“B Mode on the transmission lever”

[Extreme_One]

What's everyone's thoughts about this advice being given by ToyotaUK?

I've seen lots of contradictory information about the B Mode but this was a new one on me.

I'm interested to hear other options about the best use scenarios when B Mode is useful ...

[Cyker]

You will basically never need to use it. Maybe if you're going down a very steep very long hill or you want someone to crash into the back of you, but outside of those it's not super useful.

It's like shifting a normal car into 2nd gear and letting go of the accelerator.

[Extreme_One]

@Cyker have you ever heard of B Mode being advised for use in heavy traffic?

 

Incidentally, my previous 2.0 TS didn't have B Mode, so I used to move the transmission all the way down to D, I've found myself moving all the way down into B in the new car and pulling away in B. Oops!🤦‍♂️

I'm trying to retrain my muscle-memory. 😏

 

[Bper]

Hi Simon,

This article covers the pros and cons of B mode its worth a read😀

https://engineerine.com/toyota-corolla-b-gear/

[Mojo1010]

Going down a steep hill, where I have used it most is downhill bendy on mountain roads, or steep downhill bend - same sort of thing.

[Extreme_One]

13 minutes ago, Bper said:

Hi Simon,

This article covers the pros and cons of B mode its worth a read😀

https://engineerine.com/toyota-corolla-b-gear/

Thanks, however that article doesn't appear to relate to UK models with CVTs and contains some confusing contradictions.

For example it tells you to use B when you're traveling uphill:

On Uphill Roads

In addition to being employed as a braking mechanism, B gear may also be utilized to assist in the ascent of steeper roadways. This is because the engine will have more torque to propel the vehicle up the slope while it is in this position.

Then it says:

It does Not Help in Upward Driving

Toyota Corolla B gear will cause issues while driving up hilly roads or flyovers. Slowing down a car while moving uphill may cause it to backtrack and crash.

🤷‍♂️

[RabButler]

9 minutes ago, Bper said:

Hi Simon,

This article covers the pros and cons of B mode its worth a read😀

https://engineerine.com/toyota-corolla-b-gear/

Since this article is clearly not referring to the current series of UK Corollas, I think it is likely to cause even more uncertainty about the 'B' position.

[Cyker]

20 minutes ago, Extreme_One said:

@Cyker have you ever heard of B Mode being advised for use in heavy traffic?

I must admit I haven't and agree it's a weird recommendation; I suspect it would really hammer fuel economy! I try and roll/coast for as long as possible in any traffic and B-mode would reduce that significantly.

 

20 minutes ago, Extreme_One said:

Incidentally, my previous 2.0 TS didn't have B Mode, so I used to move the transmission all the way down to D, I've found myself moving all the way down into B in the new car and pulling away in B. Oops!🤦‍♂️

I'm trying to retrain my muscle-memory. 😏

 

I sometimes do that too when I'm in a rush; It's one of the things I dislike about the shifter in the newer hybrids; Having used the one in the Prius and Auris, I think the little 'puck' they have is far better, as you don't need to look at it and can just 'shift' by feel. Even my dad's CVT-equipped Verso has steps in the shifter path so you need to move it sideways to get to certain 'gears' and can't just pull it straight back to go through all the drive modes by accident like you can with ours.

Even putting B before D, instead of after, would have made it easier to use by feel, since you wouldn't have to look down to avoid overshooting!

 

[Extreme_One]

3 minutes ago, Cyker said:

I sometimes do that too when I'm in a rush;

Glad I'm not the only one. 😆

Every time I do it I hope I'm not doing some catastrophic damage to the engine or transmission.

I'm sure I'm not .... ! 😏

[Cyker]

Aside from adding wear to the detent between D and B, it won't make any difference so no worries!

Ironically, if you don't do it, it becomes harder to accidentally do it, as that detent will never wear down compared to the others and require more force to pull the lever into B compared to the others!

Slight tip: If you let go of the trigger after pulling it out of P as you're pulling it back, it will block B and stop at D.

You can shift between D and N without pulling the trigger, but going to R or B requires the trigger to be held. Going from B to D also doesn't require the trigger to be pulled, so it's 'one-way' in a sense.

[Extreme_One]

6 minutes ago, Cyker said:

Slight tip: If you let go of the trigger after pulling it out of P as you're pulling it back, it will block B and stop at D.

That sounds like the kind of thing I could build into my routine. 

Thank you. Great advice! 👍

[Primus1]

B mode sounds like a new boy band😆

[Bper]

38 minutes ago, Extreme_One said:

Thanks, however that article doesn't appear to relate to UK models with CVTs and contains some confusing contradictions.

For example it tells you to use B when you're traveling uphill:

On Uphill Roads

In addition to being employed as a braking mechanism, B gear may also be utilized to assist in the ascent of steeper roadways. This is because the engine will have more torque to propel the vehicle up the slope while it is in this position.

Then it says:

It does Not Help in Upward Driving

Toyota Corolla B gear will cause issues while driving up hilly roads or flyovers. Slowing down a car while moving uphill may cause it to backtrack and crash.

🤷‍♂️

Hi Simon,

Strange a few articles out there on B mode being used for uphill roads. Confused myself.

Whereas, the “B” stands for Brake or engine braking. When you are doing downhill, it is advised to shift the car in B mode. B engages the engine braking, and your car won’t free-fall down the slopes. This increases the engine drag. Secondly, it also prevents your car brakes from overworking since it takes a major load off of them by helping the car to reduce the speed with gear ratios. Also, B is useful when climbing uphill roads. It makes sure the car doesn’t start to crawl back when going upwards. Whenever you feel it’s going to be either continuous incline or decline, shift your car to B position. Some times it says L instead of B. B is mostly written in Toyota cars.

[Roker]

42 minutes ago, Cyker said:

I must admit I haven't and agree it's a weird recommendation; I suspect it would really hammer fuel economy! I try and roll/coast for as long as possible in any traffic and B-mode would reduce that significantly.

 

I sometimes do that too when I'm in a rush; It's one of the things I dislike about the shifter in the newer hybrids; Having used the one in the Prius and Auris, I think the little 'puck' they have is far better, as you don't need to look at it and can just 'shift' by feel. Even my dad's CVT-equipped Verso has steps in the shifter path so you need to move it sideways to get to certain 'gears' and can't just pull it straight back to go through all the drive modes by accident like you can with ours.

Even putting B before D, instead of after, would have made it easier to use by feel, since you wouldn't have to look down to avoid overshooting!

 

Who ever invented the automatic gearbox got it wrong in that you push the lever forward to go back and pull the lever back to drive forward 

[Cyker]

21 minutes ago, Roker said:

Who ever invented the automatic gearbox got it wrong in that you push the lever forward to go back and pull the lever back to drive forward 

I'm not so certain - I've tried it both ways when configuring games controllers and I find it more natural to pull back to engage a forward gear, and while not everyone will feel the same way, it does seem most people find that more natural which may be why it's set up that way.

With tip-tronics, I've tried both ways round, e.g. where up a gear was push the stick forward, and pull back was down a gear, and others the opposite, and it always felt more natural to pull back to go up gears rather than push.

Even with paddle shifts AFAIK they are all pull back to go up a gear and push forward to go down (Except where right is go up and left is go down).

 

[TonyHSD]

7 minutes ago, bob8998 said:

Hello people ;i have problem with clup clup noise when I climb a height pavement and potholes; i change all shock absorbers; stabilizers ;slat ;everything changed on the front(all steering system ) and I have that sound again what is the problem can someone help me please my mechanic says everything is fine tnx

Spray some silicone grease on front suspension arms rear bushes and all will go quiet again. 

[TonyHSD]

B mode is engine braking as is also extra regeneration. When at lower speeds and in B mode the car may remain in ev mode with extra reg braking and from the electric motor only: 

[bob8998]

9 minutes ago, TonyHSD said:

Spray some silicone grease on front suspension arms rear bushes and all will go quiet again. 

I will do this and check tnx 

[Cyker]

15 minutes ago, TonyHSD said:

B mode is engine braking as is also extra regeneration. When at lower speeds and in B mode the car may remain in ev mode with extra reg braking and from the electric motor only: 

This is a bit of an interesting change - It does in your generation HSD, and possibly the Corolla 1.8, but for sure in my one, and I suspect the other newer gen HSDs, it actually has LESS regen than if I just used the brake pedal; It literally spins the engine up to 3-4k RPM as soon as you put it into B and the power meter never goes above 1 level of regen out of the 3 possible; I don't know why they didn't just max out the regen like they did on the earlier ones, but that's what they went with!  

[Extreme_One]

The sales rep told me that putting the car in B Mode applied magnets over the wheel that slowed the car down, like engine-braking when changing to a low gear in a manual car, and regen'd the Battery.

Thing is, by that time he'd also told me the car had wireless Android Auto so I wasn't really paying too much attention to what he said.

[Cyker]

It constantly amazes me the sort of made up BS sales people will give to their customers; I honestly think half of them don't actually know how cars work.

To re-iterate what everyone else says: B-mode in the hybrids is basically 'engine braking' mode - It's the equivalent of downshifting to a lower gear in a normal car to slow the car down more without using the brakes, and is only meant to be used in situations where you'd normally do that (e.g. going down that scary downhill road near Bath/Bristol with all the escape-lane sand traps!).

In the earlier hybrids like the Auris and Prius, it maxes regen and sends the rest to spin the engine. In the newer ones, it does some light regen but mostly all the energy goes into spinning the engine alone.

There are no magnets. (Well, aside from the ones in the electric motors. Pfft, magnets over the wheels indeed! )

[TonyHSD]

11 hours ago, Cyker said:

This is a bit of an interesting change - It does in your generation HSD, and possibly the Corolla 1.8, but for sure in my one, and I suspect the other newer gen HSDs, it actually has LESS regen than if I just used the brake pedal; It literally spins the engine up to 3-4k RPM as soon as you put it into B and the power meter never goes above 1 level of regen out of the 3 possible; I don't know why they didn't just max out the regen like they did on the earlier ones, but that's what they went with!  

But we should not compare B mode to braking by using the brakes. 
B mode only compared to free rolling when you lift off the accelerator in D and in B.
In B mode the regenerative braking  is greater and at lower speeds is done via the mg2 only, no engine starts at all. 👍

[Cyker]

That's what I'm saying is different - In my one, if I'm going above approx. 5mph, B-mode will immediately spin the engine up to 3k+ to slow the car down and doesn't use MG2 any more than if you lift off in D mode; There is NO increased regen braking in B-mode on the newer ones!

I've been at 10mph and switched to B-mode and the engine immediately shot to 3000+rpm for a second before the car dropped to the 5mph threshold and it spun down again. This is different to how the 3rd gen HSD does it, as we've compared my friend's Auris and my Mk4 Yaris - they behave noticeably differently in B-mode, esp. at lower speeds.

 

[Stopeter44]

Gen IV Yaris in B mode, as far as I can tell, doesn't give anymore Battery charge. On the charging animation on the media centre I see the green arrow from wheels to the Battery, but the car will go straight out of EV mode when in the B position.

So, is the Battery charging at this point, or not ? The B mode feels the same as when the battery can't take any more regen electricity.

[Don Mac]

2 hours ago, Cyker said:

That's what I'm saying is different - In my one, if I'm going above approx. 5mph, B-mode will immediately spin the engine up to 3k+ to slow the car down and doesn't use MG2 any more than if you lift off in D mode; There is NO increased regen braking in B-mode on the newer ones!

I've been at 10mph and switched to B-mode and the engine immediately shot to 3000+rpm for a second before the car dropped to the 5mph threshold and it spun down again. This is different to how the 3rd gen HSD does it, as we've compared my friend's Auris and my Mk4 Yaris - they behave noticeably differently in B-mode, esp. at lower speeds.

 

I haven't done any testing on the exact amount of regen braking involved, but the 5th gen appears to be the same as the 4th. When I have tried B-mode the engine spins up immediately, even though the Battery is 50% or less charged, and I know for a fact that it can brake a lot harder without engaging the mechanical systems (that I have tested).

As a result I wouldn't bother with B-mode unless I was on a really long, steep downhill with a fully charged Battery. For everything else (including slopes where I engaged a lower gear on my previous car) I just apply a little brake pedal as required, which does increase the regeneration.