Power management Yaris Hybrid 2016

[JCT-DK]

Hi

When I enter a motorway from low speed and try to reach let’s say 100-110 km/h the eco meter climbs faster when accelerating than the increase in actual speed of the car. My wife gets sometimes concerned when I am entering the motorway with too slow speed.

Flooring it doesn’t really make it much faster so I avoid doing that.

So I tend to hold the accelerator a little below or at the transition between eco and power and wait for the car to build up its power. From around 80 km/h it’s actually quit fast. But the way of doing it takes some time and not always an option in heavy traffic.

But in between like 40 km/h and 80 km/h it’s like holding its speed back as there were little power available.

Anyone having the same experience?

Thanks!

 

 

 

 

 

[Bernard Foy]

I'm afraid your good wife is correct, you are entering a motorway at too slow a speed from the slip lane. You should be entering around 85-90kmh and rising. Your car will respond quickly from then onwards 👍 

[JCT-DK]

Yes you are correct in this but the problem is to gain that speed in the slip lane going from around 40 km/h when the ICE goes on.

[Mojo1010]

I also had a 2016, for 5 years, that was one of the big issue. Its how the car operate, you will need to speed up a lot more beforehand, heavy right foot on the gas, rev will flare and engine noisy. 

It was a big gripe when travelling medium+ distances, lack of accelerating power for higher speed, and noisy. Had to put up with it until recently upgrading to the MK4. That is a big improvement on many things. It's got more power, speeds up faster and less rev noise when flooring the gas. 

[MikeSh]

2 hours ago, JCT-DK said:

So I tend to hold the accelerator a little below or at the transition between eco and power and wait for the car to build up its power.

That's a miserably low power level. It's the same as the max EV power which is good for about 60kph on the level.

I don't generally target any particular gauge setting unless I'm trying to avoid starting the ice unnecessarily, but under firm acceleration it's usually in the 12 to 1 o'clock area.

Please, first and foremost drive the car as needed for the conditions. Joining fast roads is not the time to obsess over a random gauge - push the pedal as much as is needed for the circumstances and the car will be fine. (Any possible loss of economy will be more than covered by not having an accident due to the wrong speed and distraction.)

[Mojo1010]

Mike actually put it very well, cannot be fuss on fuel economy and rev gauge in those situations. Not only difficult to join on fast speed roads, also holding others behind. Drive to the condition. 

[TonyHSD]

Hi, 

you can trick the car and use better it’s power from both engine and electric motor.

Flooring it does make huge difference and you should do that when joining motorways and A roads.

There is a trick though and yes you need to use your power meter to watch where the power comes from. If only comes from petrol engine the car will be sluggish and slow and noisy. 

How to trick the car and use best out of its potential. 
When joining motorways to gain speed quickly and with less effort less engines noise you need to push accelerator harder, sometimes even sharper to the floor and the engine will respond differently and the electric motor will add extra torque, also the mg1 generator will help too. The whole experience will be similar to standard automatic that uses torque converter lock function and the car will respond quickly and accelerate faster with less engine noise. 
Sometimes when your Battery is empty this may not work, another time is when your ac is on and another time is when your engine is cold, then in these circumstances best way to do it is to push accelerator further but not smashing to the floor and the car will still accelerate faster than usual with more help from the Battery although it may not be as fast as when fully pushed but will be better than ultra slow acceleration.
Important: - you need to watch where the power comes from and pressing further the pedal or releasing a bit will engage the electric side of the hybrid system and this is what you are after to gain quick acceleration. 
These cars are dependent  on Battery power even only for engine to pull the car. Battery power is important. When AC is working the car lose power becomes the ecu reduces the power drawn from the battery. Turn off your ac in winter of cold and dry outside and you will notice how much nicer your car drives.  

[flash22]

Don't listen to the engine or power gauge, it purely down to driving style and the way the hybrid works, holding the throttle in one place will not help, neither will flooring it as it doesn't have a kick down, but modulate the throttle as needed

[TonyHSD]

Here on the picture are the important bits. 
Power meter within  power zone , somewhere in the middle and energy source from both engine and electric motor should be able  to see the power flow from both and the car will be faster and quieter. With accelerator control  more or less you can trick the ecu and get better performance. , I mean effortless. The car won’t because gr4 Yaris or supra, that’s for sure. 
And about the petrol e5 97 actually helps too in these circumstances., especially when we need power but not fully smashed the gas pedal. Midd range torque, much better. 

[MikeSh]

10 hours ago, JCT-DK said:

So I tend to hold the accelerator a little below or at the transition between eco and power

 

7 hours ago, MikeSh said:

That's a miserably low power level. It's the same as the max EV power which is good for about 60kph on the level.

Sorry, I misunderstood/misinterpreted the original description. I realised when I was out in mine just now. But that still isn't much power, it's about what I was using for gentle too moderate acceleration at 40-50 mph (65-80 kph). And approaching 50/80 it was not rapid. I'd certainly expect to use a lot more joining a fast road.

10 hours ago, JCT-DK said:

My wife gets sometimes concerned when I am entering the motorway with too slow speed.

It's better to be too fast as you approach the merge. If you are too slow it may be a struggle to pick up more in time and you'll end up forcing others to avoid you, which is rude if not dangerous. If you are a bit fast then just a tap on the brakes will drop your speed almost instantly.

[Cyker]

10 hours ago, Mojo1010 said:

It was a big gripe when travelling medium+ distances, lack of accelerating power for higher speed, and noisy. Had to put up with it until recently upgrading to the MK4. That is a big improvement on many things. It's got more power, speeds up faster and less rev noise when flooring the gas. 

It's great isn't it??  

I love how easy it is to merge in the Mk4 - Even easier than it was in my Mk1 D4D!

It's like the car will just jump to whatever speed you want it to in a matter of seconds instead of having to build up a head of speed and judge your merge point.

This car is so great!  

 

31 minutes ago, MikeSh said:

It's better to be too fast as you approach the merge.

This!

This is a big issue over here for new drivers, as they don't get any motorway training. I see so many people afraid to accelerate and end up going too slow and getting into trouble.

If there's one thing my gutless Fiesta taught me, it's that it's better to go as fast as you can on the onramp, esp. in a low-powered car, as it's much easier to bleed off speed in a pinch with the brakes than it is to build it up.

Edit: Aha I found this old cartoon that is still surprisingly relevent