Yaris Hybrid In Cornwall

[Joseph D]

… The consomtion is very good but I hope I will improve it (I have only 1400 km. with it)

In town (with a lot of traffic) - 4,7 L / 100 Km.(62 Miles)

outside the town - 4,1 L / 100 Km. (62 Miles) ...

Hi Cora, welcome to TOC.

That's some pretty good economy figures.

… Can anyone tell me how to use the most economical mode B of gearbox.

Or when shoud I use it. (I realy don't understand how it works). ...

Basically, you do not need to use it except if you are going down a long downhill decline. It essentially reduces the regenerative braking and replaces it with engine braking so that less energy is captured in the Battery.

By a long downhill i mean at least 10 or 15 minutes continuous.

I hope that helps, but ask more questions if you have them.

[Cora]

Thanks for replies

I driving with one eye on the screen - trip information. And if I use the B mode between 0 and 40 km / h (because I think I go faster from the traffic lights) the consumption is ok.- After 40 I switch it in D mode.

EcoMode is on all time and in D mode it's lazy at traffic lights.

Anyway I still discover something new every day and it's nice.

[Grumpy Cabbie]

B mode is a hill decent mode - like an engine brake on a HGV. It is not going to do jot by engaging it around town or thinking it's adding extra regen charge when slowing at the lights.

Seriously, you will not get more energy into the Battery and if anything you'll get less. The whole idea of B mode is to stop the car overloading the HV Battery with charge on hills. That's what the manual says and that's what the various nerds and engineers on the Priuschat forum say, some of whom are much more anally retentive about stats and facts than is healthy! :)

It's your car though.

[orangezorki]

Oh dear, I feel a bit responsible for this, as I was the first to mention B mode, and got it completely wrong.

The rule is - unless you are going down so steep a hill as the energy monitor keeps right at the bottom of the dial for ages and ages, you don't need B.

Of course, I know that now...

David

[orangezorki]

Oh, and just to say - I really like the grey colour. I think it looks silly on the Trend with the blacked out C-pillar but without all the trendy tat, really sharp. Good choice!

David

[2StrokeSteve]

Just a little up date two weeks on, I’ve not had much chance to drive the car as I have been back work, but it has passed the SWMBO test, my wife is enjoying it and find driving it very easy. I asked her is she misses the Civic and she said there was nothing she missed about it, which is good!

One plus side we found with the CVT is my wife now feels less car sick when I drive due to there being no noticeable gear change.

I also noticed that there is no rattles, squeaks or noises coming from the cars trim which is something I’m not used to! Also how well the doors close, I know it’s sad but the doors sound a lot more substantial then the Civic’s which should like 2 drum skins.

We have put about 100 miles on it and have averaged about 50mpg (onboard computer) while doing it, which I didn’t think was bad from a fresh engine going up and down the landscape of Cornwall. So it is doing about the same fuel wise as my Civic.

But this wasn’t a cost saving exercise, I bought the hybrid because I fancied it not to save money or the environment.

Anyway going to keep on as we are and see how the engine runs in and go from there.

Thanks for all the help and comments.

Cheers, Steve

[2StrokeSteve]

Well we are up above 700 miles now and are getting about 55mpg per tank, find it hard work to keep the mpg up this level takes quite a bit of careful driving. Best I have had out of it is 58mpg on a run to Plymouth.

But it has been brilliant so far, I don’t regret going for the Hybrid, it is very easy to drive and very quite.

Thanks for the advice.

Cheers, Steve

[orangezorki]

Glad you're enjoying the car. 55mpg isn't too shabby with your hills and only 700 miles on the clock. Remember that with the hybrid system, your engine may have only been running for half of them! After a couple of thousand miles and learning the foibles of the car, I'm sure that 60+ will be easy, and while that's not the published figures mpg is not linear - the difference between 60 and 70 is tiny compared with 30 to 40mpg.

Even here in London, where a clear road is not running into something if you apply the accelerator for more than 3 seconds, I'm getting 55mpg now that I have learned some of the tricks.

David

[johalareewi]

New hybrids take a few miles to settle down as you adapt to each other. If you track your miles and fuel using something like fuelly, you will see a gradual improvement in mpgs (and the seasonal variations).

Like this

http://www.fuelly.com/driver/johalareewi/prius/fuelchart

[joancy]

I have a yaris Hybrid T4 2013 with about 4.000 miles on the clock the best I have achieved is 55mpg similar driving to yourself, only in Ayrshire, to be honest Arnold Clark in Ayr told me to keep it on eco and to expect, with my type of journeys 50mpg, not every salesmen is as honest as that, he was bang on, although I would like to achieve more, but do not know how, it is not the fastest, but I like driving it, depends if that is enough for you. Joan

[2StrokeSteve]

Hi Joan, I’m up 58.5 on this current tank, best journey I have had it 80 odd mpg, that was down hill all the way, on the return it dropper down to 60mpg, but I don’t look at it per journey just what I am doing per tank.

I don’t know if I’m doing right using ECO mode, I use it in town but turn it off on dual carriage ways. I find ECO mode easier for finding that sweet spot once you are up to speed and small A and B roads, just too keep the wheels turning over with minimal loss in speed.

Cheers, Steve

[2StrokeSteve]

Well 1000 miles down and just filled up, onboard computer reading 60mpg dead on, actual figures after computed by fuelly 56.6mpg, didn’t think the computer would be that off!

Cheers, Steve

[FROSTYBALLS]

6% optimistic

[cuius]

Given the number of variables involved and the inherent inaccuracies in the measure of the same, any computation is going to be +/-. Probably best to treat it as a comparison of your driving style from time-to-time, rather than an absolute measure.

Incidentally, it may be worse than you think:

http://www.theaa.com/newsroom/news-2012/petrol-pump-accuracy.html

[Grumpy Cabbie]

The computer is a good indication but as others have said there are many variations. To get a more accurate figure you're better sticking to the same garage (preferably level ground) and the same pump (so it cuts off about the same time). If you fill up on a slight slope you might get more fuel in, then when you fill up on the level you don't get as much in and thus it gives the impression the car has used more fuel than indicated - or vice versa etc. Then you can add temperature differences into the equation.

This is where fuelly comes into its own. Averages over a fair number of tanks gives a more accurate result of your mpg's. The graphs will also give you a visual indication of how the averages increase and decrease over the year.

:)

[korat102]

Why would a prius need hill start assist? I'd have thought that would only really be useful on a car with a manual gearbox.

[Cyker]

In most autos there is a bit of a delay for the engine to start driving the wheels when you switch from brake to accelerator which can lead to you rolling back a bit.

Because manuals have handbrakes and clutches, you can easily pre-load the axles with the clutch and move off with zero roll back, but in an auto you are normally holding it on the brake pedal and have to jump from the brake pedal to the accelerator and that delay will let the car roll back.

The Hill start assist gives you a second or so of braking so you can get on the accelerator. The better ones are the push-button 'handbrakes' which automatically disengage when you move off.

TBH I'm not sure why auto-drivers don't just press both pedals and then let go of the brakes to move off, but I'm told this is still a big no-no even in an auto.
I don't really get why tho', given how many auto drivers stop at the lights in drive with the brake pedal pressed down!

[Parts-King]

Why would a prius need hill start assist? I'd have thought that would only really be useful on a car with a manual gearbox.

Why does any car need it? I have to say I have had many cars with it and never used it at all, but recently, I have used it and find it works really well for me

I find a lot of things on cars are not needed, but once you have them, they are useful, like folding mirrors and climate control

Kingo

[johalareewi]

Why would a prius need hill start assist?

as Parts King said. The Prius doesn't 'need' it but it is handy.

1. Makes steep hill starts a doddle.

2. Makes steep hill starts going up in reverse a real doddle.

3. If you stop at the traffic lights with your foot on the main brake and are worried about your foot coming off the pedal if you are rear ended, activate hill start assist. If your foot does come off the pedal, HSA should keep the brakes engaged for a couple of seconds until you can get your foot back on the pedal. ;)

[korat102]

Hmm, fair enough. Can't say I ever noticed my Prius roll back, auto's are specifically designed to hold on a hill (unless it's really steep). Mine always did anyway...maybe they're not all the same...

My manual Verso has hill start assist. I tried it out and didn't like it at all. I like a nice smooth take off and that thing holds too long, resulting in a jerky moving off. What happened to drivers being able to use the parking brake to hold the car on a hill anyway? Maybe I'm just getting old

--

Ah, scratch that. I just remembered how many cars have those electronic or !Removed! awful foot operated parking brakes these days! They seem to create new problems then come up with fancy computerised ways to overcome them...

Edited June 18, 2014 by korat102

[Grumpy Cabbie]

Do you really need Hill Start Assist?

Nope, unless it's a very steep hill. It's also a very useful tool for a smooth get away.

It's like lots of things on cars these days. It's a bit of a gimmick with limited use, but quite useful in that limited capacity. Think volume controls on the steering wheel, follow you home headlights etc. All stuff that 40 years ago people happily did without but they're still quite handy to have now they're here.

I think the HSA is a great tool, though would never pay extra for it.

[Parts-King]

Maybe I'm just getting old

Haha........join the old f**ts club along with me

[PeteB]

... auto's are specifically designed to hold on a hill (unless it's really steep)...

I thought the creep that conventional automatics displayed (and which counters rollback when facing uphill) was an unavoidable quirk of the torque converter having to be able to cope with the engine running whilst in gear. The Hybrid system doesn't need to have creep, but it is widely believed Toyota introduced the electric artificial creep to make it feel more like a conventional auto...

BTW - the BMW i3 doesn't creep

Here in Norfolk, Hill Start Assist is pretty superfluous, and as had been said, on gentle inclines the artificial creep prevents rollback anyway. However, on a steep hill, it just makes life a little easier by making use of the parking brake unnecessary and works very smoothly on my car. As other have hinted, it wouldn't be a show stopper for me if a car didn't have this, but I appreciate it when it's there.

[korat102]

You're probably right. I just assumed that the creep (and hill hold) was engineered in. With all the technology in cars these days it seems difficult to imagine that they'd have 'unwanted' effects like that.

Maybe hill start works better on automatics, on my manual it doesn't seem to let go until it detects movement which inevitably results in a shunt... and I don't like that :)

Edited to remove a line of asterisks put in place by a silly bad word filter...really!

Edited June 18, 2014 by korat102

[Cyker]

Well once you've learned to do hill-starts in a crappy gutless BSM Corsa that would stall if you sneezed too hard, you don't need no steeenkin' HSA (Plus another lovely thing about my Yaris is it can hold the whole car on most hills with nothing but the idle and careful clutch control )