bostonsnow

Has anyone already done the exercise to see if driving in Eco really has appreciable / significantly better fuel economy vs normal or sport ?
if not, I may do the experiment driving a couple weeks of each and see how they compare .

jollick

I just finished a month or so long trial. I normally get a calculated 36 mpg average over the more than 3 years I have owned my 2013 ES300h, a bit more in the summer and a bit less when it is cold in the winter. For the last month I drove in normal and I dropped to 34 mpg. It might be that in normal mode I unconsciously drive a bit more aggressively. This last tankful of gas I went back to ECO and I am back at the car reading 37.4 mpg which should calculate to about 36 mpg actual. It is funny that the ES300h always states more than my calculated mpg but my 2015 ES350 is pretty accurate and at times I calculate a bit more than what the car stated.

bostonsnow

Thanks- I was thinking it may be a small difference. If 2 mpg I may just drive predominantly in normal mode. Shift to Eco just for stop and go traffic.

TechNut

We pretty much always run in eco mode. We really haven't driven in normal mode so I don't honestly have an answer to your question. It isn't really that much of a compromise IMHO. And our car usually reads between 1.5 and 2 mpg higher than calculated. Today when we refueled the car read 40.7 and this tank calculated to 42.6. That is the best tank we have had in 18 months of ownership and only the second time that I can recall actual mileage calculated higher than the dash readout.

Sorry, don't mean to hijack this thread but I was just amazed at the mileage we got out of this tank and wanted to share since this discussion is along a similar thread.

If you are dissatisfied with the behaviors in eco mode I would go to normal and not give it a second thought. Ultimately, you aren't saving enough with eco mode mileage that you should make any compromises you don't like. It just doesn't seem like eco mode is that much of a compromise to me. All the power I want is available if I just press it a bit. But I came from a Prius so I may have different expectations with respect to how much power I think I need.

azipod

I don't think it makes that much difference between the 3 modes. I typically just drive in Normal and use Sport when I'm on a open road or going on a road trip. I never use ECO because the car is very slow. By using ECO, I end up using any extra gas that I saved because I end up pressing on the gas harder for the power -- so for me, it kind of defeats the purpose. Overall, I think the difference between all the modes isn't that great. I would use which ever mode suits your mood at the moment and not for the purpose of saving gas.