Yaris hybrid lack of power during acceleration

[kapil5]

Hi All, just joined the forum  wondering if someone can advice.I have 2013 toyota yaris hybrid,presume it's a 1.3 Lt engine. I can always feel lack of power during acceleration and takes a long time to get to a decent speed of 50MpH.Its more noticeable if the road has slight  uphill inclination.It runs fine on Ev mode at 30mph.There isn't any sign on dashboard, serviced at proper intervals including filter change. Current Odometer at 93K.

[Mojo1010]

It's normal for the MK3 hybrid, it's actually 1.5L engine. I had it for 5 years, it's fine for urban environment going upto 30-40mph. Yes it lack power for me also, corners badly on small tyres and noisy on rapid acceleration. 

Tbh I couldn't wait to change it to the MK4 as i do quite a few medium distances and some long one, it's so much more superior. Save up for the MK4 i would say! The MK4 is about 15% more efficient on fuel and can be on EV mode at 65mph!

Sold my 2016 mk3 three months ago for £400 less than bought it for. 

[kapil5]

Hi Mojo thanks for your reply.I couldn't understand MK3 or 4.I am happy to change it to better model in UK.Any suggestions. 

[Mojo1010]

Your car is the 3rd generation of yaris, so mark3. The 4th or mark4 is the current and best generation, start from late 2020. 

[kapil5]

Thanks you are a star. 🫡

[flash22]

Nothing wrong with the mk3, is this your first hybrid ? or first auto ?

It's not like any other auto to drive, it doesn't have a kick down if you give it more than 50% throttle from a standing start it just bogs down, be very light on the throttle, uphill -  add it throttle, don't listen to the rpm once up to speed back off the throttle and just maintain the speed modulating the throttle as required

 

I take it you put it in D and not B

 

Has the car had a set of plugs yet, if not it's due some

 

ps. the hybrids love a drop of premium fuel, they can be sluggish on cheap e10 fuels

[kapil5]

Hi Flash ,yes it's my Ist auto & hybrid.Always drivenin D.Which sets of plug you are mentioning, happy to change and would use premium fuel.

[MikeSh]

CVTs, Toyota hybrids (eCVT) and to an extent some torque converter automatics can seem sluggish because the engine note doesn't change directly with car speed as it does with a manual transmission, and also lack the ***** between shifts. You need to tell your body to pretend it's an aeroplane, because that's closer to the effect.

That said, these cars don't have any particularly high performance in their category.

[Cyker]

It's normal; The Mk3 has an earlier generation hybrid system and was from the Toyota period where they were designing them purely for efficiency. Its engine only runs in something called Atkinson (Or Miller)-cycle mode, which is very efficient but has very low torque/grunt, so it has to rev up a lot more when high load is asked of it.

The newer ones have more thought given to driving dynamics which makes them feel nicer to drive. The biggest difference in the Mk4 is the engine can switch between Atkinson/Miller and Otto-cycle (Which is what normal petrol engines run on) - Otto-cycle is less efficient but gives a lot more torque which makes it feel a lot nicer at higher speeds.

 

[kapil5]

Thanks Cyker good to know ,I won't really worry about it and keep myself satisfied .

[flash22]

Auto's you drive with the right foot, the left does nothing

the hybrid is a very different driving style, one of the biggest thing to overcome is the coasting and letting the car slow under its own weight, carry your momentum, under 40-45mph you only really need to use the top 1/4 of the throttle

once you learn how the car behaves, and you look further ahead while driving, it will become second nature

[Cyker]

29 minutes ago, kapil5 said:

Thanks Cyker good to know ,I won't really worry about it and keep myself satisfied .

That's the best thing to do; As flash22 says it's a good car - Very relaxing to drive, and very good around town.

 

[TonyHSD]

Good advice given 👍 

Toyota hybrids performance can be affected by use of AC and with age and mileage when the hybrid Battery health goes down.
At 10 years old your car can be slightly less agile in low to mid range acceleration. To deal with simply push it more for a brisk moment to get you quickly to your desired speed and then take it easy and just maintain speed. 
Another thing to check and clean if needed is the hybrid Battery cooling fan grill and filter if there is a filter. This should be somewhere near rear seat. 
If this is blocked or dirty can reduce hybrid Battery cooling and performance. 
Low pressure in your tyres and sticky brakes can also make the car more sluggish than actually is. Check on these too. And finally you can try premium petrol with less amount of ethanol, definitely make a difference.