Better mpg in eco or normal mode?

[bagpus]

Do you generally get better economy when you are in travelling in eco mode or in normal mode? I appear to be getting better mpg (2-3 mpg+) when travelling in eco mode, I also prefer the fact that everything is dampened down, which further makes the ride sublime IMO.

My daily journey which this is based on is around 12 miles. Eco in summer 48, winter 42.

Any thoughts?

 

[NemesisUK]

Is that country, urban or town driving?

My usual trip is 9 miles of a mixture of all three, fast country (50-60mph) and slow town/urban (<30mph) and I am getting 46mpg ave using Normal and then Sport on the country section.

[PaulWhitt20]

I find normal mode is better so stick to that. 50+ mpg in summer. Eco mode seems too slow and when you are used to normal using eco mode needs more gas so you are not as economical. When I tried eco mode for a week mpg was worse.

 

High 40 s in winter low 50 s in summer. Mainly urban driving. 7 mile commute to work.

[rayaans]

Definitely get better mpg in eco but not much, maybe 3mpg.

Eco makes no difference to ride quality so you must be imagining that!

[Rabbers]

If you can, try driving across a major city in the rush hour in ECO and then repeat on another occasion in NORMAL.  In my experience the ride

quality and your degrees of relaxation will be exactly the same and the difference in fuel economy so slight as to be negligible.  You will have 

released smaller amounts of noxious fumes in ECO but, assuming you care, without being able to prove or quantify it. 

[chris_fletcher]

I agree with Rayans, Definitely better in eco as it doesnt hold on to the engine at stops as much as normal or sport. I rarely ever used anything else in my is300h and on a 16 mile commute, motorway and A road but through stop start traffic through Bradford and up and down hills both ways so that evened out the fuel consumption. Averaged 42mpg on the computer over 2 years with minus 4mpg difference in winter. As I am rather a tight Scot/Yorkshire man in winter I turn aircon off until the engine temp has risen to prevent it running constantly at traffic lights and standstill. Gives me around 2 mpg better consumption. My wife says I am an idiot LOL

After 1 month in my gen 4 RX for the same journey using eco I have averaged 39 mpg calculated, not car computer, although strangely that is only about 0.8 mpg high which is the closet real vs car consumption I have ever had.

[bagpus]

Arrh mine has AVS so I believe dampers maybe at there most comfortable setting? Please correct me if I am wrong.

[NemesisUK]

Mine has AVS, in all modes other than Sport+ they constantly adjust depending on the road surface and driver inputs, ie steering, accelerating and braking.

There is no discernible difference in ride quality until one selects Sport+ when the ride firms up significantly.

[IS300Hdriver]

Tried using ECO for a while, and despite driving in traffic through London, just find it makes the car far too anaemic. I've bought a 2.5L car to be able to make decent progress, and find the car actually nicer to drive with a lighter accelerator pedal in Normal mode.

Also note that ECO mode will turn down your aircon flow and reduce steering assistance a bit to save power.

I wonder if the increased dependancy on the hybrid Battery in ECO mode could affect it's long term life span a little?

[MONTIMAR]

I leave mine in ECO all the time except up/down steep hills when I use sports mode for the rev counter and paddle shifts. Also sports mode for a quick pass. I did a proper fuelly over the last 1000 miles and averaged 57.5 MPG so it works for me.

[NemesisUK]

Don't the paddle shifts work in Eco or Normal? Or do you mean S mode for the transmission?