For those of you who own a Prius 2010: Can you tell me if there is any difference between the "ECO" mode and "no" mode at all (where no specific mode has actually been selected)? I have test driven a prius last week for about 10 minutes, and I did not have time to feel/see the difference. Thanks!
There is a big difference when accelerating from a stop. The car is less responsive and will accelerate less quickly than in normal or power mode. I also notice a difference with the air conditioner. It seems to recirculate the air more, the effectiveness seems less, and the fan speed is less.
CIVICQC, I hope you were able to get a chance to feel the POWER mode. The acceleration you get is great for safety reasons (merging into a highway or making a right hand turn on red into traffic). You can easily beat cars off the line at a red light if you need to change lanes quickly thereafter. That's not safe but it's available to you in power mode.
Question: when you go out and start the car, what mode is it in? Is there a "defaultl" mode it always starts in?
With the exception of PWR & EV mode, the car will stay in whatever mode you last left it in. If you had it in ECO, it'll stay there. If you left it in Normal (no mode selected), it'll be in Normal mode when you start the car up next.
Actually, you have all that power in all modes, including the EV mode. All you need to do is push that pedal past the 1/2 way point, and all modes will give you the 'MAX' power available, in case of emergency, etc. I keep mine in ECO mode all the time, and when needing a little extra power, I just push harder on the pedal. Many others have posted this information here as well.
