Hybrid Mpg

[RunningInPleasePass]

Most of the options on cars are seldom or never used.

For me park assist is a waste of time, tried it once then never used it again.

Cruise control, same thing.

Even parking sensors are turned off in my car, they drive me crazy when I put my car in the garage.

[Joseph D]

... Cruise control, same thing.

If you only ever do short distance, town or congested motorway journeys then yes not a lot of use for CC, but I find it invaluable when doing long distance journeys. I also use it a lot around town in 30 and 40 mph areas when there is no congestion to speak of. CC is one of my must have options.

Even parking sensors are turned off in my car, they drive me crazy when I put my car in the garage.

I liked the parking sensors in my T-Spirit, no noise at all just flashed icons at the bottom of the reversing screen. Worked perfect for me. I can't say they are a must have, but I appreciated that they were there and did use them.

[CPN]

... Cruise control, same thing.

If you only ever do short distance, town or congested motorway journeys then yes not a lot of use for CC, but I find it invaluable when doing long distance journeys. I also use it a lot around town in 30 and 40 mph areas when there is no congestion to speak of. CC is one of my must have options.

Totally agree about cruise control. Also, another reason for using it (especially in a hybrid) is for the benefit of good fuel consumption during such steady speed motoring...

[vanilla.coffee]

Disagree about cruise control in a hybrid.

Example.

Cruise control set at 60 mph.

Reach steep incline - watch as gauge wanders into PWR section and engine revs climb to maintain cruise speed on the incline.

MPG drops when using cruise control.

In my opinion, for the same scenario it is better to let the speed bleed off a little, gauge stays in Eco section, less fuel used and you can pick your speed back up in the descent.

[RunningInPleasePass]

I agree, you can get better MPG by reading the road ahead, increase speed slightly before a hill then let it drop off slightly as you climb it, is better then let cruise control blindly rev the engine to maintain speed up a hill.

[barrycoll]

My experience is that Cruise C. is "smarter" than it appears.....the guzzling of gas up a gradient seems a no brainer, but never-the-less, overall M-Way 70mph consumption is extremely good when one lets CC hav its own way

May be the Hi Tech CC Pack for £1750 produces even better results, but when it came to Ticking Boxes, that one was a $tep too far.

[CPN]

My experience is that Cruise C. is "smarter" than it appears.....the guzzling of gas up a gradient seems a no brainer, but never-the-less, overall M-Way 70mph consumption is extremely good when one lets CC have its own way.

Totally agree with that.Yes, hills can be a factor but that depends very much on your own locale and if steep ones are an issue in your area, it's fairly easy to compensate for that as needed.

[yarisHybrid]

my Yaris Hybrid 2014 consumes around 58 to 52 MPG... this worse scenario is during the winter. when we bought it about 5 months ago, it was around 58-59 MPG

[PeteB]

My experience is that Cruise C. is "smarter" than it appears.....the guzzling of gas up a gradient seems a no brainer, but never-the-less, overall M-Way 70mph consumption is extremely good when one lets CC hav its own way

May be the Hi Tech CC Pack for £1750 produces even better results, but when it came to Ticking Boxes, that one was a $tep too far.

I've driven a few Lexus models with the adaptive cruise control - I doubt it's any more economical, maybe even slightly less as it will put the brakes on if it needs to slow down because the radar has detected a slower vehicle in front, whereas a driver might lift off earlier or cancel the CC and avoid using the brakes.

It's something I'd love to have as it makes a longer journey even more relaxing - the price of the Tech Pack also includes pre collision system which I would be happy to have, and digital radio and park assist which I wouldn't use.

I'm hoping the next version of the Prius, when it finally arrives, with have more options and not too many disappointments - if the rumours that the digital instruments will go, and oddments space with be minimised, that will put me off big time.

If that doesn't float my boat, the next thing currently on my radar is the Tesla Model III (a BMW 3 series sized all electric car due for 2017) anticipated to have a 200 mile range. If the rate at which Tesla's free to use rapid charging stations are being introduced continues it will dramatically improve the appeal of an all electric car.

[Joseph D]

My experience is that Cruise C. is "smarter" than it appears.....the guzzling of gas up a gradient seems a no brainer, but never-the-less, overall M-Way 70mph consumption is extremely good when one lets CC hav its own way

May be the Hi Tech CC Pack for £1750 produces even better results, but when it came to Ticking Boxes, that one was a $tep too far.

... the adaptive cruise control - I doubt it's any more economical, maybe even slightly less ...

I don't think adaptive CC is there to be more economical as by definition the type of traffic where it comes into its own is going to be in heavily congested peak hour stop/go type of a scenario. Its sole purpose, IMO, is to make life easier in that situation. In this type of traffic trying to drive smoothly and anticipate the traffic ahead of you requires a lot of concentration and it is almost impossible to get a good low consumption happening. It drives me to distraction why people speed up then hit the brakes and slow down, rinse and repeat. Why can't people just pick a speed and stick to it?

[PeteB]

My experience is that Cruise C. is "smarter" than it appears.....the guzzling of gas up a gradient seems a no brainer, but never-the-less, overall M-Way 70mph consumption is extremely good when one lets CC hav its own way

May be the Hi Tech CC Pack for £1750 produces even better results, but when it came to Ticking Boxes, that one was a $tep too far.

... the adaptive cruise control - I doubt it's any more economical, maybe even slightly less ...

I don't think adaptive CC is there to be more economical as by definition the type of traffic where it comes into its own is going to be in heavily congested peak hour stop/go type of a scenario. Its sole purpose, IMO, is to make life easier in that situation....

I think it's also very useful on faster, lightly used dual carriageways and motorways, as it deals with things like someone cutting in front of you (can sometimes brake pretty sharpish in this situation), catching up with slower traffic, or traffic coming to a standstill when you reach roadworks or something. It's also very useful in these situations.