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Originally Posted by Cobb
Thats interesting.... Most find best mpg is from not using the electric part of most hybrids except to extending coasting of the glide in P&G or to sustain lean burn if equipped. There is a few papers published on the prius how its best to use gas for acceleration and electric to coast or maintain.
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On the volt when you are driving somewhere in the 35-60mph area you slowly charge up the battery if you are carefull with the throttle. After a period of time the gas motor shuts down, the only way the volt seems to leave for "optimizing" gasoline fuel economy is to drive like grandma and try to maintain the magic 5 miles per KW or better (if possible) while driving off gas derived electric miles. I also shut off all heat, fans and lights while the gasser is off.
Also the volt needs a FAS as it wants to run the motor for an interval of to,e regardless of what you are doing, AKA under a variety of circumstances the volt wants to leave the motor running when you are coming to a stop or even stopped. I have found if I know I am going to stop I can put the car in L and brake agressively on regen only and usually force the engine off a bit prematurely, then I can coast up to the stop with the motor off as opposed to the damn thing running until the car comes to a complete stop.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cobb
Hows the non hybrid part of the volt? Does it accelerate well for merging? Is it roomie for large adults? Does it handle well in wet or windy weather? Do you have to fight to keep it on the road or does it follow the curves? Can you ride the brake to a stop to max regen or is it difficult to modulate braking effort vs max regen?
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In hold mode the volt performs exactly like it does in EV mode and is surpizingly zippy for a suburban weighted car.
Being heavy it seems to handle just fine in any weather, but likewise being extremely heavy and with a very low center of gravity means you can turn hard and then end up with a skid, traction control has always taken care of this issue (me coming from an G1 insight I don't brake I just tend to turn on dry pavement) However in the winter with summer tread energy savers I will likely have to take corners significantly slower than I am used to, but then again I have always driven vehicles that are light (save the suburban) and turn with special manuvers tightly in snow and slush.
I am guessing the volt would work very well in snow and ice if I get appropriate tires (especially on the front) but me being a cheapskate that likely won't happen, unless I can find a way to make the suburbans 15" tires fit on the volt
Sadly I think the smallest diameter I can go is probably 16" which sucks but it is because of the volts massive rotors and strange offset so I am stuck, unless I can find some strange 15" rims (oh and the lug spacing isn't a major issue apparently, just the bloody offset needed because of the massive rotors)
In terms of regen I prefer to leave the car in L when I am around the city or coming to a stop because I can more easily find the sweet spot where power usage is exactly ZERO. Getting max regen is easy, just leave it in L.
Like a prius getting the volt into a true neutral is impossible without a delicate and adjustable foot, Neutral on the stick makes the car provide a small amount of power to simulate freewheeling (whatever the heck that means) No idea why they did that but you do put some energy into the motor in neutral so I usually (unless I am feeling lazy) try to keep the neutral position using the foot pedal.
Now in terms of power when in the so called CS mode at the end of the charge I have found some irritating quirks.
Under certain circumstances the car will delay accelerating after mashing the go pedal once the battery is depleted, most everyone else has never experienced this but I and a pair of other guys have, generally if you brake enough to make the motor prematurely shut off AKA the car assumes you are coming to a stop then when you end up having to stomp on it the car has a delay.
I have had this behavior under other circumstances and am uncertain why it occurs but in general save for this glitch I can't explain the car is normally quite fast off the mark regardless of drive mode, except mountain mode which I have yet to find a good use for (I have experimented but can't find the ideal situation where it is of much use)
Me being a hypermiler have gotten to experience this bug multiple times but it is my own damn fault but then again I get dramatically better fuel economy around town with the volt on gas than the EPA because I coax the gasser off whenever it will allow.
What is irritating is right after the motor first starts I am usually nearing a stop and the motor during warmup will not shut off for some time and sits idling, occasionally I put it into mountain mode and gain a few extra EV miles for the hassle of having the ICE race anyway as It warms up.
Ah well, too bad I don't have full instrumentation for the volt, I hate black boxes and sadly the scangage can brick the car so I have avoided plugging it in as of yet.
Cheers
Ryan