My new toy is here!

[BugsyBobCat]

Definitely don't use accessory mode for long - I found that out the hard way over the weekend 😋Mpg definately improves over time. The engine beds in, as does your driving style.

On the GR you have a HUD which I love as you can turn the eco slider/bar on and monitor your eco performance whilst keeping your eyes on the road.

I find the dial panel a bit too clustered especially in the admittedly very pretty 3D dial mode.

The HUD used this way helps train your brain over time. Also google 'pulse and glide' technique as a good place to start.

The GR in 2.0 is a wonderful allround car, very comfortable and has some welly if you need it.

[Andy P]

4 hours ago, BugsyBobCat said:

Definitely don't use accessory mode for long - I found that out the hard way over the weekend 😋Mpg definately improves over time. The engine beds in, as does your driving style.

On the GR you have a HUD which I love as you can turn the eco slider/bar on and monitor your eco performance whilst keeping your eyes on the road.

I find the dial panel a bit too clustered especially in the admittedly very pretty 3D dial mode.

The HUD used this way helps train your brain over time. Also google 'pulse and glide' technique as a good place to start.

The GR in 2.0 is a wonderful allround car, very comfortable and has some welly if you need it.

I’m all a bit confused about modes. How do you guy start the car and park up at night. Just want to see if I’m in the right mode not to drain the Battery. Thanks for the tips, the screen I use is the one with the 3 dials

[vonkhaled]

2 hours ago, Andy P said:

I’m all a bit confused about modes. How do you guy start the car and park up at night. Just want to see if I’m in the right mode not to drain the battery. Thanks for the tips, the screen I use is the one with the 3 dials

Just turn on and off the car normally, if you need to wait in the car just keep the car running and use EV mode (or just turn the car off). If you use the accessory mode for a long time (which is a double tap on the start button without your foot on the brake) you might drain your 12v Battery. 

[Andy P]

54 minutes ago, vonkhaled said:

Just turn on and off the car normally, if you need to wait in the car just keep the car running and use EV mode (or just turn the car off). If you use the accessory mode for a long time (which is a double tap on the start button without your foot on the brake) you might drain your 12v battery. 

Thank you Vonkhaled. 

[Nicolai]

12 hours ago, Rivorian said:

Multimedia unit

Ah, I thought it required two pushes as well.

Thanks.

[Rivorian]

10 minutes ago, Nicolai said:

Ah, I thought it required two pushes as well.

Thanks.

Two pushes, as informed by the manual, is actually "IGNITION ON" status.

So let's not confuse these.

So, 1 push is "ACCESSORY MODE", 2nd push is "IGNITION ON" and 3rd push switches everything OFF again. Also there is auto power of function so prevent draining the Battery.

So, if You just want to listen to the radio, push once when brake is depressed. If You need to lower windows or use vaccum for short time from 12V socket or open/close pano use IGNITION MODE, but only for very short periods. Never leave it on. If You need to use climate control switch engine on.

[Nicolai]

I remember listening to radio via multimedia during a clean out of the car. I had pressed power twice and after some time, everything powered down in order to prevent a complete 12 volt drainage.

[Rivorian]

I am now in a conflict with myself as well and as I can not check that as my wife took the car today, it could be that when You enter the car You need to press the button 2 times... so in total there's a cycle like this:

 

Enter the car, de-press the brake pedal and:

1st push - does nothing? just confirms You are in (could be due to keyless entry)

2nd push - Accessory mode

3rd push - Ignition mode

4th push - everything off

 

Anyway, check the statuses on the display. When all the lights light up, You are definetly in ignition mode and this should be not kept for lomng time...

[vonkhaled]

Hmm, when I have turned the car off and want to listen to the radio I only press once (no brake). In this mode (whichever), the radio is automatically turned of after a couple of minuter to save juice in the 12v Battery. 

[Andy P]

Still confused! so when i get in the car to drive it i need to press 3 time to put Ignition on? or do you just press once? 

[Velvet--Glove]

There seems to be much confusion here. As I understand it these are the two main functions we're likely to use:

1. Hold down brake pedal and push button once to start the hybrid and drive off.
In this state you can leave it in P park/READY mode if you need to wait some time in car and listen to radio or to update the mapping (which takes an hour+). The engine will periodically fire up for a few minutes to top up the Battery.
You would also use this mode if you are quarantining (not going out for weeks) and need to maintain the car's Battery while it's out of use - for this Toyota recommend switching car on (READY mode + P park) and leaving it on for 60 mins once per week to maintain the Battery.

2. NOT using the brake pedal you can press the button twice to get into ACC accessory mode where audio is available. Don't use this for more than a few minutes. Because the hybrid is not switched on it cannot come on to top up the battery so you will quickly drain the battery.

Having tried all this myself I no longer bother with ACC mode so it's always number 1. for me.

Note that the graphic Rivorian posted above is referring to NOT depressing the brake pedal when using the button. Easy to miss that point but crucial to understand what all those different modes mean.

[Andy P]

5 minutes ago, Velvet--Glove said:

There seems to be much confusion here. As I understand it these are the two main functions we're likely to use:

1. Hold down brake pedal and push button once to start the hybrid and drive off.
In this state you can leave it in P park/READY mode if you need to wait some time in car and listen to radio or to update the mapping (which takes an hour+). The engine will periodically fire up for a few minutes to top up the battery.
You would also use this mode if you are quarantining (not going out for weeks) and need to maintain the car's battery while it's out of use - for this Toyota recommend switching car on (READY mode + P park) and leaving it on for 60 mins once per week to maintain the battery.

2. NOT using the brake pedal you can press the button twice to get into ACC accessory mode where audio is available. Don't use this for more than a few minutes. Because the hybrid is not switched on it cannot come on to top up the battery so you will quickly drain the battery.

Having tried all this myself I no longer bother with ACC mode so it's always number 1. for me.

Thank you for clearing this up.

[Rivorian]

Yes, sorry!

Pedal NOT depressed so:

Enter the car, do not press the brake pedal and:

1st push - does nothing? just confirms You are in (could be due to keyless entry)

2nd push - Accessory mode

3rd push - Ignition mode

4th push - everything off (cycle)

 

Pedal pressed and pushing the button basically starts the car, press it again, switches it off.

 

Regarding accessory mode. I have not had troubles with it at all. It has been impossible for me to drain the Battery as it switches itself off in like 20-30minutes to stop You from doing that. I am monthly travelling between mainland and island with ferry and sometimes You need to wait for over an hour for the next ferry to arrive + 1,5 hour for the passing (3 hours in total), and I have had no issues with Battery. Neither did I have troubles with my diesel Volvo V60 (diesel demands a lot of juice from the Battery to start up) when making those passings. For me it has always been clear that having the Ignition mode on is the problem because sometimes people tend to forget that climate etc demands a lot of electrity and so they drain the battery. In all the cars I have owned (keyless or not) You do not want to use the "ignition mode". I use it only when using 12V to vaccum floors or need to open windows for the dog. Then I switch back to either OFF or Accessory mode.

[Timmon]

23 hours ago, Andy P said:

Thank Timmon, I’m not right foot heavy. But I’m getting use to getting it more in Ev mode 

For me, I found myself obsessing about fuel economy, and driving on trunk roads as though I had an egg under my accelerator foot. I am not a boy racer (!), but I like to pull away from the lights smartly if there is nothing in front etc. I found that my economy went up if I just drive like I always have, smoothly, accelerate normally, use the hybrid indicator as a curiosity rather than a strict monitor you must follow. If you were an aggressive driver, the hybrid indicator would help you calm down. So, when I try to be ultra careful, my economy drops! 

It think the cars are set up this way by the engineers, as they expect you to enjoy driving them, not frightened to press the accelerator.

You will work all this out, and as 2ltr owners, and they are still quite new to the Corolla Family, we are all having to learn together how to get the best from them.They do seem to be set up differently to the 1.8, including no B setting to increase charge to the Battery when coasting. Some owners try using the paddles to shift down when descending a hill etc to increase braking and power to the Battery.

Experiment and enjoy the drive.

[Luke717]

On 7/28/2020 at 7:38 PM, Andy P said:

Picked up the GR 2.0 today absolutely love it. Ash Grey bio. I’ll get some pics up soon.

Congrats! I picked up my new Excel one month ago. Every day is still a new car day 🤩

[Nicolai]

42 minutes ago, Luke717 said:

Congrats! I picked up my new Excel one month ago. Every day is still a new car day 🤩

Not to mention the lovely smell a new car has. I wish it was available in spray form lol! The smell of the undercoating, though, is not quite as pleasant.

[RabButler]

On 7/30/2020 at 3:27 PM, Nicolai said:

What's the point of the 1 push accessory mode, then?

It means you get to listen to the radio a bit longer before the car won't start.

[chicken_george]

7 hours ago, RabButler said:

It means you get to listen to the radio a bit longer before the car won't start.

Incorrect, it turns itself off...

[chicken_george]

On 7/31/2020 at 6:54 PM, Timmon said:

Some owners try using the paddles to shift down when descending a hill etc to increase braking and power to the battery.

I wondered about this, I've tried this but wasn't convinced it was worth putting extra strain on the engine to save a few pennies.

I'm getting 55mpg on average. I drive in normal and occasionally sport if i need to get away on a roundabout or to have a bit of fun on a clear country road. That's why I bought the 2.0

[AndrueC]

On 7/30/2020 at 6:31 PM, bigblock said:

Getting good mpg is all about the right foot and reading the road ahead. I bet you have been working the engine too much which is understandable with it being a new experience for you. The power from the 2.0 litre engine is sometimes irresistable and you just want to see what it can do I'll bet. I have the 2.0 Litre Design TS and have had my best mpg fill to fill at pump to date. How does 62.2 mpg grab you. I have done  2000 miles so far. Worse has been 48 mpg and that was when I first had the car new and it was winter time. Be patient and a light right foot should see the mpg rise.

I've always been an efficient driver and the main thing to strive for in any vehicle is avoiding using the brakes. Ideally the only time you should use the brakes is when you are bringing the vehicle to a stop and even then only after the vehicle has dropped below creep speed. This forces you to read the road ahead which also makes you a safer driver.

Specific to the Toyota HSD I have found that using the accelerator indicator helps a lot. In particular, stay out of the 'PWR' zone. It is also essential for keeping the car in EV mode in situations where you feel that is warranted. Of course this means you will rarely use all the power the car has but that's how you save fuel. I'll also point out that I've driven nearly twelve thousand miles in my 1.8 keeping out of the PWR zone and have always been able to keep up with traffic and aside from the occasional rampant Audi or BMW driver have never felt like I was holding anyone up. Most drivers don't use all the power they have available to them so you can make perfectly adequate progress using just the ICE to accelerate even in the 1.8.

One thing about the accelerator indicator though: Don't bother trying to follow the blue acceleration advice line. It seems inconsistent and often wants you to accelerate so slowly that you'll die of old age before reaching your target speed. When I accelerate I push the accelerator to get the active line up to just before the PWR zone. That seems ample in 99% of cases.

My 1.8 is currently hovering around 70mpg on the dash which equates to 65mpg at the pump. It's improved by about 10% now that I don't have a daily commute.

[Luke717]

On 7/31/2020 at 11:14 AM, Velvet--Glove said:

1. Hold down brake pedal and push button once to start the hybrid and drive off.
In this state you can leave it in P park/READY mode if you need to wait some time in car and listen to radio or to update the mapping (which takes an hour+). The engine will periodically fire up for a few minutes to top up the battery.

Exactly, that's how I use my car - get in, foot on brake + press Power firmly then take finger off the button after literally 1 or 2 seconds. When you see READY in big green letters, you're good to go. If I stay in the car before driving off (say, to sort out the DAB favourites which stump me all the time!), the engine will power on now and again to charge the Battery as required, as others have noted.

I haven't used ACC mode at all yet.

[Hugo Nebula]

On 7/30/2020 at 7:30 PM, Timmon said:

My T assumes you are the only other driver on the road!

😀 I have to drive around Manchester. Here, 'mirror, signal, manoeuvre' is a multiple choice.

[Roy124]

I am learning to use the B mode to control my speed on downhill sections.  The car will accelerate under EV mode requiring me to brake to control the descent.  By selecting B mode the car will use conventional engine braking.  They do say take it out of B mode as soon as you can as it will worsen the consumption on the flat.

[Roy124]

On 8/15/2020 at 11:58 AM, Hugo Nebula said:

😀 I have to drive around Manchester. Here, 'mirror, signal, manoeuvre' is a multiple choice.

Are you sure that is the right sequence?  Round here it seems, manoeuvre, mirror, signal.  The latter frequently an old fashioned hand signal.  😬

I love ACC though.  Mostly I use a short stretch of strategic highway where it is not worth vying with fast traffic in lane 2.  I settle in lane 1 and set 65 on the ACC (true 61) and eventually will settle behind an artic doing his maximum.  The car obediently settles for a safe distance behind.  Frequently lane 2 will have several cars in the same space as my lane 1 safe zone and often at lower speeds.  As the truck ahead slows so my speed is automatically adjusted.  If the truck uses the same turn off that I want it really works well.  If it is turning off and slowlng when I am going straight on it can cause me slow too much.

One time I was following a car on a twisty road.  The ACC was set at 50 and we were doing 35-40.  The car ahear turned right and my car immediately accelerated towards 50 mph and into the bend!  It does have limitations.

[AKLZ]

On 8/2/2020 at 10:01 AM, Nicolai said:

Not to mention the lovely smell a new car has. I wish it was available in spray form lol! The smell of the undercoating, though, is not quite as pleasant.

You can buy this!