I Like Power Mode

Well let us know your FE after a couple fill ups. Would using power mode from a stop and then switching to Eco mode while cruising make a difference as opposed to straight power mode?

 

I don't use eco to accelerate, it just feels like its choking. I use normal to accelerate, and occasionally I use eco to coast or glide. I don't know if it makes any difference though.

 

My 2010 V is about to turn 3 yrs old and 27K miles. First time Prius owner.

For the first 6 months or so I played the MPG game, trying to squeeze out the best. Mainly driving in ECO, but eventually tired of slo-poking from stops and the feeling that 3 of the 4 cylinders were firing. I got about 52-55 MPG those first 6 months.
Then I decided to drive my Prius as a 'normal' car in Standard Mode. Used Power Mode for entrance ramps etc, ECO mode - never again.
I enjoy driving and not being anal re MPG. I get 50MPG without focusing on it - and over 27K miles, 49.2 overall since new. And being in FL A/C on a lot.
I do love the Power Mode - few would complain about Prius being a slowboat using that setting.

On a different topic - My Prius is NOT the V, it's a V. V meaning not the Prius Model but the Model. I mean it's the one with 17" tires etc.
WHOEVER in TOYOTA Marketing decided to go with the Prius V, C, and future Prius car Alpha designators should be layed off. Confusing and not distinctive.

 

Truthfully, I've only been using the ECO mode when driving my Prius. I put it in ECO when I got it and I don't think I've ever driven it with it turned off. Now, I'll have to wait until next fill up to turn it off and see if there is a difference in my mpg.

 

If you get better mpg in power mode, that means you weren't accelerating briskly enough in the other modes. People are often surprised by how briskly hypermilers accelerate, but that's the whole concept behind pulse and gliding which is conductive to good fuel economy.

Personally, I use the power mode only when I'm in a hurry. However, once I switch to it, I have to stay in that mode for the rest of the trip as switching back to normal mode makes the car feel too slow and unresponsive. Kind of like how you can manage without contacts/glasses when you wake up first thing in the morning but after wearing contacts all day, everything looks too blurry not to wear glasses when you take them out.

 

It makes no difference what mode you're in when coasting or gliding so don't waste your energy doing that.

Just call it the Five, which is how the Roman numeral V is pronounced. The wagon is written as the v, pronouncing "vee." Likewise, the little Prius is written as the c. If you've been saying "vee" for your V/Five, you've been saying it wrong all this time. It's most properly pronounced as "Five."

 

One: you have to engage the PWR button every fr*ckin' time you start the car. <grrrr> My hat's off to you if you can remember to engage it every time for an entire tank. I tried and failed after less than a week. I understand their philosophy for letting it reset to Normal but.....

 

eco-city traffic
normal-suburbs
power-country

 

Has anyone else noticed that it seems you have to press the brake pedal further when in power mode to engage the same amount of braking? Or is it psychological at that point? I swear that you can regen more first, but then if you have to press the brake further, it takes a little more to get as much stopping force as if you were in normal mode.

That said, I like Power mode on the highways and typically use normal mode when I'm doing regular commuting around here.

 

I am only on my second tank, but since I had the first tank in eco mode and got a calculated 56.8 mpg (507 mile tank, that was not a short fill) I am certain it really just depends on how you actually drive the car. You can accelerate briskly even in ECO mode, you just need to input a lot of throttle rapidly and the car will get up and go.

I am curious to see how driving in normal, or power mode are compared to my first tank perhaps I'll switch and see.

 

I had to get my old 4 cyl pick-up truck inspected (state requirement) yesterday. Afterwards, we decided to do some grocery shopping since we were already in town.

It was a nice sunny weekend day with plenty of traffic and noted that most drivers around us seemed to be using "Power Mode". Our stop lights are not coordinated so you generally have to stop at every one you come to, each block of travel.

Everyone took off on green like they were going to beat the next light, only to have to turn all that built up speed into heat by braking hard at the red light. And gasoline here is now averaging $3.99 per gallon. I was pretty amazed by the hurried driving style, especially on a Saturday. It didn't matter what part of town we drove through, we noticed the same behavior.

I have yet to engage power mode on our Prius, so I guess I'm just not that impatient yet. We should test out the theory that using the PWR Mode doesn't affect MPG. That would be interesting. The Prius is pretty brilliant at managing the best MPG possible under most conditions.

 

True, but it takes an annoying amount of throw to get there. This is probably why some people seem to get better mpg when in power mode; they've not been accelerating briskly enough for optimal pulsing.

 

My guess right now is that if one mode differs from the next in terms of mpg, the difference would be very negligible.

 

Depends largely on the driver. If one normally babies the pedal (which isn't conductive to good fuel economy), the boost in mpg from switching to power mode could be significant.

 

I personally can't stand the eco mode, the car is a turd in this mode, just no response at all when needed, and just don't like having to floor it every time I need to merge or get out if the way quickly, feels much more like a regular car in the power mode, it's all I use all the time.

 

I don't like ECO response too, it's to lazy for me. On the other hand I stay in ECO all the time while city driving (for the last 850 km I've not left town at all).
I prefer Normal mode but as long as outside temps are below 5 deg C during night and below 15 deg C during day I can live with ECO for lower fan speed and lower engine cut-off temps (EU Prii shuts the engine in S2 and don't need to be +20 deg C. First shutdown occurs within 3 minutes or so. In normal next 5 minutes of fuel burning is needed). So switching to ECO, heater to +19 C gives me savings about 1.5 l/100km on 11km trips.
I start my trip from traffic jam, then uphill, then long stright (often jammed) and then back to slow crawling so ECO is my way to go.
On the other hand when I'm driving on weekends I switch to normal from time to time but I don't see much benefits of it, except when I want full A/C capabilities. Maybe during spring I'll change my mind... todays morning started with heavy snow

PWR mode is fun to drive on thight, curved roads. Even in Germany while entering ramps I tend to drive in normal mode just applying more power when needed.

 

Sergio,

You mentioned snow, which mode works best in the snow?

 

I use power mode for getting on highways and eco the rest of the time. I kind of think that was the intention. Why buy a Prius if your not trying to squeeze ever MPG out of it. At least they gave you the option. Let us know what your gas mileage is in Power mode.