2018 HyCam amateur review and ongoing blog

60.5 MPG displayed
595.8 miles
57.2 long term average MPG, low point was 57.0 so we are already up 2 tenths
27,365 OD

$19.50!! Unleaded is under $2.00/gal!
10.2 gal

58.4 MPG calculated

 

I'm still alive. Much has changed. I started taking COVID-19 seriously before some others at work and ended up getting sent home after I made a fuss about distancing that was not being observed at the time. Haven't been back to work since they sent me home.

Meanwhile the kid is no longer in school so my days have been spent homeschooling my boy. It has been a big change.

Filled up a while ago (Apr. 13), just now getting around to posting.

604.2 miles trip
62.7 MPG displayed tank
27,970 OD
57.5 MPG long term average

$15.38
10.26 gallons

58.9 MPG calculated tank

 

Went from Apr. 13 to June 23 before filling up.

June 23 tank

632.1 miles
62.6 MPG displayed tank

57.8 MPG long term average
28,602 OD

$19.81
10.4 gallons

60.1 MPG calculated tank

Retirement going good. Don't miss the stress from work. Typical trip now is Wal-Mart pickup which is a great service. They toss your stuff in the trunk and you never need to go in the store at all!

 

August 11, 2020

600.2 miles
59.9 MPG displayed

57.9 MPG long term displayed
29,202 OD

$19.15
10.36 gal

57.9 MPG calculated

 

Oh wow!

My longest trip lately was to Kohl's for an Amazon return. Great thing that. Just bring in your item and they do the rest. Yeah they got me the first time when bought a bunch of shirts but I needed them anyway. Can't really wear work shirts with a work logo in retirement. Anyhow they just take your Amazon item loose, not in a box or anything. They zap a code on your phone and you have a refund in minutes. So easy.

I guess UPS does this now as well. Does not help me because Kohl's and UPS are right next to each other!

 

Oct 27, 2020

64.1 MPG displayed
576.9 miles
58.2 MPG long term average
29,779 OD

$17.18
9.34 gallons

61.8 MPG calculated

Getting cold, predicting next tank will have a noticable drop.

 

April 4, 2021

30,335 OD
556.1 trip
58.1 mpg long term
55.9 mpg tank displayed

10.64 gal
$28.50

52.3 mpg calculated

 

If you live in Canada than we are quite a bit closer to the equator, so a bit warmer, yeah.

That makes a huge difference in MPG. Even trying my hardest, using all the tricks, EPA MPG is impossible to achieve mid winter. Meanwhile EPA MPG is easy to beat by just driving the car in the summertime. Using special techniques in the summertime can yield 70 MPG or more. Good luck getting 50 in the winter

 

Summer is here and the time is right for dancing in the streets!

I love love love how awesome the HyCam is in warmer weather. The milage jumps up and the AC works perfectly. My old HCH also had great milage in the Summer but the AC would shut off during an auto stop. Not the HyCam, the AC keeps working perfectly even with the engine off.

 

After new car shopping Wireless Android Auto with wireless charging will be a must have in my next vehicle. My 2018 lacks any form of AA.

 

Trip 1111.6 hmmmmm 556 miles corrected
59.1 mpg tank displayed

58.1 mpg long term average
30,891 od

9.83 gal
$28.10

56.5 mpg calculated

 

We have been shopping for a new vehicle and seeing fancy new tech. The 2 things I wish my 2018 HyCam had are wireless charging and wireless Android Auto.

Sidenote: Entune/Scout seems better to me. I really don't remember well enough to say for sure but planning a route is really easy now. Only problem now is that it constantly complains about a weak GPS signal. Does it use GPS from the phone or does the car have an antenna?

Anyhow I'm thrilled with my latest accessory, a vent mounted, motorized, wireless charging phone holder. It is so cool! You gently set your phone on bottom rest and it senses the phone and grabs it automatically. A touch sensor releases your phone.

This $25 holder/charger solves my nav issues. I plan to use Google Maps straight from the phone and bluetooth the sound wirelessly into the car's audio . Other than the cable to the motorized holder it is all wireless. There is wireless charging and wireless sound, Scout will even work halfway (no map but arrows and next turn) wirelessly.

Not as good as built in wireless connectivity but a pretty cool substitute.

My previous phone holder didn't work very well. This one grabs the vent with a lot of force and works better.

Did I mention about the automatic motorized phone grabber? So cool!

The charger works through my Otterbox Defender. No need to remove the phone from the case.

 

During our big road trip our HyCam got about 50 MPG at 75 MPH going and about 47 MPG coming home into the wind. This was enough to lower the long term average from 58.1 to 57.5 MPG.

Curious to see what would happen I reset the long term while driving down a long hill ICE off. The bar graph does not automatically scale but instead maxes out at 60MPG while the long term numerical display tops out at 99.9.

 

The long term average was reset in July. Until 2 days ago it said 66 MPG. Cooler weather has it at 65 and headed south.