New Prius C - Excited

welcome and congrats! leave it in eco and just drive it for now. as you do, and spend time here, you'll learn everything you want to know and more. all the best!

 

Congrats! Eco is good (mine is always in Eco) but you can leave it off if you want. As bisco said - just drive it and get used to the car.

 

Welcome to the Prius community. As everyone has said, just drive it. Eco mode is really for newbies. The only thing it really does is attenuate the action of the accelerator pedal so you don't speed up as fast (unless you punch it, then you get full power on demand). EV mode should rarely be used. You may want to use it to drive to the mailbox or pull the car into the garage from the driveway or street but beyond that, it should not be used (this car is not an EV and use of the EV mode will actually degrade your fuel economy).

After you get used to your car, you might want to read up on the five stages of operation and pulse and glide techniques. Here's something for you to learn about. The attached writeup is for a Gen II but, the C operates in a similar manner.

 

welcome, new owner myself! personally hate ECO mode. the slight mpg you might save does not outweigh the benefits to the full power of the motor imo. I tried it for a few days and it's just not fun at all. The car already only has 99hp, why neuter it further? I do use EV in parking lot structures and fast food drive-thrus, but that's about it.

 

Welcome to the C family!! Eco mode whenever possible for me. Great MPG and looks really good! On thing it's lacking is the instant power you may need to pass a car or speed up fast. It just doesn't do much when you slam the pedal down to the floor. Your waiting for it, waiting for it, and your still in the same place you were before!!! I'm glad I bought mine and enjoy it everyday I drive it. Good luck!

 

I disagree with that assessment. It's purely personal preference. Eco mode remaps the interpretation of the accelerator input, but it still offers exactly the same range. What it effectively does is give you more physical pedal movement as you move through the lower part of the input rage and less physical pedal movement as you move through the upper part of the input range. This makes it a little easier to have finer control at the lower range, which I find to be far more practical (especially, for example, with gliding). It also means your ankle will be at a slightly different angle for a given input. You may find one more comfortable than the other.

This is a common misconception. Using the car in Eco mode does not limit the car in any way. If you push the pedal to the floor, the car will behave identically regardless of being in Eco mode or not being in Eco mode. The input in both cases goes from 0% to 100%, it's just with Eco mode the scale between those points is remapped. The pedal is less sensitive in the first part of its travel when in Eco mode. The pedal is more sensitive in the latter part of its travel when in Eco mode.

Also, if you are using the air conditioning, Eco mode changes the behaviour of the system in a way that dramatically improves fuel economy with very little downside. Only in the absolute worst conditions will I consider coming out of Eco mode for the sake of the air conditioning performance, and then only temporarily.

If you're not using air con, just pick whichever mode feels more comfortable, but you're not really gaining or losing anything either way. If you are using air con, it's worth just adjusting yourself to the way the pedal is mapped in Eco mode to get the benefit of the changed air con behaviour.

There's quite a few threads on this topic - this is one of the longer ones:

Driving in the ECO Mode? | PriusChat

It includes a diagram of what I'm talking about here. Note it includes some talk of a "Power" mode, which the c doesn't have, but the difference between regular mode and Eco mode still holds true.

 

IMHO - Rob.au makes some very valid points.

I personally find no difference in performance in Eco vs. non-Eco.

But then I'm a long time "lead foot" driver - from the time I learned to drive - way back in the 1960s.

Of course - back then we mostly learned on V8s. A few Slant 6s and even fewer 4s. First Corolla I rode in was my friend's - I don't think it had much more than 60 hp. Their other car was a '69 GTO - flying??? down the freeway at 60+ mph???.... in idle!
Something was off with the carburetor (carburator?) adjustment or the pedal linkage.

YMMV

 

I'm aware in ECO mode that I'll receive full power if I floor it, I just don't like to give up the power in between. It's not a fun way to drive to save a few mpg imo. Just a matter of taste really.

 

I've had my new Prius c for 10 days; I'm using the various different monitors to compare this and that with what effects on mileage, but I am getting to where, as others have said previously, I'm just going to drive!

 

Same here-I just bought my Prius C yesterday (blue streak metallic)! I've never driven a hybrid before so it's a little disconcerting with no start up noise. I picked the C because parking the Tacoma is impossible where I live in Portland.

Later tonight is my first solo zipping around town. Is it bad that I already love a car so much?

 

Congrats! Wait till you drive it - after two years I still smile when I drive my C.

 

Yes. Love for a machine is not healthy !!
[j/k]
Be careful. Others have reported an INCREASE in total fuel useage because of driving euphoria.

 

I am two weeks away from my 1-year anniversary, and I still love driving this car as much as the day I drove it home the first time. Here are how I use the buttons you asked about (and one you didn't):
1. I keep it in ECO mode most of the time. Two exceptions: (1) On a road trip with hills. (2) In an extreme hurry (rare), needing quick acceleration.
2. I rarely use EV mode button.
3. I don't use the "B" feature on my transmission. Generally speaking, it won't save you fuel or generate extra battery power. Even when I was coming down the Sierra Madres on I-80, I didn't use it. Of course, I didn't exactly follow the speed limit then either!

 

I have had my C for about 6 months now and coming up on 9k miles-used Eco mode for the first month and then changed to regular mode. Didn't like the rubber feel to the gas pedal and have found with the finer control that regular mode offers my mileage has been as high as 75 on a 50 mile trip. Routinely get 60mpg per tank unless climbing lots of hills so have had no reason to try Eco again.

 

Another useful exception is when you need maximum cooling.
The AC works a lot harder when NOT in ECO mode.

 

That's precisely why I went for the C Now go find the Newbie Pics thread and post something cool! (You know you want to)

 

Lol.