Engine more refined in Power Mode

I find when I accelerate quickly from a stop up to about 30 mph in Power Mode, the car accelerates with less engine noise (more refined) than in any other Mode (Normal or Eco). Has anyone else noticed this?
I suspect in Power mode the electric motor is programmed to take on a greater share of the load earlier compared when in the other modes. While I know Power Mode is basically a more sensitive mapping of the pedal position vs throttle opening (power demand), but this may be the case only if one analyzes this from a static perspective on an xy graph, I'm guessing a dynamic analysis of the mapping (in Power Mode) would show less of a lag between pedal position and throttle opening, becauses no matter how fast I press the gas pedal in Normal or Eco mode, I never get that same refined "V8" engine tone response from the powertrain as I do in Power Mode. Note: I say V8 engine, but I would say the first 0.5 second response is even smoother than almost any V8 I've driven.

I will say the Prius GenIII in Power mode from a stop up to 30 mph has about the smoothest most refined (no fuss) power delivery compared to almost any ICE car I've ever driven.

 

Note I am not talking about faster accleration. Yes 100% pedal depression in Eco mode is the same throttle postion as 100% pedal depression in Power Mode (but after how many milliseconds). That's not where I'm going with this. Are you going to say your proof is that all 3 modes get you to 60 mph in about the same time, no argument from me there either. As I said in the OP, I'm not talking about the static mapping of pedal depression vs throttle which can be easily Googled. I'm talking about bringing the time domain into it. Perhaps I should re-phrase, you start from a stop and it takes 0.2 seconds to reach 100% pedal position, at time 0.2 seconds, where is the actual throttle position in Eco Mode vs Power Mode, my guess is that there is a longer time lag in Eco mode reaching 100% throttle (not pedal position) than in Power mode. There is talk of "Damping" in the Eco mode in the Toyota press releases. This, I suspect, gives the engine more time to get up to high RPM in Eco mode as the throttle position (not the pedal postion) reach 100%, pedal is already at 100% travel. In Power mode, I suspect MG2 is producing max. power before the engine gets up to higher power rpms, hence the more refined note during max accelation up to about 20 to 30 mph. I know the more refined (not quicker) accleration is there, I just want to know if my reasoning for it is correct.

Estimated Engine/MG2 load sharing at 0.2 sec at 100% pedal depression
Power mode: 30%/70% of total 60 hp available at 0.2 seconds into the acceleration event
Normal mode: 50%/70% of total 50 hp available at 0.2 seconds into the acceleration event
Eco mode: 70%/30%of the total 40 hp available at 0.2 seconds into the acceleration event

Note: lower hp value for Eco and Normal modes at 0.2 seconds due to slower damping as mentioned in Toyota releases. The damping slows the rate of system power increase in perhaps the first 0.5 seconds. All modes get to near max wheel horsepower perhaps by 40 or 50 mph which means little variation in overall 0-60 mph times.

 

If I wasn't so technically inclined, I'd would have left at perception. It's just everytime this comes up the answers are too simplistic. Duh. Look at the pedal to throttle mappings. I work as an EE and if we just looked at the static instead of the dynamic we'd still be in the 19th century. Everything (including a pulse through a conductor) takes time, we do TDR at work all the time. In the Prius we have 2 kinetic power sources with different with different dynamic rotary power characterics (responsiveness if you will) It's just that my Torque Android doesn't go capture data fast enough to capture the data to show the dynamic load sharing of each of the power components in that 0 to 100% time period, but even my kids notice the more refinded engine tone when I launch quickly in Power mode from a stop. Go try it. It's one of those few luxury car refinements I get when driving my Prius. The other thing I did was stop all the squeeks and rattle and now it's not a half bad car to drive.

 

I now nearly always use the power mode, because I now find I can more easily tap into glide (no regen) without glancing at the HSI in that mode (must be the weight of my foot). I also launch accelerate from a stop pretty quickly as I found it's impact on mpg is so little it's not worth putting the effor there in the grand scheme of mpg reduction with emphasis on anticipatory braking in my now nearly 95% city driving, bringing far more mpg return for the effort. So I feel I now get the best of both worlds, high mpg (59 mpg) and fun driving (fast refined acceleration).

I'm thinking put a bumper sticker on my car "High city mpg = Speeding up speedily and slowing down slowly". I know this lady at work who always accelerates her Prius like a "grandma" (actually she has grand-nieces), but always brakes at the last minute (along with using the brake pedal a few times a minute) and she can't understand why she only gets 42 mpg which of course is because drives with the same old mpg improvement myths that you still see most people using. Boy is she annoying to be behind on the road.