Eco vs Normal?

Many people including myself see better mpg's running in PWR mode. There is even a mod to make the car default upon power up to PWR mode rather than ECO.

Mike

 

I think those who get better mpg in modes other than Eco mode are likely just babying the throttle too much. Normal and Power Modes make it harder to baby the throttle. Try to accelerate in the 3/4 zone of the HSI just before the power section.

FWIW, if you are enjoying the feel of Power Mode then you are not driving efficiently.

 

I am driving my car for 3 years .. I prefer pwr mode BUT that is driving style .. I can match MPG in pwr or eco mode but that require a sligthly different way of using the throttle ... without something of a monitoring, that is harder. I have an SGe (baby SGII). The car will behave a little different but if you know what to expect you can handle it ...

Obviously, for your driving style (currently) pwr is better (city driving it is a lot better).

If you have nothing else ... to watch use HSI and keep the load around right edge of the leaf thing (that seems to be the sweat spot for load .... )

 

I also get better MPG in normal mode than in ECO mode. Lot of other do as well--try a search if you're interested.

 

I do better in eco, it appears. Lead foot who uses AC a lot

 

A lot of people that see a fuel economy increase when they first try eco and then normal do so simply because they learn to drive the car better and it has nothing to do with which mode is on.

 

After 6 weeks or so driving exclusively with ECO on, I turned it off. Foot position is more comfortable, AC works better (I always hated it dropping the fan to one bar, when the sun is behind me, with temp set at 78, I usually bump up the fan speed manually to compensate). This morning it turned in 60MPG on the way into work, just as good as any other day in ECO mode.

 

^ I'll set Auto with A/C, then control the fan speed indirectly by adjusting the target temperature. Typically if you've got that temperature set low and hit Auto the fan is going to really take off. I just keep raises the target temp till it calms down, typically to around 25~26 Centigrade (77~79 F). Then, as the car cools and the fan speed drops, I'll start setting the target temperature lower, always trying to avoid a racing fan speed. Even on a really hot day I'll settle around 24 degrees Centegrade (75 F), and it feels cool/comfortable.

 

So the consensus is PWR Mode as the modes have a nominal effect on gas consumption?

 

Some people swear by it and some people swear at it PWR mode makes me get higher mpg's when I remember to use it, but I haven't installed the two timers yet to make it default to PWR mode upon powering up the car. So I usually drive it in whatever mode it powers up in.

BTW welcome to the Prius addiction

Mike

 

It all depends on your style of driving. I get around ~60 MPG in normal mode and ~53 MPG in power mode. The later is due to an error on my part as the throttle becomes very sensitive and I have a heavy foot. On the other hand I am able to control the throttle very precisely in normal mode, which allows me to stay out of the power zone. Since I commute to Santa Monica and I rarely have to deal with hills. Therefore I do not see a point to use power mode unless I am trying to stay with traffic.

 

I guess that depends on the definition of best gas mileage. When I bought my Prius last month, I flipped the swith to ECO mode as I left the dealership and haven't changed it. While I still have not gotten to my first fill up, I currently have over 400 miles on the first tank and it is showing 59.5 mpg. Could I get better mpg than that using Normal or Power Mode?

That being said, if anyone can prove to me that they consistantly get better than 60 mpg using Normal or Power mode, I'd be interested to hear how they do it.

- TP

 

Once you know all the techniques to get great MPG you can use them in any mode. The different modes will only effect how sensitive you have to be with your foot placement (pedal mapping changes not total power) . With the exception of a small climate control changes in eco mode which help FE.

 

Also, warm up stages differ a bit.

 

I agree completely.... With markabele's addition.

I could get high 60s in any mode but I like Eco Mode because it is easier to apply hypermiling techniques. I dislike Power Mode because my girlfriend wants it on when she is in the car. It's like a symbol of "the fun has ended". Kinda like wedding rings.... Kidding! Jeeze

Now you'll have to excuse me while I go hide my McDonalds wrappers in the neighbor's trash can.

 

I like what this is establishing.

But a question: Is it really only "small climate control changes" in eco mode? I had the idea from John 1701a that the changes were much more significant.

Also, I think it is important not to forget the first line -- "Once you know all the techniques . . ." If you haven't learned these, then the power mode is going to suck you in, and gasoline with it, so that your FE will decrease.

I'm on eco almost exclusively, but mainly because I like the HSD system to take care of things. I can manage glide when I want it, but I can't minimize the FE hit from the A/C as well as the computer can when the car is in eco.

 

I found the comment about warm-up stage differences between the modes interesting. As many seem to attack the warm-up stages with block heaters, grill blocking and such to improve overall mileage, which mode leads to the most fuel-efficient warm-up? Seems we'd want to start in that mode, if even for a few minutes, then switch to our best driving mode.

I live in Las Vegas with relatively short warm-up times anyway, but others might benefit.

 

I think it would seem counter intuitive to think that anything other than ECO provides the most energy efficient warm up.

 

Well, there are some counter-intuitive aspects to the whole thread. More than one claim that PWR and/or NORMAL are, or can be, more economical than ECO.

Since you indicated there were differences in the warm-ups of the various modes, I thought you knew specifically what they were. I asked on the off-chance that the PWR or NORMAL warm-ups are actually more fuel conservative for some unintuitive reason.

If you can point us to an old thread on the topic or have something specific, that'd be great.