I have driven Honda hybrids since 2000 when I drove the original model Insight. So, I was interested in seeing if I could not just beat, but shatter the EPA ratings on the window of my new Z. I have the 6-speed manual. So, the second day I owned the car, I did a 'test' drive 100 miles south from Denver to Colorado Springs and back on I-25. Terrain is rolling, weather was clear and warm, the traffic was about average for that stretch of road, and I was able to maintain a steady 70 mph. I should note that I put the car in Econ mode and had no problems keeping up with the other traffic around me on the Interstate. I had reset all the mileage gauges before starting out. The result was that I got 53.5 mpg. Not 60+, but I didn't expect that good of a mileage result. The car has a bigger engine and a bit more weight than my first Insight.
The next test has been in-town driving. I have driven the car now for about 2 weeks. My route to and from work is in a variety of traffic conditions, mostly stop-and-go. I am consistenly seeing between 43-45 mpg. I have left the car in Normal mode for this test so that I had enough power to pull away from the stoplights. I want to try this again in Econ mode, though I have found the performance in Econ mode to be fairly sluggish on some of the roads in the area.
Do you want to know what my biggest problem is with the car? The car practically cries out to be let loose and run. So, every now and then I 'give it the gas' just to feel the rush of acceleration, just because I can. Of course, this plays havoc with the mileage. But, isn't this one of the reasons we love this car so much. There is the potential to do a lot of things that you just can't do with the average car.
With the leaves changing, I want to try a mountain test in the next two weeks. That should be interesting. I won't be able to use Econ mode going into the mountains, but I should when coming back down to Denver. I also want to try using the sport mode on some of the two lanes at the higher elevations. In my old Insight, lower temperatures and altitude really sucked the performance and mileage numbers out of the car.
Another good test will be to drive the car out on the Plains where the roads are fairly flat and straight and the traffic is almost non-existent. But then again, the urge will be to let loose and let the Z be a Z.
You can easily beat the EPA ratings with the car. There is enough visual feedback built into the Z to make this goal very easy to attain. I honestly believe that once I get used to modifying my driving habits to better fit this car, that my overall mileage will go up.
I want to be able to eventually get back to stopping to fill up only once every 2-3 weeks. In my old Insight, I could routinely go a month without filling up, but with the Z that might be an unrealistic goal based on my routes and distances involved.
As you can tell, I'm having a very good time. :thumbsup:
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