My new car

[Jonmartin]

I’ve been a Yaris owner for the past 18 months, and have never been happy with it. I’m now in the luck position to be able to change.

So, I’m getting an Auris Touring Sports Hybrid Excel. Same age as my Yaris (1st Sept 2016) but with only 1041 miles on the clock. As they say, it was a no brainer.

Any tips or tricks you Auris Hybrid owners have, for getting the best from my car will be most appreciated.

[Catlover]

Getting "the best" from your car could have many meanings.

I chose a Auris Hybrid for 2 main reasons 1) potential fuel savings 2) less exhaust pollutants.   Obviously the car itself had to fit my personal criteria as to size and comfort etc. and my 2010 reg Auris does that well.

If as me,. no1 criteria is good fuel economy, then starting ownership in the winter could be a disappointment. You can only drive a relative short distance in EV (pure electric) mode, then the petrol engine will kick in. Due to the cold weather it will take the petrol engine longer to warm up, during which time you are mostly reliant on petrol rather then electric (not all the time but most). My winter mpg is around 53mpg - which is good for a 1.8 litre petrol engined car aided by Battery. During the summer months I was getting 62mpg. I am still very pleased with 53mpg, because if my Auris was purely petrol drive I would only expect to see around 40mpg in the winter and not much higher in the summer.   Figures obviously depend on your right foot, and how you use the EV, Eco, Power buttons. At times I do use the Power button (long hills, overtaking etc) and you get all 134bhp kick in, but fuel economy hits the floor - all expected.

If you follow conversations on this forum (Prius as well-same drive line as Auris) you will read of "pulse and glide". I use this technique frequently. Keeping legal limits in mind, accelerate fairly briskly ("pulse") up a safe speed (say 60 in a 60 area) and then lift off the throttle for a second, apply slight throttle and you should be able to "glide" using Battery power for a good distance (depending on road surface and any gradients). Takes practice and of course I take care not to annoy traffic that may be following.

I have had my Auris Hybrid for 7 months now, and still trying different ways to save fuel but still enjoy the driving experience.  Happy driving

 

 

 

[Jonmartin]

Thanks for that.

It does seem to me that I’ll have a experiment with new driving techniques, should be interesting and I am looking forward to it.

[Slasher_uk]

When I first got my Prius I searched YouTube for driving tips which I found really helpful and have carried these over to my Auris.

[FROSTYBALLS]

Could have a look at: http://blog.toyota.co.uk/hybrid-driving-technique-toyotas-top-tips-for-achieving-the-best-fuel-economy-in-your-hybrid

[16_Auris_HSD]

My main tip is - whatever you do don't attempt to use "pulse and glide" technique (this will be recommended by many hybrid users) in any kind of medium to heavy traffic situations. Unless you want to be known as "that" Toyota guy.

My other tips are
- make sure you follow Toyota's recommended PSI
- don't expect mpg miracles during winter (or whenever the temperature drops below 10C)
- use Power mode whenever you need to swiftly get out of a tricky situation, switch it off afterwards (unless you like the ultra sensitive throttle mapping)
- have loads of patience while using the built in radio/satnav system
- check whether your car is on the updated version of radio/satnav system software (your car should have it from factory if not this can be updated via toyota's website, you also get 3 years of free map updates)

[Jonmartin]

Thanks to you all