PWR Mode

Just use your right foot.
Full power is full power. Period.
Those buttons are silly and confusing to Noobs.

 

I do know I had a bigger smile on my face whenI stopped at a light next to yellow Corvette convertible and I reached over and pressed the PWR mode button. When the light turned green I don't think the driver of the Corvette was expecting a Prius to be able to jump off the line quicker than he did and be able to pull over and get in front of him, lol. Granted, I doubt he was trying to get off the line quick, but it was still fun.

But in all seriousness in ECO mode it is very apparent to me that Toyota designed in a delay, almost like, do you really want to go that fast? Now standard mode, neither ECO mode or PWR mode, it seems to have good "throttle" response even from a dead stop. I do think from a dead stop in PWR mode the system does start the ICE sooner in response to throttle being pressed. By getting the ICE up and running quicker full power is available sooner.

 

May be, but this is totally measurable. Good ol' timed 1/8 mile runs!

An easy test would be to have your passenger select the mode while you have a piece of black tape covering the green lights. This is Blind Testing at its simplest! Do 4 stop light blasts and you pick which you think it is. At the end have the passenger tell you the order of modes.

Good fun on a Friday Night !!

 

I like the idea of the blind test and the tap over the green light. You might need to cover the traction control indicator light too. I seem to break the tires loose easier when in PWR Mode, another indicator of quicker acceleration. When the traction control light comes on the car seems to react more like its in standard mode.

 

Power mode definitely makes a difference in certain scenarios when you need to make sure you accelerate quickly.

I switch to power mode whenever I'm waiting to make a left turn. Then I know I won't have that lag you can have when you press the accelerator, it just moves faster from a stop.

I also switch to power mode before changing lanes on the freeway if I'm stuck in a slow moving lane and want to change to the faster lane. This way I can punch it and not slow down traffic in the lane I'm switching to. If I try to do that without switching to power mode there is a very noticeable lag in the acceleration and I run the risk of causing road rage on a California freeway and I don't want to die.

It's not just perceived, it's real. I liken it to downshifting.

 

Testing.... is the only way to tell.

I notice the rate of the stomp on the pedal matters also. A quick stab to full throttle makes things happen.
Not hard pressure, just as quick as possible.

I definitely don't like the idea of looking down at highway speeds to press a silly switch.
That is called "Driver Workload". You want less of it, not more