I Love Power Mode!!!

Watch the power meter, and keep it out of the red.

Tom

 

I drove the last 60 miles in PWR mode, for an average of 49.6. My previous average in normal was 48.1. Entirely city driving. 60 miles isn't enough for me to really tell if it helps, but it doesn't seem to be hurting at least.

 

Wow, everyone is literally on power trips.

 

I just had the chance to drive in Power Mode yesterday. Went from Seaside Oregon to Astoria Oregon about 33 miles round trip.

Reset trip A in the driveway and from a cold start ended up in Astoria with 61 MPG indicated. Back to Seaside with finished MPG indicated of 62 MPG.

Now, normally, I would have a reading of 55-58 MPG for the same trip, but this time instead of ECO mode I was in Power Mode.

The only difference is that I just purchased new tires, Michelin Energy Saver AS 195X65X15 which replaced my Yoko Avid tires the car came with.

I don't know if the additional MPG could be the new tires or Power Mode or combination of both, go figure.

alfon

 

Well just go ahead and redo the same trip in ECO mode with the new tires...

 

Hey Santos (that's my middle name, where did yours come from by the way?), very good information but it would be a lot more helpful if all abbreviations were explained... I'm poorly educated on those. Also, you've got impressive MPG to prove your points and so does your wife, so I do wonder, does she follow your rules? or maybe those are her rules ... Now, one more thing, you are talking about the gen 3, right? (your profile shows gen 2 but your signature shows gen 3, so not sure).

 

My wife has made significant progress after driving a variety of different hybrids. It seems that once she got her foot re-trained and the understanding that one should get the directions from the instruments and not the primeval gut, the rest was easy.

Does she follow all my rules. Nope, nor do I want her to. I figure that a bit of healthy MPG competition between spouses is key.
Heck, she is even proud of her driving record and the lower insurance premiums so much so that kissed the old-style Flintstone driving for good.

Yep, this is Gen 3 stuff. The IGN I mentioned is one of the gauge values you read if you plug in a ScanGauge or similar device. At lower speeds, getting the IGN (Ignition timing) between the values I mentioned will help coerce the ICE (gas engine) into its lowest consumption rate possible (70-90 MPG) and if done right, it can be retained for quite a while. This is very similar to the SHM mode (IGN 19-22) for higher speeds.

Santos=Iberian family legacy

Cheers;

MSantos

 

I may still be lost as many appear to be here, but I do challenge a bit what qbee42 and MSantos hypothesize.

In my short commute (apart of my long travels), I improved my FE with a 5 MPG gain on average (very significant in my opinion) by just taking an alternative route through the back roads and allowing a few extra minutes of driving. What does that mean for the HSD? Well it means that, in the back roads, there are lots of stop signs and the average MPG is 30-31ish. Because of the stops, the battery and electric engines are being used a lot, the first charging and discharging all the time and the last frequently used to bring the car to around 30 MPG until the ICE is engaged.

So, in the other route (5 MPG lower than the back route) is mostly cruising at 45-50 MPH with very few stops (average ends up on the 35ish mark), the battery is close to full charge most of the time, discharging is much less frequent, and the electric engine is only occasionally engaged, so most of the drive is made on ICE.

So, I guess this is becoming yet more confusing...

 

Do you have the scangauge II? Where is the OBDII port in the 2010 Prius?

Yeah, my Santos = Spanish.

Iberian can be Portuguese or Spanish...

 

Power mode is not bad. The only effect power mode will have on your Prius is to make it respond more aggressively to accelerator input. In other words, a slight press on the accelerator will equal a big change in speed. This will make your Prius feel faster and more responsive.

There is nothing wrong with faster and more responsive unless you are trying to squeeze out the best possible mileage. Mileage freaks don't like power mode because it makes it harder to fine turn speed control. It's all up to individual preference, which is why Toyota gives us all three modes.

Tom

 

I suspect it is your driving style. Brisk acceleration is better for mileage than turtle starts, and power mode probably suites you.

Tom

 

I find myself wishing the PWR button were on the steering wheel. I don't feel I really need to be in that mode 100% of the time, but I do like to use it to accelerate from a stop, to get up to speed faster. A lot of reaching over to the console.

 

some one please explain these modes, I find nothing to engage or disengage NORMAL ECO POWER Mine is a 2005

 

I expect that some people get a little better mileage in the PWR Mode because they know they are in the PWR Mode and subconsciously use a lighter pressure on the go pedal. (I think I would do the same thing if I used that mode for any length of time.) But you should be able to get exactly the same results in any of the three modes. As Tom (qbee42) has stated the difference is the response to pedal movement during the first half of pedal travel plus more efficient AC operation in ECO Mode. Anything that happens due to using the second half of pedal travel, including full throttle acceleration, is the same in all three Modes. If you don't believe that try switching from mode to mode while holding your foot to the floor, there is no difference.

It might also be helpful to remember that all of the energy used by the car must come from the gasoline burned by the ICE. If you regenerate while slowing you had to use energy to accelerate. If you uses the battery in EV Mode it must be charged. If you regenerate energy coming down hill you had to use energy to get up the hill to start with, etc. Re-generative braking is better than throwing the excess energy away with the friction brakes but not as good as not building up excess energy to start with. As previously stated converting energy from one form to another always incurs losses. With regeneration we are using the ICE to gain velocity or altitude, then converting that energy to electricity which is stored in the battery, then we use the stored electrical energy to propel the car. Better than throwing energy away but still a lot of losses.

The big advantage to having a hybrid battery is that it gives us a place to store excess energy and we can then reuse it when the ICE is least efficient such as going very slowly or when stopped. It also allows for the use of a smaller more efficient ICE because we can use battery power to give us an extra boost during peak demand, i.e. full or near full throttle.

 

i drove my first 8 miles today


stop and go

i watched the power meter.

I'm in normal mode.

i get up to speed it goes to 25, i let up on the gas it goes to 100. then every time it goes back down to 25 to 40 i let back up again till it goes to a 100.

first 5 minutes .....32 mpg
second 5 minutes....55 mpg


i be damned if this car is going to get the best of me!!!!!!!

 

These modes are switch selectable on the 2010:

NORMAL is like your car

ECO is an economy mode which gives you finer control of the HSD system for the first half of throttle pedal travel

PWR is a power mode that is just the opposite of ECO, it gives you more power for the same amount of pedal movement during the first half of throttle pedal movement

EV is electric vehicle mode and allows you to run on the battery if the speed is slow enough, the state of charge is sufficient, and the ICE is warmed up.

 

Just finished my work route twice using PWR mode, and my avg is up 2mpg...

My 45min route is extremely consistent, and I should be getting worse mpg since its been so cold out lately.

I have noticed that I still stay within the ECO bar like normal, the only differences I see is that I accelerate up to speed faster, and I transition from pulse to glide and vice-versa faster. I am also finding that I am keeping up with traffic a bit better. Maybe PWR mode is minimizing the efficiency loss of human lag?