Eco vs Normal?

And, if you're right that ECO warm-ups are better, someone who does best in NORMAL or PWR might benefit from a few minutes of ECO before switching...

 

Here is a great starting point from John1701a's site:
http://john1701a.com/prius/documents/Prius_Driving-Modes.pdf

It is only an overview, but if you check around more on John's site, you can get additional data. You also can look at posts on other PriusChat threads for more on the topic.

John's Prius User Guide has a little bit more of a description, and you can get it on his site or from Google docs. There is a little bit more about the modes starting on Page 2.

 

Thanks!

Didn't see anything about warm up variations in the docs, but I will look around his site. The part about power mode keeping the ICE running longer before shutdown "just in case you need it" was interesting. Certainly more potential for waste there that I hadn't considered before and one that extends well beyond the warm up phase.

After three years of "just driving" my Prius with tank results averaging between 48 and 53 mpg, I've finally decided to try stretching things out a bit. No complaints about what I've been getting, but it seems like it would be fun to try to improve on it.

Now that it's somewhat cooler here, I spent the last couple of days making really minimal use of the environmental control system (turned it off completely when I could) and am averaging over 60 mpg. That is not something I'd seen before. Though I know many achieve it, it's exciting for me.

 

I do exactly that I start with ECO mode so little colder mornings (and for winter) the ICE shuts off earlier perhaps even the first stop sign / traffic light ... I can handle heating and A/C I have enough intelligence I do not need the another ECU

And yes next month will do grill blocking first lower then january upper (I leave in New York guess grill blocking makes not much sense in Las Vegas unless you like to gamble on overheating )

 

For those of you that get better mpg in pwr mode, bravo. For me, every time I barely touch the go pedal in that mode I instantly hit 88mph and end up in 1885 hill valley.

 

Funny you should say that. My car before the Prius was a 1982 DeLorean.

Since my earlier posts, I've acquired a 2012 Prius with the sunroof. That helps me leave the A/C off. Still on the first tank, which seems to settling down around 54 mpg at 1/2 tank remaining. Sticking with ECO. I suspect I'll need to break it in a bit.

 

I did lower grill blocking one winter and didn't notice much difference. With the car in the garage at night and outside temps rarely below 35-40, the car warmed up pretty quickly anyway. My wife was driving the car that winter, and she "just drove." Mileage was in the mid- to high-40's in ECO, depending on how much I nagged her about it.

I don't recall if you've said you prefer another mode after warming up in ECO?

 

Well if you have tempered or even a semi heated garage (or live in Vegas I agree you probably will not see much difference) blocking speeds up warm up and allows cabin heat quicker ) in my area it matter I could tell from SG that the temperature was raising faster and ICE would shut down earlier in my trip.

It was a reply ... the original said it but let me repeat I start with ECO and switch to power I found that my style and my driving in New York city "power" is better for me .. I have tried all three mode (I have SG as well so I can see couple of other things than the regular screens) I can get better MPG this way ... you may not ...

 

Understood. I have achieved essentially the same mileage with power and eco in the past. Power mode makes it less likely I will be run down by a Prius hunter and I can keep a light enough foot.

Mixing modes has not been something I've tried. Warming up and stopping in eco while driving in power seems to be what I'd favor, but punching the buttons all the time might get annoying. Probably not hard to make a mod if it really makes enough difference in mileage. The controls are all there to give it a try anyway.

 

It really depends on you driving situation and your own driving style/ability ... also the BEST mpg "gainer" is anticipation of traffic both acceleration (when and when NOT) and breaking (when and when NOT) that can gain 5 mpg ...

Anyone how just prefer "driving" as it goes well you will not even make EPA numbers ...

 

I do not really change during my driving I just start we ECO and change to power mode a little while after that ... it saves on the first few stop signs/red lights on the local street a little bit ... then I turn to power mode for the rest of my 20+ mile commute...

 

Installing a Stage 10 "dome" button shifter in place of the OEM "stick" shifter has really changed my driving by making the ECO and POWER buttons intuitively accessible visually and by hand. The OEM "stick" shifter hides these buttons just enough to forget about them, while the Stage 10 "dome" lets your hand just reach out to these ECO and POWER buttons without lifting the hand off the console or hunting for a way around the OEM shifter stick. Since I installed Stage 10, I switch between ECO and POWER all the time - mostly on freeways - to clear tight turns, hills or to explore gaps in traffic. Before, I only remembered to switch ECO vs POWER at the beginning of each trip.

My gas mileage has suffered by about 30 miles/tank since I installed Stage 10, and I attribute it to the ease of switching between the ECO and POWER buttons. Driving the car is much more fun and responsive now.

 

Maybe it's that Sidewinder missile strapped to your roof...

I'll have to check out the Stage 10, just for fun. I do agree it's awkward to play with the buttons while driving.

My thought of a mod was to perhaps add switches to each of the accelerator (PWR) and brake pedals (ECO) to assure I was in ECO when stopping/coasting/stopped to take advantage of any quicker ICE shutdown time. But once warmed up, every time I come to a stop at a light in PWR, it seems the ICE has already shut down. If PWR shutdown times are extended, it must not be by much. I do try to anticipate stops and generally have a fairly long coasting period. I suspect it shuts down somewhere in there.

 

I do not get the last part ... why do you change to POWER "to clear tight turns". ECO/POWER doesn't change the car power only modulated the "gas pedal" characteristic so you can have exact same "power" with both settings. I do change it at the beginning of a trip or after short stop as well. Here the advantage is that ICE will stop with lower coolant temp i.e. earlier in the trip at stopsigns for example which I have many at my start of the daily commute.

 

SZGABOR,

It makes it much easier to drive in ECO and then very quickly lay it on to power out of a tight turn and just as quickly resume ECO, because the buttons are at my fingertips and not behind a stalk, as with the OEM shifter. Hinda hard to imagine but it really works - 3 camera speeding tickets are an empirical testimony