Auris Hybrid

[61hsd]

I find it hard to keep to 20 or 30 mph speed limits in My Auris hybrid does anyone use

Their cruise control to keep to a lower speed ?or is there another way.This is My first

Automatic car.

[Ten Ninety]

Are you using Eco mode? If not then that may be worthwhile as it softens the throttle response which may make it easier to keep a constant speed.

[wass]

These days of speed cameras being positioned at the bottom of hills, long drags where the limits change from 30 to 40 , back to 30, then 20, then 30(partially obscured by overgrown trees of course) then speed cameras, cruise control is just one of the tools I use to keep my licence intact. Jay is right, Eco mode makes the throttle softer and gentle regenerative braking helps too.

[timberwolf]

If the Auris Hybrid is like the Prius Gen 2 then it is designed to glide more easily than a conventional automatic (i.e. less "engine braking" when you lift the accelerator pedal). I'd say with practice you ought to be able to control and maintain the speed.

I find wearing shoes or trainers with soft soles helps - I can feel the accelerator and brake pedals more effectively and I think it helps with the finer adjustment of the pedal position.

Try adjusting the driving seat position - it may sound odd but in my case changing the seat position affected how hard I pressed the accelerator.

Don't hold the accelerator pedal at a constant position (it is inefficient driving anyway), try easing off the accelerator pedal, or lifting off and then reapply less pressure than before on the accelerator pedal. (This one is more about economy but I think it helps with preventing the speed just creeping up without you noticing).

Don't worry about always driving right up to the speed limit. This is a difficult mindset to get out of. There is a great deal of pressure or so it seems from other drivers behind you to drive right at the speed limit. I've become more !Removed! minded over the years, and I'm not going to worry about travelling just under 30 mph as indicated on my speedometer if I feel like it. I know my true speed is even less. I also know that there will often be someone right on my bumper regardless of whether I'm breaking the speed limit or not.

[Ten Ninety]

I know my true speed is even less.

That's a good point for the OP to note as well. These cars appear to have speedometers which over-read by a larger-than-usual margin at the sorts of speeds being discussed. Both my wife's Auris and my Prius over-read nearly as badly as some of the comedy kph/mph conversions I had in my turbo-nutter Jap-import past.

If it's speed cameras which are the concern then it's worth bearing in mind that an indicated 32/33 in the Auris is almost certainly no more than 29/30 in reality.

I do find that maintaining an indicated 30mph really seems to aggravate people, probably because it's actually only around 27. I tend to do an indicated 32/33 instead, although the point about there always being someone on your bumper irrespective of speed is well-made. That said, the inconspicuous Auris suffers rather less from that than the overtly-treehugging Prius in my experience.

[61hsd]

Many thanks for all Your replies to My question.As it turns out I wasn't using Eco mode like I thought I was

I did not realise You had to press the button to turn Eco on I thought it always was on.I have only owned the

Car for 2 weeks and am still learning to get the best from it.Thanks again. Steve

[johalareewi]

I did not realise You had to press the button to turn Eco on I thought it always was on.

The ECO mode setting is remembered when you switch off so once you have selected ECO mode, it will be in ECO mode next time you switch on.

[Aceshigh84]

I used to think that the speedo over read too because 30 seems so slow and I always have some plonker on my bumper, the speedo can read 30 yet my Sat nav reads 26 / 27.

However, I used the same Sat nav in a friend's BMW and somehow got him to drive at exactly 30, and the Sat nav under read by exactly the same amount.

[johalareewi]

All speedos over read, even BMWs. They are not allowed to under read but they can be as much as 10% over so guess where car manufacturers aim for?

Interesting experiment if your in car trip meter has average speed (like in the Prius).

While driving at a constant speed, reset the trip meter.

Hold the speed constant and see what your average speed shows as on the trip meter.

On my gen3, the in car trip meter average speed matches the GPS speed on the satnav and is lower than the constant speed shown on the speedo.

[Don't do this in traffic.]

[nespresso]

I find it hard to keep to 20 or 30 mph speed limits in My Auris hybrid does anyone use

Their cruise control to keep to a lower speed ?or is there another way.This is My first

Automatic car.

I am finding the same. I think it is partly because it is so quiet below 30mph, you don't have the usual audible indicators that regular cars provide when accelerating. The Auris Hybrid accelerates well and has plenty of BHP, it just doesn't feel like it. I feel sure we will soon adapt B)

[61hsd]

Thank You for all the messages about trying to keep to the speed limit.

I had no idea that a speedo in a car is never 100% accurate.I have points on my licence and

don't want anymore.It is a nice car to drive and I am enjoying the car.

[Parts-King]

Blame the UNECE, they set the international standards for speedo type approval, not the manufacturers

The amended Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986 permits the use of speedometers that meet either the requirements of EC Council Directive 75/443 (as amended by Directive 97/39) or UNECE Regulation 39.

The Motor Vehicles (Approval) Regulations 2001 permits single vehicles to be approved. As with the UNECE regulation and the EC Directives, the speedometer must never show an indicated speed less than the actual speed. However it differs slightly from them in specifying that for all actual speeds between 25 mph and 70 mph (or the vehicles' maximum speed if it is lower than this), the indicated speed must not exceed 110% of the actual speed, plus 6.25 mph.

For example, if the vehicle is actually travelling at 50 mph, the speedometer must not show more than 61.25 mph or less than 50 mph.

(taken from Wiki)

Kingo

[johalareewi]

for all actual speeds between 25 mph and 70 mph (or the vehicles' maximum speed if it is lower than this), the indicated speed must not exceed 110% of the actual speed, plus 6.25 mph.

That is crazy.

30mph actual x 110% = 33mph + 6.25 = 39.25mph

So when you are doing 30mph actual, your speedo can legally read almost 40mph?

[Parts-King]

Yes!

But it cannot read under the actual speed. Most speedo's are within 5-8% range

The margin of error is built in to take account of tyre wear and the like. f you stick to the indicated speed on your speedo, you will never get a speeding ticket, not unless you have changed tyre/wheel size and have not followed the correct guide and your speedo is out by changing the rolling diameter

Kingo

[kithmo]

To make the speedo acurate, fit 10% OD tyres

So I can go from 215/50R17 to 215/65R17 nice soft ride mmmm...

[wass]

To make the speedo acurate, fit 10% OD tyres

So I can go from 215/50R17 to 215/65R17 nice soft ride mmmm...

I agree, the mathematics is almost spot on to give that 10% correction. The sports purists will argue that the handling will suffer, however, I would doubt that I would notice since I have seldom found the limits of handling for any car since the road surfaces can be so variable; I always have to allow for diesel spillages, poor road repair, councils using cheap roadstone which has a low coefficient of friction.

[kithmo]

I used this http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html to calculate the OD.

These thicker tyres are only available in up to H speed rating, the OEM tyres are V, not sure how that would affect insurance in the event of a claim. Hey ho. another idea down the drain ;0)

[johalareewi]

Parts-King, on 05 Jul 2013 - 09:07, said:

Yes!

But it cannot read under the actual speed. Most speedo's are within 5-8% range

Interesting that below 25mph, the speedo could read any speed it likes as long as it is not under the true speed.

So in theory, the speedo could sit at 25mph for speeds below 25mph and be legal.

It would make keeping below 20mph in these new 20 zones impossible if you had a speedo like that.

[Parts-King]

From a legal point of view that is correct, but I think in general, the whole "indicated" speed is reasonably accurate, to within the 5-8% range

Kingo

[Dasbob]

i keep abusing the cruise control in 30-40 zones, i am finding it hard to keep it at 30 my self though, i tend to go by the EV light to what speed am going at, i find i am usually between 20 and 30 although i have been tootling along at just above the 40 needle with EV light still on.

[geo13647]

i keep abusing the cruise control in 30-40 zones, i am finding it hard to keep it at 30 my self though, i tend to go by the EV light to what speed am going at, i find i am usually between 20 and 30 although i have been tootling along at just above the 40 needle with EV light still on.

Yep, I noticed me doing that too, funny thing is, it will quite happily stay in EV at 40+,

but if you try & select EV manually at anything above 30, it tells you that it's too fast for EV.

Clever car, it certainly is.

G...