1 Week Prius Owner - Mileage Obsessed, What Mode to Use???

Normal is not in eco, ev, or power. They are all the same, excepting the amount of pedal pressure is greater in normal & eco. I use normal as don't like having to push down so far in eco. The lighter you press accelerator in any mode will keep it out of the red (but be nice to those folks behind you). Also, eco slows your ac & heater at slow or stops to preserve battery (they run on elec power). If you use EV, your gas engine will have to recharge more as your 2 elec engines are both power and generators. EV only works with slow movement, max 25mph, warm engine & charged battery. Again, you gas engine (ice) will have to work harder if you use EV too much. Double click for all doors - 1 click for driver's (pretty standard?).
Sorry, my nav is a nuvi.
Enjoy, Bart

 

My personal option is the opposite to Tideland Prius's suggestion for newbies using ECO mode first. I'd suggest to use the Normal mode (ie. not EV, ECO, nor PWR). The reason is if one is used to the gasoline engine before, the slow response of the ECO mode will drive people crazy. Use Normal mode to get use to the hybrid system first. Then gradually try other modes while there is no other car tailgating behind.

 

Quit worrying about eco or power, and read your HSI.
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_H*

 

Definetely PWR for me as it seems to accerate faster and allows you to coast longer after that which improves the mpg faster. I always drive on PWR and I'm now averaging around 55-58mpg and I drive 75-80 mph on freeways and 40-50 mph on local roads!


iPhone ?

 

I would recommend to just start with the normal mode for a full tank. Just learn how the car feels and reacts for a month or so. Then you can play with he different modes once you've established your own baseline. Some things may turn out suprising. Like for my scenario, I get better mpg in PWR mode.

If you're constantly flipping modes, you won't be able easily to tell how your mpg is really going. Maybe one mode seemed poor, but it could've just been bcause of a headwind, cool, rainy, rush-hour day.

You can spend a lot of time reading cool facts and experiences here, but until you actually re-learn how to drive (for economy), you won't immediatly get the best results.
EV mode will kick out if you accelerate too fast. Also, if the engine is not warmed up, it will disengage around 11mph. I get better results feathering my go pedal, with the terrain, and traffic, and can effectivly "be" in EV mode over 30mph.

1) being in Red is not always bad. Especially when you are coming up to normal traffic speeds, after you have warmed up. You can get better mileage by coming up to speed a little faster, and coasting from there.

I've just hit 10k in 10 months, and i'm still learning interesting stuff. Like if you have your foot on the brake, pressing the gas will not rev the engine.

Have fun, and leave some extra room.

rich

 

I myself am still trying to figure out how to optimize MPG, and am looking forward to driving in PWR tomorrow thanks to the tips from the others.

Gave up on the iPod interface. Took forever to get to the songs/playlists that I wanted, and, yeah, I too hated having the song change on me. Much much faster and easier for me to go straight off my iPhone via the audio bluetooth feature, which was a killer discovery.

 

should answer the OP's question regarding unlocking.

 

I'm in power mode 90% of the time, still getting 53-56 MPG (dash read) and that's with all the lights on route 9

 

If you haven't already, take a look at this video (from the fuel mileage forum). It's a great resource.

http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii...max-mpg-driving-techniques-youtube-video.html

 

Just drive in Normal mode. Use the very quck accerlation and then cruise technique.

But if you really want the MPG you can with normal mode too but you will be driving very very slow.

I have achieved average 100mpg over a 3 mile trip home from the petrol station and I was going very slow and make sure you are very light off the gas pedal. Ofcourse I did this in the middle of the night about 2am so not to piss other people off.

 

My experience after 10 months of Gen3 is as follows:
- Eco Mode: in winter to avoid the engine to run more than normal to heat the interior - it will also reduce fan speed to avoid sending cooler air that will feel even more cool; in town I use it all the time as I manage to give just enough gas to keep the speed and, for me, reduces the urge to rush to the next traffic light (which is practically always useless anyway - there is a traffic jam anywhere beyond the next traffic light anyway... )
- Normal mode, to drive outside of town, but not on highways (at least not in Germany)
- PRW mode on the (German) highway for faster response, normal mode is OK too depending on traffic conditions.

In ECO mode, it is my impression, if pressing the accelerator progressively and steadily (up to the point of just before the ECO light goes off, if necessary), often results in good accelerations (depending on battery charge) - pressing to a certain level and keeping it there will (somehow...) not provide the same acceleration response, IMO.
Where I live I do get the occasional impatient driver that will overtake me only to end up 50m in front of me in the jam that I see in front of me already, otherwise I do accelerate fast enough in ECO without effort and sometimes even faster than others. I am always prized with excellent FE (considering I am in town with a "big", to EU standards, 1.8L car, BTW!).

But most of all, to achieve good MPGs, IMHO, simply forget about all the indications in the display, and even the modes, and instead watch the traffic, anticipate its behaviour and learn to keep the drive as smooth as possible. Strong braking and strong accelerations decrease FE. Braking slowly increases re-charging as there is lower chance to have the hydraulic brakes engage to provide the extra brake force, not necessary if you can brake less over longer distances.
Accelerating like a granny is also not necessary, but flooring it will surely reduce FE. Accelerating progressively, as long as the "ECO" light is on, will do.
It also helps to accelerate to the desired speed, then releasing completely (or almost completely) the gas pedal and reapplying smoothly up to the point that you can keep the desired speed, depending on traffic conditions. In this case, depending on speed, load, road type (flat or not) and battery charge, the HSD will either push the car only electrically or the ICE will manage to push the wheels directly, while charging the battery (what I call the "happy mode" for the ICE). At this speed the engine spins at the same speed of the motor, without any assist from it. Usually possible at 50-90km/h while keeping FE at <5L/100km.


Anticipating what the traffic will do, does save fuel.
And on the Prius even more. I have improved fuel consumption as soon as I stopped looking at the display, and focused on the traffic, how to anticipate it, not to rush to the traffic lights and keeping it smooth.

I have to still try 1 day driving "normally" and see how the FE will be hit, but I am pretty sure I will not get 3.9L/100km as it happened to me today (OK, temp was 24C rather than 15C) in town.

It also helps to reduce fuel consumption if you keep the A/C temperature to a "moderate" level - i.e. I keep 20C when outside is 18C or less. I keep 22-23C when outside temp is 20C-26C, 23C if 26 or above. Keeping 18C in summer and 25C in winter will not at all improve FE.
I keep position lights on always (safer), but keep headlights on only in tunnels or where else prescribed by law only. Headlights do hit on the battery (and therefore affect FE). Unfortunately the Prius does not have LED daytime running lights, so I cannot do much different as described.

Oh, yes - and check tire pressure at least once a month - nominal pressure is fine, I don't think that going beyond what prescribed is necessary - there are threads on PC about this topic. I keep tire pressure nominal.

 

After experimenting a little with eco mode recently, I think I've found that I don't drive based on foot position, but on supplied engine power. The result was that eco mode didn't feel any different from normal mode, which I've had four months to get used to. If I need a certain amount of power to accelerate at a particular rate, I just press the pedal hard enough to achieve that goal; it never felt sluggish to me due to having to press it harder. I suspect power mode would be similar, i.e., it wouldn't feel like I have more power available to me (after all, technically, I don't).

So I'd repeat hobbit's suggestion: Read the HSI. The different modes don't really matter at all (aside from the few side-system things that eco messes with). What matters is how much power you're requesting from the car, and the pattern in which you change that power request over time and in relation to the environment.

 

Thanks! Just for my understanding and to improve - what do you mean by "paragraph issues"? too long sentences? wrong formatting?

I understand what you mean, but if I do something like that by myself, in the EU I will void the warranty. I haven't checked on the EU user's manual, but I would have to most likely unmount the headlight mount and do stuff inside the engine area. If this is the case and something not documented in the user's manual, and I do something wrong --> voided warranty.
Moreover, there is another thread you have likely seen, that LED lights installed after buying the car, increase the FM noises that the Prius shows already at delivery. The thread is still pretty long and no sign of a fix from Toyota.
The only solution is that maybe Toyota does an aftermarket day-time running light option (if ever...) for the EU market, at a reasonable price, with LEDs. But I don't see that coming in my lifetime...