From my experiments with ECT snow mode, I say yes it does help fuel ecomomy.

In ECT Snow mode, our Electronically Controlled Transmission is tuned down so the wheels don't spin out easily in any weather, particularly snow. To achieve this, the vehicle's throttle response must be dampened. That is why the car "feels like crap" and you have to floor it to get the RPMs reving and even then the car won't downshift for optimal performance. All of these consequences of being in snow mode, IMO, contribute to fuel efficiency.

I find that the combination of snow and cruise is the most effective. I don't believe cruise can hurt your car. Yes the car will "do all it can" to keep it's speed, but really that 's not much at all. In this combo mode, using the cruise control to accel is super slow which sucks for gettin-up but great for fuel economy because the engine is hardly working.

I've tested from a full fill-up and for the entiretly of that tank be in snow mode. I'd say I drive 50/50 highway/city and granted I was 'gas-conscious" I've been able to get 23-24 MPGs. I rarely get more than 20 MPGs in normal mode driving normally in my 350.

Your driving dynamics certainly influences your MPGs. But I would suspect under equal driving conditions, snow mode will still save you gas over normal and especially power, since it kinda forces you to drive like a granny.

 

i get better gas mileage in pwr than in normal in my 250 awd

 

that ... almost sounds impossible...

 

Cruise control = worse fuel economy. If you watch someone behind the wheel with cruise on, check out the gas pedal. It is constantly moving and dipping down. With cruise off, the foot holds steady on the pedal. From the studies I've read, they all say smooth driving equates to higher economy.

 

So, leaving the ECT snow on does not harm the car even though there is no snow?

 

ECT Snow just limits the change in throttle so you dont spin your tires in snow, nothing to do with fuel economy

 

Nothing is impossible my friend. If I could have videotaped the ordeal I would have. Now I also didn't say that I maintained 70 MPH for an extended period of time...

 

Folks, I think it is **UNSAFE** to drive all the time in Snow mode. You won't be able to accelerate hard in emergency (like escaping from merging 18-wheeler who doesn't see you).

If you really care about smoother ride or minimal gas savings that Snow mode offers, you really bought wrong car.

 

I think you're wrong. Snow mode will respond if you slam the accelerator. Is it as responsive as PWR mode? No. But it will still respond.

Minimal gas savings? In my experience I'm noticing a 3-5 MPG per tank increase with my increased use in Snow mode (not using it all the time).

No big deal you say? Well If I get an extra 5 MPG per tank, then I'm getting approximately 60 miles more out of a tank of gas. For me that equates to three extra round trip commutes to and from work... causing me to fill up once every 12 days instead of once every 9 days. Calculate that over a year and I'm filling up roughly 30 times per year versus 40... and at $4.15 per gallon, that's a significant cost difference. In fact, it's roughly a $620 savings!!! (Even if I only increase my overall MPG by 3, I'm still saving approximately $565 per year).

 

Also.... Do the math and get real how much you are saving.

Say you drive 1000 miles/month like average driver.
Normal driving gives you 19mpg average, snow mode gives you 20mpg. ( I highly doubt that you'll even get 1mpg difference, but for the sake of argument, suppose you will.)

1000/20 = 50 gallons
1000/19 = 52.6 gallons

52.6 - 50 = 2.6 gallons which means you save whooping $11.70 per month. Wow.

 

5MPG ???? Get real. You will not get 5MPG difference. You will not even get 1MPG difference compared to good driver who simply drives economically in non-SNOW mode.

 

I am "real"! I've been using snow mode more often and my average MPG per tank went from 23 MPG to 26 MPG (I'm at 29 MPG with half a tank left on my current tank).

 

Well I guess your traffic patterns are totally different from mine. Snow mode won't do any good for me

On my way from home to work there is a long, steep ramp to freeway... If I try to climb that ramp in SNOW mode, by the time I reach the top and accelerate to 60mph, there will be 50 old Corollas honking behind me

 

Based on you're argument here it's obvious you've never even done any real world testing. You are simply going off of assumptions... Even if you were only going to see a 2 MPG increase then based on your math one would save $270 over the course of a year... I could take that $270 and buy a lot of things other than gas!

 

Haha Yeah the DFW area is fairly flat so no I dont have many hills to battle on my daily commute so that definitely could play a factor!