55-50 MPH, 17-18 HWY miles trip, stock 2.5 LE with less than 1K miles on the clock, stock tires, no cruise, no luggage, "cool" TX summer morning and no traffic.

 

The Hybrid gets about 10% better fuel economy on the highway, and has 10% more power.

 

According to the Canadian Toyota website:

Regular 6 cyl 268hp, 9.7 city, 6.5 highway, 8.3 combined (24/36/28)
Regular 4 cyl 178hp, 8.2 city, 5.5 highway, 7.0 combined (29/43/34)
Hybrid 200hp, 4.5 city, 4.9 highway, 4.7 combined (52/48/50)

That's +79% city, +12% highway, +47% combined for hybrid vs 4 cyl. (and +12% power)

These are all EPA ratings which may not be realistic for most drivers but it should give a good basis for comparison between them.

Price comparison for all "base" models ($cdn):
6 cyl $31655
4 cyl $25595
Hybrid $29605

So the base hybrid is +16% vs the base 4 cyl and -7% vs the base 6 cyl.

 

Power is one thing but the more pertinent performance metric is torque. I had a previous post on it somewhere, but it worked out that worst case, the hybrid has in the order of 50% more torque. In reality, it is even more as the electric motor is capable of delivering a more linear torque curve at low RPM.

So not only is there more torque, across the curve it is an even higher benefit outside of an engine's ideal torque range.

 

According to the specs-yes, TCH has much more torque, but you cant simply combine gas engine and electric motor torque and in reality all that extra HP and torque goes to waste, TCH only a sec (or less) quicker than a 2.5 camry.
I don't go on highways much, but we drove to Cape Cod once and with 3 adults in the car, some stuff in the trunk and speed varying from 50 to 80 Mph trip average was 38 Mpg. I understand that hybrid can do better than that, but I've payed $4500-4700 less for my LE versus Camry Hybrid LE and to me such a difference in price is simply untestifiable.

 

It seems like whenever this comes up, people post examples of their non-hybrid getting good mileage on a particular trip. Me, I'm impressed with the overall mileage that my Avalon Hybrid got on its last tank. It's been cold here in Maryland, and I took mostly short local trips, with plenty of traffic and stop lights. I park outside, with no block heater. Nevertheless I got almost 31 MPG for the tank. And I'm enjoying a nice car, not an econobox.

 

The question is:

what the highway mpg would be under similar circumstances between say a 2012-2014 hybrid vs a standard 4 cylinder Camry

I'm doing 50/50 city/HWY, but 95% of my HWY's are service roads with traffic lights and intersections. IMO my 24+ average is more than adequate for 2.5, especially considering that lately TX got hit by pretty low temperatures (before it was 26+ MPG), every morning "school parking lot idling" and pretty aggressive driving style.
My friend has a 2013 TCH. He is driving mostly in the city and he is not driving like a "tree hugger" as well and his average lately dropped to 30-31 MPG vs 35-36 MPG "summer average".

 

I get 24-25mpg on suburban Florida local streets....and 34-35mph @ 80mph for 3+ hours sustained highway driving...35-36mph @ 65-70mph...

 

So let me get this straight, the hybrid is faster than the 4 cylinder?


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So let me get this straight, the hybrid is faster than the 4 cylinder?

Not the way I drive it. :liar:

But, yeah, my understanding is that the the immediate torque right out of the gate can do wonders in the right hands (feet?). Maybe that's why the Hybrid SE is sucha cool idea?

But whaddaIknow--my wife thinks I never take my TCH LE outa ECO mode. :dunno:

 

i'm just wondering more of a technical question,,, but
does the battery ever get low ??

Because no matter how depleted the battery gets on the monitor, there is
always maximum acceleration.

If the batter truly gets depleted, the electric motor would not be
able to contribute and the ICE would give a poor performance under
maximum acceleration ??

 

For the amount of time you are going to keep the pedal to the metal, I would suggest not a problem, even if you start with a three bar battery charge. Now if you wanted to drive the Daytona 500 flat out, then yes the power from the battery will not last a real long time.

In real world 1/4 mile drag strip tests, the battery has lots of capacity. You only need power for 16 seconds or so.

 

Even if you get absolutely no drive from the electric motor, the ICE is still able to generate 156HP which is only 22HP less than the I4. It's less but it's still not that bad. If you're not going "pedal to the metal", you probably wouldn't notice that much.

 

you easily will notice 10-15 HP difference on 3000+ lbs. add extra 250 lbs for the TCH and you'll miss these 22 HP even in traffic.

 

You'd notice obviously but not as much as say, on a Civic Hybrid 2008 with only 93HP on the ICE and a weight of 2900 lbs (trust me)
(when I say "miss them", I mean "can't do without")

 

A test drive of the 4 cyl told me I woudn't want one regardless of the differential in mileage with a hybrid, as the 4 cyl is GUTLESS.

 

So does the Hybrid qualify as at least half a gut, compared to the 6?

Going from my previous car, a 2003 Corolla, to the 7gen Camry Hybrid, the power almost scares me.

 

I have driven the 6 also. That is 1 fast sucker



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