When the light turns green

The choices are too black and white for me to choose accurately. I accelerate at about 3/4's on the HSI scale whenever possible. No red zone unless absolutely necessary.

Eco mode 99.9999% of the time.

 

I'm with Mark57. ECO mode since I picked the car up and 3/4 into the HSI bar unless traffic dictates other wise. First Prius and lots to learn to fine tune driving habits.
Ted

 

My daily commute is 28 miles round trip. Of that, all but 5 miles is 65mph Interstate highway. I also make short in-town runs during the day for lunch and work related stuff. We always take my vehicle on the weekends for errands, etc. I've used Eco mode from the start and have gotten used to it (see my Fuelly page below). It took me a while to get used to it and figure out how to milk it.

Traffic is a huge factor in how well you are able to "safely" take advantage of it. My morning commute is at 5:30am when there is a "little" less traffic which helps, but the temps are also cooler so the warm up takes longer. My mpg's will drop on my current tank because it's been much colder here this week. I've already seen the difference. I'm currently running 59 mpg on this tank as compared to my last 69+ mpg tank.

 

Scott,

Just curious about your statement? I see hat you mention that getting on the highway is 'tough' in eco mode. Since all modes (Eco, Normal, and Pwr) have the same amount of acceleration available to you from about 50% of the range (from the 1/2 mark to the most acceleration possible), how does this affect your ability to get on the highway?

I know that the drivers in Chicago are at least as aggressive as they were when I worked in NYC/NJ area, and here the ECO mode still works for me all the time. All I need to do is use a little more 'toe' power to get the oomph that I am missing.

Have you tried this yourself, or are you mainly concerned about doing so, therefore maybe did not try it?

 

All three driving modes can accomplish the same thing it's just a matter of how far down you need to put your foot to get the desired amount of power. The difference in sensitivity is mostly in the first 1/2 of pedal travel, at full throttle they are identical. I use the ECO mode because of the more economical HVAC operation and I like the increased sensitivity when I am trying to find the glide or stealth glide point.

As far as what I do when the light turns green, I guess I just try to keep up with the traffic. It's not really a problem where I live because there are few lights and not to much traffic.

 

So many variables. Traffic behind you. How near is the next light and 'the color'. Am I in a hurry. Level or hilly.

Bottom line for me; after seeing a few posts on this topic 3 weeks ago I turned the corner.

- I leave it in "Normal".
- Use "Power" very rarely - freeway ramps, passing, etc.
- Use "ECO" only if I'm on the highway at a very steady speed.

Not trying to squeeze every micro-ounce of fuel, but enjoying the drive while still operating quite economically. I have not noticed a substantial drop in my MPG - average 48.5 - for a V operating in not-the-best situations for best fuel economy. I'm completely pleased with the acceleration performance (almost like a "normal car" like 4cyl Camry / Accord) but with the economy, efficiency, and greeness of a Prius. Nice....perfect.

 

Previous threads about those who were finding as good or better FE in Normal or Power got me to fooling with this. With only occasional forays into Power mode (to get into fast moving traffic, for instance) I had been driving in ECO and was getting around 51-52 Mpg. With this last tank of gas I have left it in normal with an occasion hit of Power and my mpg has gone up to over 55. Additionally this tank was primarily highway and mountain driving. I like the peppier response of the car in normal than ECO too.

The differences lie in our driving habits, I think. As Tumbleweed points out all the power is there all the time for you to call up - but if you don't habitually pounce on the gas, then learning to put the pedal to the metal to get going is tough. For me, this little test of the affects of ECO and PWR and Normal have me leaving it in normal all the time now - feels best to me and the way that I drive.

 

Most of my driving is highway and I am in ECO mode all the time

 

That's a *really* big computer. It must be one of the old IBM models.

Tom

 

I agree the poll needs another option. I put my foot down smoothly enough to get the HSI's line to right above the point of the "A" in "AVG" and go from there. That may be a slightly slower takeoff but it's brisk enough to avoid dirty looks in traffic.

Oh, and I'm almost always in ECO.

 

I step on it hard. I'm in North Jersey, otherwise I would have to deal with road rage.

I drive mostly in Power Mode.

 

So far I've only driven about 100miles locally and have to use pwr mode to keep up with the traffic starting from stop light. Otherwise, I get cut off or people behind me trying to pass me causing dangerous situation. If there is no traffic or if i'm following a group of car, I use eco/normal modes.