I live in Florida and I'm curious as to what people think about running in ECO Mode down here in this flat state.
I'm not impressed with it, regardless of the terrain. It may be also changing A/C behaviour in favour of improving mileage, and that I'd appreciate, but it's main effect is to increase gas pedal travel needed to get a reaction from the engine. I'm fine with the travel in "normal" mode, find pedal travel in ECO mode excessive and frustrating. I used ECO pretty religously for maybe the first 6 months of ownership, then switched off with no apparent ill effects.
Thanks for the input - I just bought the prius last week and I'm taking it to Orlando on Friday- I'll have to try it both ways.
Yea, I agree, it basiclly just makes it to where you have to push the pedal down more. If you need the power than you'd use it no matter what. I also used it for a few months and havent for a couple now and miliage is the same.
If you had an aftermarket gauge, watching coolant temperature, you'd notice the ECO button makes quite a difference when it comes to how often the engine runs to provide cabin heat. It lowers the tolerance from 145°F to 114°F for the Gen III. For the plug-in model, I've seen the engine off held all the way down to 89°F with ECO.
It helps cut back on A/C usage (the A/C compressor is electrically driven and runs off the HV battery). In the winter, it lowers the temperature threshold for engine shut off so it'll shut off soon in the cold than in normal mode. I tend to use ECO for Winter and Summer (unless it's really hot or I'm on the highway where the battery is being charged anyway) and I use normal for Spring and Fall.
eco mode sux!!! i got no better mpg with eco mode. i use "normal" mode now and do well with mpg, not to mention better response and feel from the pedal.
oh.. Ive been running on ECO aince day 1 which was 2 weeks ago.. I guess I should just turn it off...? SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 ? 2
I'd say try both on and off and see which you prefer. If you search all the ECO Mode threads, you'll see that opinions vary wildly.
I use ECO mode to help finesse my gliding. Occasionally I'll use Normal mode if ECO becomes depressing
I always used ECO in my Prius Three for a similar reason, to have easier control over using or not EV. I still use it in my PIP so I'm less likely to start the ICE when accelerating from a stop and when I'm operating in the HV mode.
