven't done their own real-world calculations, just tell them they have no factual information to go on, and they should get back to you after they have at least a month's worth of real-world-driving mileage data. Otherwise the conversation is just the MPG form of "bench-racing".

I'd also ignore all car's MPG computers too, if you want the most factual data to go on, the Prius data should be real-world driving mileage, and not just the mileage displayed on the car's dashboard. The 2009 Fit for example had a problem with the MPG computer that made it calculate the MPG at a higher number than was actually being consumed, there was a software update for it, but it was not a mandatory recall, so there are still plenty of Fits driving around thinking they're getting 5mpg more than they really are.

[GoHuskies]

It gets worse from some owners who have instant fuel economy displays. They hop on the highway and see 40 MPG and think sweet I'm getting 40 MPG tanks of fuel!

My sister has a Sonata Limited and had this same attitude. She asked my why I bothered to buy a hybrid that only gets 39 MPG when her Sonata gets 40+ MPG. I ask her what her real tank averages are and not the instant highway display. She had no idea what I was talking about.....

[Jwarian]

It's probably best to just avoid trying to rationalize dumb people.
I'm getting 40s w effort.
Some people get salty.