Driving in the ECO Mode?

I completely agree with you on that one, especially the last sentence. It seems that people deliberately add stress to their lives by driving dangerously. IMO if a vehicle can get up to 70 and maintain it, then it doesn't really matter what you are driving. A Prius at that speed gets to point b at the same time as a Ferrari. I don't own a c yet (can't wait though) but I see the way that the c makes people drive (assuming that you care about MPG) is much more efficient and safe. I tire of those folks that weave in and out of traffic to save minutes off of their commute, endangering the lives of themselves and others. That was me at some point in my life as well, but I have grown out of that stage. It is my hope that the increased number of c's (or other hybrids) on the road sees a similar increase in road safety.

 

Its my considered opinion, the tailgaters, the weavers, the tromp on the gas then tromp on the break, cutting people off, those people scare me way more than a guy doing 70 in a 60! So long as they aren't doing the above! I don't care how fast, just stay off my a** and don't cut me off!

 

I totally agree, I just traded in my 200kw Aurion, and I am a changed driver with the Prius, enjoying the ride, loving the economy and happy to potter along a lot slower than I used to.

 

Agreed. Obviously it is always best to select the right tool for the job and there are conditions the cruise control is not suited to, but where pulse and glide is not a realistic option and you don't have significant hills, the cruise does a pretty good job - better than I feel many people give it credit for. I do mean significant hills... undulations it handles very nicely. If I'm cruising along a main arterial road where I'm just generally not going to P&G but the traffic is light enough to enable cruise and use it most of the time, then I whack it on and it's a lovely way to get around town. I don't mind the monetary times you come off it here and there... that's what resume is for. You do what you need to do, bring it back to close to where you had it and flick resume. Done.

I have also observed this behaviour - without a doubt when cruise is on the c has a greater propensity for going into EV where driving it the same way manually it would have left the ICE on. I have a couple of 60 km/h bridges I cross on weekends that cruise loves doing in EV, but manually I really have to coax it to do it.

As it is summer here, I live with AC and ECO mode has to stay on otherwise my mileage dies... but to be honest I got used to it anyway.

 

One of our sons abhors AC, and we were driving around a lot with him in summer, so he kind of got us out of the AC habit. It is kind of nice, there's something disconnecting about AC. OTOH, I've heard the battery appreciates AC'd air, it's drawing it's air supply from the cabin.

 

F8L: Yeah, if I encounter a serious hill the cruse is off.

rddriver: I used to find cruise control frustrating, overtaking someone, having to tap it down. But the last few years, with my attention turning to improving mpg's, I tend to stay at or slightly under the speed limit, and all those pesky slowpokes in front of me have gone, LOL. Radar Cruise is good for that, as implemented on the US (reg) Prius 5,for one.

 

The freeway where I live somehow manages to be uphill in both directions (Arkansas highway engineers)... For me, I get better mileage with ECO turned OFF. I'm light on the pedal anyway, and its easier to maintain speed without ECO turning the gas pedal into a rubber band. Averaged 52.2 mpg on a 25 mile trip this morning, ECO off.

 

I live in Florida, so for the most part there are no serious hills. When traveling through Jacksonville, I find I get the best miles with CC off, just P/G using coasting into red lights. However when on highways I find CC to be the most effective means for best MPG. If I really work at P/G and willing to let the MPH drop to mid 50 in a 65 I can beat the CC, but it really does take a lot of focus to do it. The difference isn't that great between the two methods. However, I only have 3 tanks so far in the 2013 and I'm always trying new techniques.

 

I like how ECO operates in the city, but when its hilly, I find it a bit on/off in the upper portion of the powerband. ECO is on all the time in the city, I find I get better modulated accelerations and find it easier to glide with it on.
Pedal "pulsing" isn't efficient when you're trying to accelerate smoothly.
I guess its all about pedal-engine feel preference for each individual.

 

Since I drive so much and the Prius was bought for my job, I'm into getting the best MPG possible. I started out in Normal and enjoyed the feel of it, but figured I'd better try Eco since as the name implies, it should do better. I did notice an improvement, although there were variations. There were times when Normal proved better. I'm about to try Power for an entire trip because so many people show good MPG with it, which surprises me, since the name implies more gas guzzling, but I'm curious. I drive the Ozarks, so it's all hills and curves. What I love most is the jake brake (B) because it works so great going down the hills and it's charging the battery. I'm always chuckling to myself that folks behind me are seeing me slow down, but not seeing any brake lights. I must add that at first I found Eco irksome because of what I call the "boggy" feel, but since leaving it in Eco all the time, I've adjusted and don't even notice it anymore. I'll try Power tonight and see how it goes.

 

Do note that on short hills, B mode will produce less battery charge than will the regular regenerative brakes, so it produces lower overall efficiency. But on longer hills where the battery completely fills up anyway, B mode doesn't hurt efficiency and does help keep the brakes from overheating.

 

note for the uninformed... the C doesn't have its own separate power setting.

 

Thanks for that confirmation, Ztanos... I was wondering why a post in the C forum was talking about "power" mode.

 

This is a problem with the way the forum is set up. If one looks at the 'what's new', one gets all the new posts in all the sub-fora, and posts aren't OBVIOUSLY about the C, and people might not notice, and give general Prius advice.

 

Yeah, there are many "problems" with the forum layout. MyNissanLeaf.com has a very well layed out forum, but then, they don't have 3 different cars spanning generations yet.

 

I never use the generic What's New feature. I log-in directly to the main C forum and then surf around each category to see what new posts there are.

 

I drive on the 101 (Los Angeles) and on the hill I turn ECO mode off to get more torque then turn it back on.
Question: Will it hurt my car if I turn ECO on and off frequently?

 

No.

 

If you do it enough, you might wear out the ECO button or switch contacts.

The ECO and PWR modes just change how a computer interprets the gas pedal position and movement. And some climate control changes slightly. But nothing in the mechanical engine and propulsion hardware has any idea whether you changed modes or just pressed the gas pedal harder. On that side of the computer, there is no difference.

 

I leave my on Eco mode all the time