Screen off- on purpose

Interesting thought. I might try that for a couple tanks and see if there is any MPG difference in my driving.

 

I turn mine off from time to time, i guess mostly at night as it can be a bit distracting. But nah, I leave it on 99.8 % of the time.

I was kinda wondering if anyone else turned the screen off.

 

I generally keep mine in Map mode. It's not off, but I'm not worrying about the Consumption or Energy screens. Heck, since I've added the DICE and iPod I'm spending more time on the audio screen as well.

 

When I find I'm getting "obsessed" with it, or taking what feels like potentially unsafe amounts of glances at it (like on the highway), I turn it off.

 

I normally leave it off. I find it very distracting and a supreme source of stress for myself and other drivers, as I'll try to eek out every last MPG. I end up driving way too slow.

My car sat from the end of May to the beginning of September with a nearly-full tank, and I still ripped off 54.1 MPG. Periodically I'll turn the MFD on to see where my average is, but it goes right back off.

 

I always turn it off at night, more relaxing that way. I really don't look at it so much and I do better when I don't think about it.

 

I turn the screen off when I have to leave my pup in the car with the AC on for short errands. I like exuding the impression that the car is turned off...

 

My fav screen is the XM display. There are three things I enjoy when traveling. 1. Talking with my wife of 24 years. 2. Looking at the great outdoors. 3. Listening to music. Sweatin' bullets over tenths of miles per gallon ain't even on the radar screen -- uh...does my Prius have a radar screen?

 

The only time I turn mine off is to clean it. On the other hand, I'm not too stressed with getting the very highest mpg. I like it when I get good mileage, but I don't pulse and glide or drive below the speed limit.

Tom

 

I keep mine on, when my grandkids are not in the car. When they are with me, they have the audio screen on, switching radio stations. Much of my driving is done, taking them here and there. I find that my MPG is not nearly as good when I've been transporting them to functions as it is when I'm driving alone, aware of what is on the display.

 

Depending on the traffic conditions it probably wouldn't be a bad idea to turn if off in heavy congested traffic especially if you're like me who like to look at the consumption all the time. Less distraction - wonder if I will practice what I preach.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jamarimutt @ Sep 20 2006, 07:33 PM) [snapback]322530[/snapback]</div>

Thanks for a great post. This should be a sticky!

That said I like to obsess over FE, it's a "game" to me. Where the rules are 1) DRIVE SAFE, 2) See (1) and 3) maximize FE. This is a better game then my last one that was "see how many cars I can pass on the way home". I arrive home less stressed with this game.

With anyone else in the car I tend to keep the GPS screen on.

I didn't know that even with the scrren of that it would show temperature settings, etc when changed. That's cool.

 

If the Toyota engineers would figure out a way to put the windshield image in the screen, I would watch the MFD even more. Better yet, give me a helmet mounted display.

Pure fly-by-wire with lots of info, that's what I want. Maybe even some mini-screen like the Terminator that would give me witty lines to say to the drivers around me.

 

I almost always leave mine on. I don't stress too much about FE, and it doesn't distract me.

For night mode, I have the brightness turned way down and the contrast turned way up. I can't see it at all like that during the day and at night it is just perfect.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Rangerdavid @ Sep 20 2006, 08:04 PM) [snapback]322553[/snapback]</div>

I turn it off too from time to time. Is there a way to make the Audio display not blank out after a while if you have the Consumption/Energy display turned off?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Beryl Octet @ Sep 22 2006, 02:22 PM) [snapback]323589[/snapback]</div>

I'm just guessing, but I remember seeing a button on the MFD to turn on/off the "automatic return" to the energy screen. Maybe turning off the auto return would keep the audio screen on if the display was off?

 

I still enjoy glancing at the screen when traffic allows to see how consumption is looking, but after reading these posts I think I might try turning it off for a while to see if I drive any differently and if my mileage changes. But I don't focus on the screen constantly - like I told my son I glance at the screen just like I glance in my mirrors as I'm driving and I try to only look at the screen when there are no other cars in my vicinity.

 

I prefer to straddle the middle arm rest and move my face as close as possible to the screen so that I don't miss any fluctuations in Instantaneous MPG. That way all the pixels are nice and bright. Why look at that boring road when you can see that 99.9MPG popup on-screen the moment it shows up, I say.