Yeah, last summer I ran the ac with eco mode, but this summer the heat is really getting to me, so I've had to shut off eco mode so the ac stays on at lights. I set it to low with the fan all the way up. On my commute to work with no ac and the windows down, I can get 60 mpg (about 20 miles, mostly flat or downhill), and on return somewhere around 50 if the traffic isn't too bad. Now I'm getting like 45 in and 40 back with my excessive ac usage
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2010 Honda Insight EX Polished Metal driving it since April 7, 2009
numb, that sounds exactly like my commute. I still can get really good mpg on the main, flat highway in the morning with only the vent blowing and with the timed lights. Got 72 yesterday. But then it gets hilly on the freeway and I end up around 59-60. Back home, with more stop n go traffic, and more uphill grades, I get 45-50.
Yesterday I drove in 80 degree weather w/ no A/C just to squeeze a little more mpg. I must be crazy.
I think someone mentioned this before, but the extreme angle of the windshield definitely does not help. In my truck, if the sun was over head, the cabin was completely shaded. Now, the sun pretty much has to be at my back to get any reprieve...it's like a greenhouse in there, and accentuates the already weak A/C. And then I hit the trifecta by having a black car
To clarify my previous post, I already get a crappy average, so it wasn't going to get much worse by running the air conditioning full-time. That sucks for you guys that are taking a 10-15MPG (or more) hit.
I know what you mean about the angle of the windshield and the sun. Sometimes I suffer the entire drive with the sun beating down on my shoulders and leg! I learned my lesson about black cars here in the valley of So Cal. Never again. They sure look sexy but are pressure cookers when the temps hit 90 and 100.
Over the last 6 weeks or so we've had low to upper 90's almost every single day. The humidity has been unreal. Even the cool of the morning sometimes is only down to 74F with high humidity.
Needless to say I've had to really use my a/c on max a lot of the time.
During this period, here are my stats:
Miles: 2,609.7
Gallons: 54.082 MPG: 48.25 mpg
Before I was always averaging in the low 50's.
By the way, this also coincides with my changing out my tires to Yokohamas which are not LRR. They might lose a little bit too.
Here in NC it is hilly -- even mountainous. Some of this driving includes shuttling my elderly parents around for 3 days. I had to turn off ECON and set the a/c on LOW so they could be comfortable. That was my worst tank ever -- 44.5 mpg.
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Classic Silver Metallic 2010 Prius II
[formerly:
Alabaster Silver Metallic 2010 Honda Insight EX w/ NAVI]
I can't even get it past 45 mpg even though where I live is only around 80s...
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~2010 Honda Insight LX Atomic Blue - 04-25-2010~
~1,000 miles - 07-13-2010~
~2,000 miles - 09-04-2010~
~10,000 miles - 09-05-2011~
~13,000 miles - 11-04-2011~
I live in central Texas. My terrain is not flat, and as you can imagine, it is hot. Even at night, the LOW temps are in the 80s. The humidity is much higher than places like Az. As a consequence, A/C is simply an necessity.
My car is a 2004 CVT with no modifications.
Around town, if I am carefull, I usually get about 45mpg. The lights here are not at all syncronized, and drivers are more aggressive perhaps, so I feel pushed, but I tend to still lean toward trying to get good mileage.
On the highway (again, mild hills), at 60 mph, I can actually SEE the mpg hit when the A/C cycles on. The CVT has a HUGE overdrive, and when the A/C compressor cycles off, if I back way of on the throttle JUST before the point where it hits regen, I can feel the transmission hit its max gearing, and mileage will jump to 75 or 80 MPG (at 50, it jumps to about 95). As SOON as the compressor bumps on, mileage plummets to about 55 to 60.
I think that the OD in the CVT is analogus to lean burn in the manual car. It is very hard to get the transmission into highest ratio and running the A/C or going up a hill causes the CVT to step down. When I do get the transmission into max OD, the car can get amazing mileage.
I can get the max overdrive at about 35 even with the AC running, and mileage goes over 100 mpg, but the SLIGHTEST movement of the accelerator causes it to drop out. Almost impossible to hold unless it is very flat.
On the highway (again, mild hills), at 60 mph, I can actually SEE the mpg hit when the A/C cycles on. The CVT has a HUGE overdrive, and when the A/C compressor cycles off, if I back way of on the throttle JUST before the point where it hits regen, I can feel the transmission hit its max gearing, and mileage will jump to 75 or 80 MPG (at 50, it jumps to about 95). As SOON as the compressor bumps on, mileage plummets to about 55 to 60.
I think that the OD in the CVT is analogus to lean burn in the manual car. It is very hard to get the transmission into highest ratio and running the A/C or going up a hill causes the CVT to step down. When I do get the transmission into max OD, the car can get amazing mileage.
I can get the max overdrive at about 35 even with the AC running, and mileage goes over 100 mpg, but the SLIGHTEST movement of the accelerator causes it to drop out. Almost impossible to hold unless it is very flat.
With the 2nd Gen Honda Civic Hybrid, if you release the accelerator slightly for the engine speed to drop down, there is a certain amount of pedal you can put back in to where it will add additional load to the engine without ramping up the engine speed. They seem to have it down to an art with trying to keep the RPMs as low as possible. Has anyone with a 2nd Gen Insight tried to do something similar. They do this as part of their acceleration, bring the car up to a certain speed, release the accelerator a tad to get RPMs to drop down and use just enough pedal to add load without raising the revs.
last week i was waiting outside a supermarket for some friends but they took too long and it was hot so i just turned on the car and the ac see so ill blow cold air
i left it on and just on P for 30 min
i dont think it could cause problems if i just leave it on and on P, right?
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I'm running around 48+ lately because of the heat
