At highway speeds (60+ MPH) in Power Mode, the pedal is so sensitive that you notice every little nuance of your foot moving, and the car will slow or speed up ever so slightly. Which, to me, is rather annoying. So, I love Power Mode, and use it until I get to the highway, then just push the PWR button again, and stay in Normal mode.
Lol ... V8 response for the first fraction of a second. Very interesting to change the response of a car in seconds for varying driving conditions.
+1 After reading this thread I tried power mode exclusively on the way home form work yesterday and noticed exactly the same thing- the throttle is extremely sensitive in power mode. This morning I used normal mode for the arterial roadways and ramps and used ECO mode for highway driving just to smooth out the throttle response. Seems counter intuitive but the results were very satisfying and my "since last startup" display indicated 52.6mpg at the end of my 28.8 mi commute.
My wife is convinced that power mode results in better mpg and enjoys flipping between the different modes. Since there is no manual transmission, you need something to keep you entertained... And it is pretty quick up to 30 mph.
One more thing I observed driving on empty evening through city in PWR mode just a while ago. I'm not talking about response map. It's obvious. I was driving with HSD on HUD and Energy Monitor on MFD and Instant Consumption in l/100km (which is fine to know if engine is working). And guess what? Prius is idling... I thought that it will either supply power (except S0) nor charge battery. But no - it's just idling... With heated engine (normally shutting off on accelerator release) in normal I switched to power. Driving about 60 km/h (37.5 mph) I released accelerator as I was approaching red light. I tried it few times. Everytime consumption dropped to about 1.5 - 2 l/100km and no engine arrows on HSD. In normal conditions when engine is working there are allways arrows to battery or to wheels. It's quite repeatable situation. When switched back to Normal engine shut off happened immediately when leaving accelerator.
I like PWR mode as well. As someone mentioned earlier, regardless power, normal, or eco, the car has the same amount of power. The only difference is throttle responsiveness. ECO is like adding a smooth function on top of the pedal input, which sometimes can be unintentially or unecessarily jerky (largely depends on the driver). We all know that sudden moves kill mpg, hence eco mode NORMALLY improves mpg with such additional smoothing (and other things like limiting the fan speed, etc). I consider myself a smooth driver and I know when I should baby the throttle if needed. But when I need power, I want it immediately (like merging or passing), in which case the smoothing just annoys me.
A clarification, mentioned by other posters: In addition to changing the mapping of the accelerator pedal, the various modes may also influence ICE shutoff and the aggressiveness of the A/C system. Tom
Not quite...the throttle response is noticeably slower in ECO mode when flooring it vs. the other two modes.
You didn't floor fast enough, which isn't practical in real life, everyday driving anyway. The throttle response will be quicker in PWR mode only because of this.
Today I tried he Power mode on a route I often drive. The route (one way) consists of about 5 miles of highway driving and then about 10 miles of city driving. The route normally averages about 53-54mpg round trip in the normal mode. In the Power mode today, I averaged over 59mpg. This is the highest mileage that I have ever averaged on the v. This is hardly scientific but I thing I noticed is that the v seemed to be in the EV range more than usual.
That's interesting. I guess this gives more immediate power delivery on "tip in" after coasting. - Chris
Yes it is. Response is allmost instant. There's no delay and half of HSI bar is not sticky at all. Also modulation in PWR zone is much better (opposite to lower part of HSI area).
Well I tried power mode today. All I can say is back to Eco mode for me. I did like driving it that way though, and perhaps in the early spring or winter with no a/c it might be ok. iPad ?
I'd like to try Power Mode for the shortest of trips, you know, the 1 mile hops to the grocery store. I just hate when the MPG starts dripping down on short trips. Tonight the gage was 51.6 MPG, but returning from the store it got down to 51.3. I put it in Power Mode for the last 1/2 mile and it went back up to 51.4. My experiment will be - use Power Mode for the shortest trips, 1 mile trips and such.
Wow, I am impressed. I used power mode today for my trip to work, lunch hour errands and back home. I was over 60 mpg on the way into work (16 miles, avg speed 30mph). This was my best trip yet. The majority of the drive is rural 50mph 2 lane road. I think pwr mode does great in that instance. I think Eco works better, once I get into the heavier burbs and more traffic lights. The conclusion I am coming to is to just switch modes depending on what type of environment I am in. Rural =pwr, suburb = Eco . I have not been to the city yet with the Prius.
I'm seeing mileage claims of 50, 55 and even 60 mpg posted here..If I could get 50 average I'd be happy, how the heck do you get 60...you must have to leave for work really early. Not sure that's possible here in Los Angeles metro area, 46 is the best I can do, i drive the Pri pretty gingerly around town, gliding up to stops when possible, to much hypermileing around here will get you run over and frequently honked at, besides...hypermileing kinda drives me crazy, guess I'll have to live with the 45-47 in power mode full time.
It's true that the type of traffic dicates what mpg you get. I've gotten better mpg back home because people are less hurried and speed limits are lower. Where I am now, there are wider roads and fewer traffic lights and the speed limits within the city limits are higher so it's harder for me to P&G as I'm expected to travel near the top of the glide limit (which is 70km/h).
