I had a 2000 Celica prior to my Prius as well. It was the first year model of the last generation (before discontinued). Every time I see them on the road, I say to myself "Wow, the styling was way ahead of it's time. I can't believe it is 10 years old already".
I agree with this too. I prefer the pedal response in Power Mode. And I don't think keeping the car in Power Mode will make fuel economy suffer. The modes just allow driver to select the pedal response they prefer, that is all. If someone prefers to push the pedal a lot to get response, then they're an eco type. Push pedal a little and get more response, then a Power Mode type. I can get the car to accelerate gently in Power Mode. I really think they should modify the car to restart in the mode the driver shuts the car down in.
The point is ... driver A really prefers to drive a Gen3 Prius in Power Mode all the time. Not even because they want to jam around all the time, they like the way the car responds. But, driver A must press the power button every time they drive to get it .... Eco power mode button - don't like how the car drives. I've never used it much. Yet the car will restart in Eco mode. I'll say it again, Power Mode does not necessarily mean one will get lousier gas mileage. If only means the car responds more with less push of the gas pedal, and some people prefer it that way. It's fast acceleration that lowers fuel economy, not just a sensitive throttle. Maybe Toyota is afraid people will get in more accidents when sharing cars that start up in Power Mode.
What is your FE? and at which temperatures? There is a bit of debate (I think) on whether driving the car in the following styles/modes makes a difference on the Prius 3: 1) granny mode 2) taking care/predicting traffic behaviour and never look at the HSI bar, dials, etc (possibly always in ECO mode, but not necessarily) 3) looking all the time at the HSI (and provoke likely an accident or a SUA...) 4) using PWR mode and 5) (for me new) PWR mode and flooring it all the time, like you say The Prius is marketed for "eco" driving from top to bottom - it is not sold as a car that focuses on HPs, acceleration, etc... Whatever "eco driving" means: to me eco driving is walking places or taking public transportation, not taking the car... So anything "PWR"-related is against the Prius marketing philosophy IMHO it is provided to make sure new buyers are not thinking, I am buying a granny auto that cannot show the goods if and when I want to. So it would be interesting to know what kind of FE you are getting. I drove the Prius on the Germany highway at 150km/h+ for quite a long trip and was honestly (positively) impressed from the Fuel consumption I got, though not driving "eco" at all. (http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii...72711-driving-prius-2010-german-autobahn.html) I am not driving the car flooring it, because I was used with my diesel already, that in EU each time you floor it, you consume a lot, and with 1L at 1.4€, you do really care about FE *way* more. If I could "floor" the Prius a bit more not feeling worried (too much) about the FE, maybe I could decide to have "fun" more often. If I could drive the Prius showing off it a bit more without fear of getting 10L/100km, against the BMWs, Audis, etc I get here in Munich that would be fun. I bought the Prius for saving money when driving to the office every day in town (public transportation unfortunately not an option) - which I am. If I could (I honestly never tested it) have more fun without "guilt" would be great. Especially now with the *very* nice 17" summer tires and alloy wheels (I think they look really cool and make the car look *really* sleek).
Ok, I'm going to put this in simple everyday terms considering these 2010 Prius's are out there meandering around with other, often very powerful cars with wayyy over 200 hp and torque to match .... Simply put ... ECO mode makes the 2010 Prius feel gutless A Prius still needs to blend in with traffic, or you'll just piss off many drivers around you. I really do not like pushing a gas pedal and having very little response. I drive to blend in with traffic, not to squeeze every darn extra MPG. Normal mode makes the car respond ok from a stop light, probably like a 1.8L Matrix. Often I have to dig more into the gas pedal than I'd like to not PO a driver behind. Power Mode makes the car respond the way I like, IMO, much like a regular Civic coming off the line. I give a little gas pedal and it accelerates reasonably, with flow of traffic from a stop. Seems it's a pretty touchy subject of having the car power up in Power Mode if it's shut down in power mode. It really boils down to whether a driver is skilled enough to handle the gas pedal in power mode. Driver's who are used to mashing the gas pedal need to be in ECO mode.
It seems that this may void the EPA rating. If ECO mode is unusable, then then local driving culture is aggressive.
I doubt in power mode you will end up with more accidents. 0-60 in 10.3 seconds is hardly a very dangerous fast sports car is it? If anything you are in the lower end of considered a standard accerleration. I have noiced when I am in power mode although you can achieve good milage as well but you often want to go faster and knowing you have a more reponsive car you tend to go faster hence losing the MPG or eco type of driving you should be. Most of the Prius good MPG comes from sensible driving. Meaning for me to achieve a good MPG I will have to do a lot of coasting, short pump of gas, and other techinics to achieve the MPG. If I drive really economically I get roughly 52-53MPG (UK MPG) but if I just drive it normally like I would on a normal car (including turning on heating during winter) I will end up 42-44 MPG so as you can see the Prius not only saves you fule because it is a hybrid but because it is a hybrid it makes you save fuel by making you drive ecnomically.
I can drive ECO mode in Munich and they are "aggressive", or better, they drive "fast" - fast accelerations to reach the speed limit. But I think they are less aggressive than what I used to experience in Silicon Valley when I was there for work a few years back. At the time I actually found the US cars to be overly reactive to the gas pedal - "jumping" literally at the slightest touch of the gas pedal (nice experiences at the rental station the very first time you push the gas pedal.... ) So, either my concept of "aggressive" is mild in comparison to others here, or ECO is fine as long as you press hard enough for the first 10-15 after the light goes green - this is where most people get annoyed if you don't "move" at traffic lights in Munich. And trust me, you have a lot of 150HP+ cars driving around here. A lot.
I also want PWR mode to stay on. I like saving gas but I also like being able to merge on a freeway safely. If I forget to punch the PWR mode again after I get in it can be tough to handle certain situations like merging. I have already noticed this in a short period of having the 2010. I came from a 2004 Prius and I think the accelerator response in PWR mode in 2010 is slightly more aggressive than 2004 but not by much and the ECO mode in 2010 is much less than 2004 and frankly I feel unsafe in that mode on my commute to work. To me it's a safety issue to not have the mode stay where I put it - in this case PWR mode.
To me it is more an issue of reprogramming your right foot reflexes than of actual safety. Pushing the PWR button does not actually give it any more power. This is much like the the difference between power brake boost levels on older cars in my household. DW dislikes my older car because 'it takes too long to stop'. I point out that the car rags gave it a shorter stopping distance than her car, and I have no trouble getting it to stop short. But I find her brakes too touchy.
I drive in ECO 99% of time and I'm able to "win" all traffic lights fights if I want it for a fun. Okay, Porsche 911, Ferrari are better especially at their first gear. It is also reason I'm averaging more then 5 l/100km. There is no difference in valve timing, air pressure, MG peak load and so on in ECO, Normal, PWR modes. Just a the gas pedal responsivity curve changes.
I drive exclusively in PWR mode and I only "win" traffic light fights once in a while when I was in the mood (I bet I can do that 99% of the time if I want to, but I don't!). I'm averaging 4.2l/100km. I write this not to show you off, but to emphasis the fact that FE depends on the driving style, and the fuel saving techniques you incorporate, NOT on the MODE of power (really gas paddle response) you use. I not only wish the Prius defaults to PWR mode, but also defaults to Neutral Gliding with ICE off when you take your foot off the gas paddle, and only regen-charge the battery when you tap on the brake paddle. Better still, create a default configuration setting screen and let the drivers decide what to default. You can save multiple driver profiles to save different driver prefer settings, so the same Prius would make the whole family happy. Of course we need a finger print scanner on the power button to identify the driver. A verbal greeting from your favourite car would be really nice too. This will also enhance the security of the car because even if the car was stolen with the key, the thief would still not be able to drive it because the Prius does not recognise his finger print and would say "Get off me, you punk!", or "Authorities are on the way, identify yourself or you'll be locked in this car and tasered." Toyota, talk to Bill Gates and learn from him about MSCONFIG startup configuration application of MS Windows.
No, but if a situation arises, the quicker a mass is accelerating, then the more difficult it is to stop it, basic physics. BTW, low 50s UK mpg, when trying to drive economically, is pretty poor really. I can easily achieve 60 UK mpg with care and it rarely drops to low 50s even when I drive it hard. I would also like the option of it rebooting in the mode it was left in.
Well that answers that question...damn... I agree with earlier posters that I get the same gas milage in PWR mode... I just prefer the reaction the foot gets better in that mode... oh well...
