Does the 2014 prius c require synthetic or regular?

congrats and welcome!

synthetic

no need to do anything when idling except keep your foot on the brake

no, it's actually a better idyller than non hybrids

all the best!

 

No it's a mode...designed to be used or NOT used at your discretion. There is no advantage to turning it off when idling.
With time and experience you can decide what benefits you feel you may or may not be getting from ECO mode, and then decide if it's what you want to use primarily..occasionally...whatever.

 

No vehicle really "requires" synthetic oil. (Well, except exotic ones, like with a turbo.)
But if you want to use the recommended oil change intervals, you need at least a synthetic blend.

The ECO mode actually does very little. Turn it ON and leave it ON. After a few weeks, turn it OFF and leave it OFF. You probably won't be able to tell any difference.

If it is working right......and you are sitting still for very long......the gas engine should shut itself off.
If you continue to sit still, it might come back on for a bit.
All that is perfectly normal.

If you notice that the gas engine NEVER shuts off automatically, then there is a problem.........and this might not have been a good purchase.

 

They recommend 0W-20 weight oil, and that weight is only available as a synthetic. So it's not a hard requirement to use synthetic, just that you're not going to find it any other way.

The manual offers guidelines for using other weights of oil, but I don't see any point for most drivers. It's not difficult or expensive to get 0W-20 anywhere in the USA, and it's the right choice for the best MPG.

 

Do I agree with this?
I'm not sure.
While most manufacturers will even say it's OK to occasionally use Dino Oil or use Dino Oil in a pinch, I've also heard that today's modern engines have much closer tolerances than in the past. It's a double edge sword, as this creates more efficiency and little to no break in periods, it's also why I believe these engines run best with synthetic oil. Any newer vehicle today? I would simply use synthetic or synthetic blend. It is evolution, I believe it's a better product.
Fair to say, it's not a "Requirement"....but given the investments we make into our automobiles, I don't know why anyone wouldn't use synthetic.

Also I don't know if it' fair to say the Eco Mode does very little. The most user noticeable change is the remapping of the accelerator pedal distance traveled vs. acceleration response. This is pretty significant. I know I noticed quite a bit of difference between driving my Prius in ECO mode vs. "Regular". I pretty much preferred regular. But I also felt that ECO mode offered a smoother acceleration which could sometimes be relaxing, and I had fun using it from time to time. Since the gas mileage in the Prius was so great anyway? I didn't feel I needed to use it for economic or efficiency reasons. However, my gas mileage would improve marginally if I ran a full tank in ECO.
It also changes how the air conditioning is utilized. And it may or may not be doing a whole lot of magical things in the back-ground.

 

What is "required" is a different question than "what is recommended or is best".
I started using synthetic oil when it first came out. That's been a LONG time ago now.
Your point about modern engine tolerances is significant though.......and probably swings my opinion of what is required over to the syn side.

I've tested ECO mode in both my C and my Ford.
In both cases, it just makes me push the pedal farther.

It also cuts down on the AC......and in Florida that is NOT a desirable thing.
It also seems to make the cruise control a bit slower to respond (smoother) so sometimes I turn it on while on the highway.

 

Toyota doesn't stipulate synthetic anywhere in the Owner's Manual, just oil weight. Some would argue that the spec'd 0W20 infers the oil has to be synthetic. Still, in Australia for example, the Owner's Manual mentions heavier weights as well, and again, no synthetic stipulation.

ECO mode basically changes the gas pedal travel, that's about it. I leave it off all the time, find the pedal travel excessive, actually harder to modulate.

It's bad for any car to sit idling for a protracted time, for multiple reasons. Still, the Prius will mostly sit with the engine off, with the Hybrid Synergy Drive system.

 

Re: ECO Mode:

Yes, this is one of the things that leading PriusChat members learned from Toyota's Prius engineers at the Gen3 Reveal events just over ten years ago. ECO Mode reduces Cruise Control's aggressiveness at maintaining speed, allowing more slop and slowing its adjustment rate back to the set speed. This is primarily to save a small bit of fuel, but also makes is smoother.

Most of those PC members who attended the reveal events are no longer active contributors here. Maybe they have developed a real life? .

 

When they stop making the Prius.......then all of us will have to find "another life" somewhere.
And it looks like that is likely to happen fairly soon.

 

The older I get, the more I realize I don't need a "real" life.
Just give me a bowl of good quality Ice Cream, and log me into Prius Chat.

 

Oil topic never gets old!

 

It is entirely a matter of pedal force / position / travel. That is whole actual idea of the ECO/Normal/PWR modes in the first place. There are no other operational changes (*) in the rest of the propulsion system.

(*) apart from allowed slop in cruise control and climate control, and some engine coolant thresholds during the warmup cycle, none of which apply to normal (non-CC) propulsion during normal highway use.

 

Difference force would mean different spring tension, and that's not happening. It's increased pedal travel, plain and simple: ECO takes more pedal travel, for me way too much more. I actually find it easier to modulate pedal travel in "normal" (not using ECO or PWR).

In ECO the gas pedal travel is kind of like a passive-aggressive employee: you ask for some propulsion, and it says "whatever, beg me...".

 

I think that the car manual suggests fully synthetic oil for the engine.

Now, I haven't tested this myself, but I've read up on other folks who've tested the ECO button. Supposedly, it doesn't do anything to the throttle response, but it makes the air conditioner work a lot worse.

Maybe there's a placebo effect?

 

I mean... this entire conversation boiled down to semantics... the car "CAN" run on mountain dew instead of oil... but it's recommended that you use oil. Also, it won't run on Bartle Skeet for very long. Probably the same thing for convention oil as it's thicker and the motor will have to work harder (maybe just not as quick as the ole MD. ). Your fuel mileage will certainly suffer as well, since the motor is working harder.

 

Yes, that IS what we have been saying.......but in a different thread.
What does your comment have to do with OIL ??

Side note:
The little C really wasn't intended to go 80 MPH much and doing that often will certainly shorten it's life expectancy.
Maybe the ECO mode is trying to tell you that.

 

Just in case you were planning on idling in Neutral: you shouldn't. And don't coast in "N", either. The manual encourages you to stay in "D" while coasting, unless you need "B" (engine brake) to help you slow down when going downhill. "N" does not use any of the engine's power to recharge the hybrid battery. The only time you need to use "N" is when you're in one of those carwashes where they have a conveyor system to pull your car along the wash line.

 

"N" is also useful when experiencing a hypothetical Sudden Unintended Acceleration or other runaway engine incident. It serves as a backup safety mechanism to kill power to the wheels.

Drivers of manual transmissions are much more accustomed to using N and/or a clutch to mechanically disengage the engine from the wheels. This is likely why manual transmission vehicles are seriously underrepresented among damaging SUA events.