3 Days And 300 Miles With 2011 Hybrid

[Tbolt]

Hi folks, I have now taken ownership of 2011 HSD with 12k miles on clock.

I am learning to adjust my driving style and my wife is not used to me driving so slowly.

I have been using the forum over recent weeks to learn about the car and how to drive it. So thanks to all here and the Prius section.

I want this car to be a keeper and believe it will be a good car for my wife to learn in. I have lost confidence in modern diesels as second hand cars with their DPF, or DMF/clutch problems etc.

I have now covered over 300 miles in 3 days of mixed driving. It can become obsessive watching the fuel reading. The car is a little frustrating when it over revs but I can adapt to that.

The hand book is not the best place to learn how to get the best from the car. The salesman did not give much advice either.

Reading the forum I now realise there is a default normal mode, I had been switching between EV Eco and Power not realising they can all be turned off.

Hope I can help contribute to this fine forum.

Gerry

[bursco]

Is it more economical to turn all modes off and use "default" - did not know this??

What does default mode do??

Also my salesman did'nt give me much help on how to use it.

2012 hybrid April.

Denis B

[Goldreef]

Hi Denis

I purchased a 2012 Auris Hybrid with 16k miles about a months or so ago, for which it's been somewhat of a learning curve to get the most out of the car. However after reading this section and the Prius section, I'm now averaging over 60mpg. However as Gerry said above, it gets to be quite an obsession watching the battery/engine and charging/eco/power dials.

From my [limited] understanding of the Auris Hybrid, Eco mode reduces the sensitivity of the accelerator pedal, puts the air conditioning into a more economical state, and tweaks when the engine cuts in/out while driving.

Personally I find that Normal is the most economical/comfortable mode for my daily commute.

Kind regards

John

[Tbolt]

Hi Denis and John, Thanks for your replies. I was beginning to think I had posted in the wrong section.

Now done over 600 miles in a week and I have started to use the normal option most of the time.

The eco and power buttons must just change the fuel mapping. I use the power for some confidence pulling out of junctions etc.

I am using eco in town with the hope it allows good use of the EV mode. I have also used it to cut down the air con use.

I keep forgetting to turn off the B mode at times :censor: but I am still learning.

I was just accepting the HSD was a slow car but was overtaken by a Lexus CT today that must have been travelling at over 90+ mph. I increased my speed (a little) and was surprised to find I was still getting good mileage read outs and the car felt good.

Cheers Gerry

[Aceshigh84]

I've got a gen 2 Auris hsd and can confirm Gerry's findings; I have found it is misguided to try and feather the throttle to keep your mpg up - I get the same average mpg at 70mph as I do at 50mph.

I don't use b mode though, and it is my understanding it should only be used when descending very steep inclines, like a mountain pass or similar - in day to day driving just stick with d, less wear and tear on the car.

All the power button does is make the throttle more responsive, it doesn't give any more power to the car, I tend to drive everywhere in normal mode, except for certain places in my commute where I override the car with the ev button; there is a small hill in a 30 zone where I force ev mode, if I keep the car at 30 and out of the power zone then I can get up the hill and through most of the 30 zone on Battery alone. In normal mode the car would switch to ice when going up the hill and not return to Battery until I was under the half mark on the eco power meter.

I also force ev mode when approaching some roundabouts, thus I can drive round and out of them at up to 30 for free, as I continue to accelerate the car takes over and switches to ice if necessary.

It's not unusual for most of the journeys to show 60+ on the eco gauge, and tracking my fuel use over actual mileage gives me a real world figure of about 57mpg, I am well impressed with that.

[Ratho1]

If you use default normal mode rather than eco mode you will find that in colder weather the heater ( air-con ) system comes on immediately whilst the engine is still warming up. In eco mode the air-con system "waits" until the engine is warm. I would expect that in winter the eco mode gives rather better mpg than normal mode whereas in summer there will be little difference between the two, but both will be better than in winter. So, you take your pick in winter between staying cold for longer to achieve possibly 0.2 mpg benefit. I think I know what my choice would be.