Which Driving Mode Do you use?

On a luxury car, it may well add a few thousand to have the adaptive suspension, potentially adaptive swaybars, and an exhaust flapper.

On the Prius? It probably adds less than $25 to the car. It's just accelerator pedal calibration and the switch, and it means that the thing can be customized without paying a hundred or two for a box to remap the accelerator. For instance, you talk about how you like PWR... but the Gen 3's PWR is like the Gen 4's Normal. The Gen 1 and 2 didn't even have a PWR setting, so they were like they were always in Eco.

 

Yeah I've heard that too, that all the 4th gen modes are shifted by about one mode. Is it just driver's impressions, or is there some doc on this? I'm not trying to trivialize the former, just wondering. I think there was some info on this??

 

I use power mode when I have to merge on the expressway and cross 4 lanes of traffic going home at night, but switch to normal because it allows me to modulate the throttle better and keep the car on battery in the stop and go traffic on the ride home. Car seems too prone to turning engine on in power mode, I prefer the longer travel between battery and gas in normal mode.
That being said, in edge of city driving I managed this feat Saturday.

 

It's worth noting, by the way, that you can still get full power in modes less than PWR, for merges. Just push harder, you'll get everything it's got.

 

Yeah, you can get the same gas mileage with all 3 modes but that doesn't mean most people will.
Toyota themselves SAY Power mode is the least fuel efficient mode.

Doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that an aggressive accelerator pedal response, for most people is going to result in poorer gas mileage. You are basically telling your Prius, I want the engine to kick in- A.S.A.P. . You don't get that "Power" for free.

If you are going to choose Power Mode, and then feather and baby the accelerator pedal to a ridiculous degree to try to get better gas mileage, then my question is why?

Why not just use "Normal" and not have the "shot gun" response accelerator pedal?

What HAS been proven?
You can get the same "Power Mode" acceleration in all 4 modes, Power, Eco, EV and Normal, if you just press down farther on the accelerator pedal.

 

I thought it was the Eco guys that "feather and baby" the gas pedal. If I actually did that, (and I DID do it one morning for 83 miles) I got 83 mpg and posted a picture.

But I choose to operate my Prius normally, and I enjoy the light pedal feel. I drive slightly above the speed limit so as not to get run over. And I am very happy with 62–64 mpg.

I also enjoy the "brisker" acceleration sometimes, and the sportiness, and the zippy response I get from my Prius in PWR mode. What can I say… It's fun!

I'm a retired man, but I'm not dead!
I like a little fun, too.

(Someday, I might put my car back in the Eco mode, when my right ankle needs more exercise. )

 

I'll tell you what, the Gen2 and Gen3 drivers around my area, are certainly NOT babying or feathering their gas pedal!

Those guys blow by me like I'm standing still!

(But I still think having three different driving modes on a Prius, is unnecessary. I would be perfectly fine if it only had a "normal" mode. But as long as PWR is there… I might as well have a little fun. I don't want to become an old, grouchy, fuddy-duddy in a Prius! LOL!)

 

Newfangled? My 2002 Rover 75 had a 3 mode switch on the transmission tunnel. There was cruise, sport and ice. Cruise was the regular auto box mapping, sport mode changed up later and down earlier, while ice somehow allowed going from standstill in 2nd gear. I was in my late 50s then and used all the modes, mainly cruise and sport for overtaking on the plentiful hills we have around here.

 

Hyperbole.

 

Salesman at Toyota dealership:

"Excuse me, sir, how do you want your gas pedal... Old man Eco, Boring medium, or Youthful and Sporty?"

My reply:

"I want to drive it like my hair is on fire!"

California Cool.

If you can't handle the PWR, get out of the kitchen!

 

Pretty much every car on the market right now has extra driving modes. The Prius only controls the gas pedal sensitivity. I love the Audi Dynamic mode because it can change the suspension, revs, and more.

 

But some might like a less sensitive gas pedal or want to lighten their lead foot. If someone thought the PWR mode was too touchy and they didn't buy the car because of that, they have other driving modes to choose from.

 

Ouch! Pedant. Lol

Just saying my 14 year old car had throttle/engine mapping aback then and the model line was several years old.

 

When I owned my Prius and got past the "Shiny New Toy" phase, I found myself eventually settling into I would say 95% or more of the time simply driving in "Normal" mode.

But I would occasionally choose ECO, especially in the summer when I was using air conditioning more. It does adapt how The Prius utilizes the Air Conditioning.

But as I said before, I think EV and Power are meant to be situational choices. I really don't feel Toyota intends anyone to really choose Power Mode as their permanent or primary driving mode. Which I think is evidenced by the fact that the software by design, will NOT start up in Power Mode, even if you were in it last. It will however start up repeatedly in "Normal" or "ECO".

Power, EV, Eco...are they gimmicks?

Well I remember when the 2010 Gen 3 was released. The build up to that release had many outlets comparing the "unknown" Gen 3 with the as of yet unreleased and also unknown New Honda Insight. Honda had added an "Eco" mode/button to the Insight.

I felt Toyota counter punched with 3 Modes...3 Buttons. ECO, EV, and POWER.

Sales Gimmick?

To an extent. Surely.

But it's not uncommon for more and more vehicles to have "modes". As vehicle operation becomes more and more a computer software controlled operation.

My new Honda Fit has an ECO button, as well as a "S"--sports selection on the shifter.

Modes....they are used as sales gimmicks...but also? They are real, and I think here to stay.

 

With the less sensitive gas pedal, it's much easier to coast along in EV mode with ECO mode, especially when it comes to stop and go rush hour traffic. If I wanted more power, I'd just stomp on the gas pedal like any other car.

 

The current model will restart in PWR mode if that was selected at previous shutdown.

 

You guys will be happy to know, that I drove around all day today in the eco-mode.

Now I have to go and soak my right ankle in a hot bathtub.

(And why does my mpg go down when I am in eco-mode?)

It's very funny, when I turn off the car after driving in power mode, the message on the screen pops up and says, "good eco-driving!"

 

For me, it's because my foot gets "calibrated" to it and I can't drive our Honda Odyssey afterwards if I'm not in power mode. The odyssey has a front loaded pedal (I guess they want people to think their mini van is fast), so PWR mode makes them feel about the same. My wife doesn't have trouble switching back and forth from normal mode but I do for some reason. And as a bonus I get better MPG in power mode. Probably because I am so dependent on what the pedal feels like I guess.

 

I use PWR about as often as I use EV. Close to never. I am happy with ECO. I got my car back from the dealer after they re-flashed the combination meter for the parking sensor recall. I thought something was wrong with the car, turns out it was that it was in Normal. The difference jumped out at me.

 

I used to the eco-mode setting again on Saturday. And I will try it again today, Sunday.

For some odd reason, the gas pedal didn't feel as heavy or stiff.

Maybe my car is trying to fool me… "Hey, this guy is trying to sneak over into the eco-mode!"

Actually, to avoid all the confusion, the "normal" mode feels the best. I can just put the darn car in normal, and drive it. I get the same gas mileage in all three modes, so it doesn't really matter.

Give me a simple Camry…