Three full tanks: one in sport, one normal, one eco

[pmath1]

My two month, 1,300 mile "experiment" is now complete with some interesting results. I drove one full tank in eco mode: 428 miles, 9.26 gallons for 46.2 mpg; second tank entirely in sport: 444 miles, 9.753 gallons for 45.5 mpg; then third tank entirely in normal mode: 442 miles, 9.42 gallons for 46.9 mpg. Almost all the miles were my work commute, which is 50.4 miles r/t, about half highway and half back roads, little elevation change. I tried to drive the same way in all three modes. So I'm wondering: 1. Have other members had similar results? 2. Why choose eco mode if you can get similar or even better results in normal or sport? 3. Any theories as to why the results would be so similar? Thanks all!

[TCroly]

First off congratulations on your excellent fuel economy. Your results put you in the top 5% of all CRZ drivers for fuel economy.

Second, the consistency of your results is remarkable. Even given the same commute, differences in traffic conditions, weather and driving technique would usually show as much or more variation between fill ups that you had during your whole test.

So as for theories about why the modes are so similar in fuel economy, I would say that a remapping of the throttle is really not all that big a contributor to fuel ecomomy and the overall small effect of the IMA system means that even with some changes in how electric motor boost is applied, in the end it is a very small difference in actual fuel economy.

My personal feeling is that the different modes is great marketing. It has some owners coninced that the push of their sport button activates some kind of supercharged performance and others convinced that the economy button unlocks an extra 5 mpg, but your testing indicates that it is all bull. But nevertheless it probably adds to owner satisfaction, so it is a good marketing trick.

[DerekS]

Great post pmath1!

[Darth]

Well, if you drive like an old lady in every mode you will get great fuel economy. If you drive it like you stole it in every mode you will get bad fuel economy. I have about the same commute every day (48.3 miles) about half on freeway, half on a 2 lane road, and about 2 miles on base. As long as I use the little barscale computer, I get pretty good gas mileage regardless of which mode I am in. I am fairly certain that if it was summer, and you lived in say, Honolulu (I can't explain this unless you are from there) the ECON mode would save you a few MPG since it uses less power for everything, shuts off AC when you stop, etc...

So if you really wanted to (or somebody who deals with Honolulu or DC beltway traffic who is reading this) try to drive a tank in ECON and then one in normal or sport and see the difference.

[sohcsol]

I think people are misinterpreting the meaning of the three modes. I could go out and purposely get awful gas mileage in eco mode, then baby it in sport and get great mileage. Your individual mileage results are 97% based on your individual driving style, not which mode you are in.

The driving modes are more for the feel than anything else. I drive in normal mode because otherwise I do not like the throttle input characteristics in eco and sport. Sport is fun sometimes for a good tire squeal off the line, and eco helps compensate for my lead foot and gives me a few extra mpg's, but I am always in the 34-36 mpg range in the end.

But this is great info and a good experiment as well. I think anyone who tries this will find the same, that all modes yield about the same fuel economy for them. But from one person to another, they will vary greatly.

I say just pick pick whichever mode fits your driving style, or your current mood

[pmath1]

As far as my driving style goes, I'm not a granny driver at all, mostly I just try to look ahead and anticipate opportunities to back off on the throttle, coast and/or downshift (I have the 6mt), and put it in neutral so the engine shuts down below 15 mph. It's very satisfying in rush hour traffic to be coasting with the engine off! Thanks all for the feedback. Any more ideas would be welcomed.

[dripkit]

Great test. I think with a CVT, I end up with way worse fuel consumption in Sport than in Eco

[Yurinid Yat]

Originally Posted by pmath1

As far as my driving style goes, I'm not a granny driver at all, mostly I just try to look ahead and anticipate opportunities to back off on the throttle, coast and/or downshift (I have the 6mt), and put it in neutral so the engine shuts down below 15 mph. It's very satisfying in rush hour traffic to be coasting with the engine off! Thanks all for the feedback. Any more ideas would be welcomed.

I don't think you need to justify your driving style. That's NOT the point you were trying to get across in your original post. Who cares how you drive? Who cares how hard you try to drive to conserve fuel or how you drive to extract fun factor? The point is that you stated you drove more or less the same for all 3 tanks. Drive like a granny or drive like you're at the races - no matter as long as you did the same kind of driving each tank. The point isn't even so much as what the actual numerical MPG was. The point was how each tank related to the others.
It was a terrific experiment and should at least prove a point. That being, how each mode changed the MPG achieved compared to each other. TC hit the nail on the head. Marketing is a wonderful thing. Success is determined by how many fall for it.
In any experiment, it's noteworthy to mention if other parameters were different.
-Weather for each tank? Humidity, atmospheric pressure, average ambient air temp.
-Any differences in fuel? Different gas station? Same grade?
-Did you carry any extra or less load during any of those tanks?
-Consistent tire pressure?

[TCroly]

Originally Posted by dripkit

Great test. I think with a CVT, I end up with way worse fuel consumption in Sport than in Eco

I suspect this might be true since the CVT maintains higher rpms in sport vs Econ for a given speed and trottle position. It would be interesting if someone with a regular du ute could conduct this same test and report back.

[tsh]

The mode does have some impact in MT6, but not much that will effect economy. I find it a bit annoying that I can't select the parts I want more specifically, which would be:
Most aggressive auto-stop application.
Least power-steering assist.
High IMA assist under moderate load.
Moderate IMA re-charge priority.

The best mod would be to use the switches to direct the IMA behaviour...