So Used To Driving W/ ECON On

[Billy4202]

Eco sucks period. If I wanted to suppress my cars performance with a grandma button, I would have save some $$$ and bought a grandma car.

It castrates the hell out of the car, I agree. I only use it in traffic/heavy city driving where I'm barely moving anyway. 99% of the time, it's off...

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[Draken187]

It castrates the hell out of the car, I agree. I only use it in traffic/heavy city driving where I'm barely moving anyway. 99% of the time, it's off...

U shouldnt be using econ in those situations.. You are likely getting worse fuel economy

 

[tsupersonic]

I grannied it between work sites, averaging 45 MPH on a back road (speed limit was 35 MPH), and I got 39.7 MPG, and 35.7 MPG! This was calculated by the car, but regardless I'm keeping econ on for daily commutes. I'm averaging ~300-310 miles on a tank, but I do wish the tank was bigger for longer range. 95% of my commute is city driving, but I'd be curious what I can get on a pure highway trip.

 

[tsupersonic]

U shouldnt be using econ in those situations.. You are likely getting worse fuel economy

Not sure on the logic on this. See @Snoopyslr's post above

 

[Draken187]

How do you figure this? Less boost = less fuel. Less throttle = less fuel. If you're flooring it around the city, ya doesn't make a difference, but if you're driving it lightly as ECON intends you definitely will save fuel.

ECON does a few things to improve MPG, but I think the biggest is how it limits your throttle input.

I definitely do not like how the cruise control works without ECON active on the expressway. It's corrections are really harsh.

Real world experience

 

[Billy4202]

U shouldnt be using econ in those situations.. You are likely getting worse fuel economy

I would have thought so too. But I've done a number of runs with it on and off (25 MPH max) and it ended up being like 5 MPG higher, on multiple occasions. Anything faster, I wouldn't use it.

 

[Draken187]

I would have thought so too. But I've done a number of runs with it on and off (25 MPH max) and it ended up being like 5 MPG higher, on multiple occasions. Anything faster, I wouldn't use it.

Well shit.. My last 4 hondas were opposite.. Guess il test it out...

 

[Manual]

The basic physics of it would be that you want to accelerate somewhat briskly up to your desired cruising speed in the highest gear you can utilize (keeping rpm's down). So, contrary to what most people think, slow acceleration does not help with mpg.

However, ... I have not really played with the eco mode on the cvt, so I would want to see what was going on.... especially with the rpm's.

Also, there will be some psychology involved with the econ button,.. you have it on so you may very well be doing other things (conscious or sub-conscious) that help improve your mpg -- like accepting a lower cruising speed (in between lights, or whatever) than you would have accepted in non-eco mode.

 

[Snoopyslr]

The basic physics of it would be that you want to accelerate somewhat briskly up to your desired cruising speed in the highest gear you can utilize (keeping rpm's down). So, contrary to what most people think, slow acceleration does not help with mpg.

However, ... I have not really played with the eco mode on the cvt, so I would want to see what was going on.... especially with the rpm's.

Also, there will be some psychology involved with the econ button,.. you have it on so you may very well be doing other things (conscious or sub-conscious) that help improve your mpg -- like accepting a lower cruising speed (in between lights, or whatever) than you would have accepted in non-eco mode.

That somewhat holds true in a non-turbo car... but absolutely not true in a turbo car. Your injector pulse latency is super short when your lightly in the throttle, but when you start boosting it completely changes. Boost = tons of fuel. No boost = less fuel.

This car with the turbo size and boost levels it's a bit harder to see, but my WRX really shows this a bunch. My VF34 turbo pushes out about 450cfm at 18psi. I haven't been able to find info on our TD03 turbos, but I'd guess it's more like 230cfm. My WRX can get 31mpg highway if I completely stay out of boost..... or I can get 6mpg when I'm on the track.

Go on Fuelly, or any other hypermiler site, and they will all tell you to get to speed with as little acceleration as possible.

 

[Mocha90210]

Also, there will be some psychology involved with the econ button,.. you have it on so you may very well be doing other things (conscious or sub-conscious) that help improve your mpg -- like accepting a lower cruising speed (in between lights, or whatever) than you would have accepted in non-eco mode.

There might also be some psychology involved in a negative way. For example, standing on the accelerator because of the sluggish responsiveness when in Eco mode.

 

[Mocha90210]

That somewhat holds true in a non-turbo car... but absolutely not true in a turbo car. Your injector pulse latency is super short when your lightly in the throttle, but when you start boosting it completely changes. Boost = tons of fuel. No boost = less fuel.

This car with the turbo size and boost levels it's a bit harder to see, but my WRX really shows this a bunch. My VF34 turbo pushes out about 450cfm at 18psi. I haven't been able to find info on our TD03 turbos, but I'd guess it's more like 230cfm. My WRX can get 31mpg highway if I completely stay out of boost..... or I can get 6mpg when I'm on the track.

Go on Fuelly, or any other hypermiler site, and they will all tell you to get to speed with as little acceleration as possible.

I've experienced the same. If you display the instant fuel economy, and accelerate relatively slowly, you can see that the fuel consumption is not bad at all.

 

[Snoopyslr]

There might also be some psychology involved in a negative way. For example, standing on the accelerator because of the sluggish responsiveness when in Eco mode.

You couldn't be more right. Most of the people who complain that ECON mode does nothing... are not using it properly.

It's not a button that magically makes you get more MPG. It's a button that does it's best to augment your driving habits to better your MPG.

 

[Manual]

......Go on Fuelly, or any other hypermiler site, and they will all tell you to get to speed with as little acceleration as possible.

No, they won't. And you are way oversimplifying. Lowering your acceleration only helps improve mpg up to a point, and then it will hurt. And what technique works for one engine/transmission/weight/etc... combination will not necessarily work for another.

 

[Snoopyslr]

No, they won't. And you are way oversimplifying. Lowering your acceleration only helps improve mpg up to a point, and then it will hurt. And what technique works for one engine/transmission/weight/etc... combination will not necessarily work for another.

Obviously it's a simplified answer to answer your broad statement about acceleration. There are hundreds of variables to account for, but we're talking strictly about acceleration.

You have to look at it from the perspective of fuel injectors. How much fuel are they spitting out during a 0-60 acceleration? "Accelerate somewhat briskly up to your desired cruising speed in the highest gear you can utilize" is going to use more fuel during a shorter period. Accelerating gently to 60 while staying out of boost is going to use less fuel over a longer period of time. So which path wins, the tortoise or the hare? All data points towards slow and steady, backed up by the on board MPG calculator which is measuring fuel injector latency ÷ distance traveled.

 

[EMPhoto]

Tried using ECO for awhile, I couldn't get used to the no response feeling it gave when I needed power. ECO only comes on now when I'm on cruise on a long drive.

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