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Driving in "B"

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Main Forum' started by priforme, Apr 30, 2012.

  1. priforme

    priforme Junior Member

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    Driving along I noticed that my EV and ECO indicators were off. It turn about that my wife inadvertently put the car "B" while playing with the radio. I must have been driving like that for about 10 minutes doing no more than 40-45 on a flat road. Do you think any damage was done?


    iPhone ?
     
    #1 priforme, Apr 30, 2012
  2. GrumpyCabbie

    GrumpyCabbie Senior Member

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    Nope

    Driving it for 10,000 miles in B is unlikely to cause any damage I wouldn't have though either.

    She's not the only one doing that though. I often use B coming down a steep hill and forget to select Drive when I reach the bottom.
     
    #2 GrumpyCabbie, Apr 30, 2012
  3. daniel

    daniel Cat Lovers Against the Bomb

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    No harm done at all. It's a little bit less efficient except where intended. (Long, steep downhills when the battery is too full for regen.) Maybe you burned an extra quarter of a teaspoon of gas.

    Welcome to Prius Chat, and enjoy the car!
     
    #3 daniel, Apr 30, 2012
  4. Sporin

    Sporin Prius Noob

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    I was on a long drive the other day (highway) and on a very long downhill I put it in B so as not to speed up any more then I already was speeding.... forgot to put it back in D. I didn't notice until I couldn't get the Cruise Control to Set. I probably did less then a mile that way but I thought it was interesting that CC won't work in B mode.
     
    #4 Sporin, Apr 30, 2012
  5. ChipL

    ChipL Active Member

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    Used the B mode this past weekend on a road trip from Reston Va to Berryviille Va on Rt7... Some steep declines, and I still showed 100 mpg using the engine breaking of the B mode...

    I use to use the B mode on my commute on a downhill grade, till I learned that breaking as usual worked as well...

    My take is leaving the B mode on longer than needed is that the ICE runs more than needed...
     
    #5 ChipL, Apr 30, 2012
  6. secondspassed

    secondspassed Member

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    It shouldn't cause any problem whatsoever, since it only ever tries to actually engine break when you let off the gas. I think it's designed to be able to be left in B indefinitely with no damage to the car.
     
    #6 secondspassed, Apr 30, 2012
  7. priforme

    priforme Junior Member

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    Thanks everyone! One of these days I'll stop babying my car ☺


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    #7 priforme, Apr 30, 2012
  8. ChipL

    ChipL Active Member

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    No problem, think we all do it with any new car - but with the Prius and lack of the standard auto transmission and and it's intelligence we are all newbies....
     
    #8 ChipL, Apr 30, 2012
  9. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

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    It needlessly blew 5 to 10 cents of fuel money out of your wallet. Anything else was comparatively minor.
     
    #9 fuzzy1, Apr 30, 2012
  10. ForestBeekeeper

    ForestBeekeeper Active Member

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    For some topics [when discussing a Prius] it might be more appropriate to speak of fuel consumption in terms of CCs [Cubic Centimeter]. A teaspoon being roughly 10CC.

    Perhaps it is more accurate to picture this kind of 'wastefulness' as burning as extra CC.

    A gallon has 3,785CCs. At $3.50/gallon a single CC rounds to like 1/10 of a cent.
     
    #10 ForestBeekeeper, May 1, 2012
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