I Love Power Mode!!!

Well, if the old man isn't in the car with you push the power button. Easy hey?
Glad you found a way to increase your enjoyment of a great car, and as I don't think I have said it already, welcome to PriusChat.

 

I commute 50ish miles a day to and from work. 75% of the drive is highway. I love Powermode. I typically drive around 75 mph and was averaging 53 mpg this summer. Now that it is a lot colder, I've been averaging 46-49 mpg. I get poor mpg ranges in normal and eco mode. I hardly ever use those. Every time I start up my G3, I automatically hit the Powermode button.

 

I just read through this thread.

A question: Regardless of the mode (PWR, ECO, Normal) and the pedal use, is the HSI indicator telling the real truth of what's going on with the battery, battery+ICE combo? The settings only affect the human-pedal interface on how to get to the various zones in the HSI?

Also: Pulse and Glide is good, but should the red zone in the HSI be always avoided?

I find it hard to avoid going into that zone in PWR mode when starting at a light, going up an incline. Heck, that's hard to do even in the ECO mode for short periods of time.

Summary Q: If the red zone (in HSI) is a bad thing, then how would one avoid it in PWR mode? I can't. Should I stay in ECO and fine-tune my driving to pulse so that I almost get to (but stay below) the red HSI zone?

 

From what I can tell, the HSI is always correct. The different modes only affect the sensitivity of the accelerator. You can get the same power output in all modes depending on how far you move the pedal.

Most people here will advise to accelerate "briskly" up to speed, which will put you in the red power zone on the HSI. To me, the quicker I get up to speed and in to the glide mode, the better I seem to do on MPG. So, I do not think you always want to avoid the power zone.

You are correct, in PWR mode it is almost impossible to avoid the red power zone on the HSI. Others have written that they get better MPG in PWR mode.

I would recommend experimenting with all of the above and find out what works best for you. To me, you want to avoid the red power zone on the HSI as much as possible for best efficiency, but this does not apply during acceleration.

 

I agree with Jdcollins5, the HSI indication is indeed telling you how much power your are getting. The three modes ECO, Normal, and PWR only determine how much power you get for a given amount of pedal travel during approximately the first half of the pedal movement. You can accomplish exactly the same result in any one of the three by putting the HSI indicator bar in the same place. Anything past about half of the pedal travel is the same in all three modes anyway. The modes could have been named Fine vice ECO, Normal, and Course vice PWR.

I do believe the people who claim they get better mileage in PWR, but it is only because they know they are in the PWR mode and compensate by driving more carefully. It's actually a matter of preference, how precisely do you want to control the throttle? I like the ECO mode because it makes it easier to control glide, regen braking, etc. Remember you still have all the power there is available to you if you put your foot down regardless of which mode your are in.

You should not avoid the red part of the HSI, in fact you will find you have to be there part of the time anyway just to get out of peoples way. I don't hesitate to put it clear over in the red, or past it, when I accelerate to enter the freeway for example. If you drive in an area where there are steep hills or mountains you will find yourself in the red zone also.

I think it may use less fuel just to drive up to the speed you want to be at using a reasonable amount of throttle than it does using the minimum amount or throttle and taking forever to get up to speed. We need to devise some tests that could tell us if this is true of not.

BMW did do some testing quite a few years ago indicating the best mileage with their cars was achieved by accelerating at 1/2 to 2/3 throttle and shifting at about 2000 to 2500 RPM, i.e. using more fuel for a shorter distance. But those tests were done on non-hybrid cars with manual transmissions and the results for the Prius might be different.