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Does anyone have any suggestions or guide as to when it's best to use the 4 driving modes? Regular, Eco, Sport, and EV
Can you talk about that more? My gut tells me that adaptive cruise control, just like cruise control, is focusing on MPH instead of MPG.I read a lot about people using max reg. I really wonder if that is necessary. I spend nearly all my time in Adaptive Cruise Control. I suspect it uses as much regen as possible. It is about the only time I see my charge needle near 75% of the charge scale.
I'd think that ECO mode is working towards your advantage with rolling hills.Good analysis Wifey.
I have lived in ECO mode for 18K miles and have been happy with my mpg results so far (excluding winter). I used to use sport mode for hill ascents, but found slowing a bit to remain in/near the blue power band is more effective. I have never really explored normal mode. I have found ECO mode to flatten the throttle response to eliminate jerky starts and general acceleration. At the risk of hurting my average, I may take your experience and try normal mode for my next tank. I'll need to concentrate a little more during acceleration though to ensure I'm still graceful. My drives are always rolling hills at a 45-50mph average. I don't do city driving, so I think it's the hills and inherent regen that help my numbers. I'm not sure I'd do as well in ECO if I lived in Kansas. I'll risk my next tank for the reward of knowing.
I took a hit for the team. I ran my last tank 100% in Normal mode to see how much of a difference there would be in my MPG numbers. I got 373 miles into the tank and threw in the towel. I got the worst tank results I've had since the depths of winter - 58.1mpg. To put things into perspective, my last three tanks were ~70mpg. That's a 13% drop in fuel efficiency. I did notice the differences in the algorithm (hey, who doesn't like saying "algorithm?") where the throttle response is different, the ICE kicks in sooner and EV isn't engaged as long when running in Normal mode. I think it's the rolling hills of my drive that affords me decent EV run-times in ECO mode. Where I know where the charging will occur, the Insight does not. ECO's heavier use of EV running means it won't try to charge the battery with the ICE as often, and the terrain does it instead based on my inputs.Good analysis Wifey.
I have lived in ECO mode for 18K miles and have been happy with my mpg results so far (excluding winter). I used to use sport mode for hill ascents, but found slowing a bit to remain in/near the blue power band is more effective. I have never really explored normal mode. I have found ECO mode to flatten the throttle response to eliminate jerky starts and general acceleration. At the risk of hurting my average, I may take your experience and try normal mode for my next tank. I'll need to concentrate a little more during acceleration though to ensure I'm still graceful. My drives are always rolling hills at a 45-50mph average. I don't do city driving, so I think it's the hills and inherent regen that help my numbers. I'm not sure I'd do as well in ECO if I lived in Kansas. I'll risk my next tank for the reward of knowing.
Averaging 70mpg regularly?? :surprise: You take the cake! lolI took a hit for the team. I ran my last tank 100% in Normal mode to see how much of a difference there would be in my MPG numbers. I got 373 miles into the tank and threw in the towel. I got the worst tank results I've had since the depths of winter - 58.1mpg. To put things into perspective, my last three tanks were ~70mpg. That's a 13% drop in fuel efficiency. I did notice the differences in the algorithm (hey, who doesn't like saying "algorithm?") where the throttle response is different, the ICE kicks in sooner and EV isn't engaged as long when running in Normal mode. I think it's the rolling hills of my drive that affords me decent EV run-times in ECO mode. Where I know where the charging will occur, the Insight does not. ECO's heavier use of EV running means it won't try to charge the battery with the ICE as often, and the terrain does it instead based on my inputs.
Yet another reason I believe I have the perfect commute. I'm going back to ECO mode. I took a 0.1mpg lifetime hit in the name of science, but I learned something!
I find ACC only helps with Normal mode, highway type setting 45-75 mph.@Wifey'sInsight, I can understand normal mode working well on flat terrain - charge top of range, bleed to bottom and repeat. ACC has never helped my mpg numbers primarily due to the fact it cannot anticipate, and my commute is not flat. Again, on a flat stretch, it may have its benefits. Tops speeds here in NJ are 65mph, so I can't speak from any experience how high-speed driving shakes out - I'm rarely on the highway.
I picked up my wife at the airport a little over 50 miles from home in her 2018 Civic EX sedan last Friday. I averaged 50+mpg on the highway on the way there. The Insight wasn't designed to be a high-speed vehicle. Anything below 60 is gravy though.I find ACC only helps with Normal mode, highway type setting 45-75 mph.
For your situation Eco is the perfect choice because you have a lot of passive regeneration in your route.
I started a thread to humorously point out that sustained high speed driving is the Achilles heel of the Insight, I honestly believe that a manual 1.5l civic would have topped my numbers from that drive.
I'm using ECO all the time. All it seems to do is smooth out (dampen) control inputs onver normal mode. I can still take off like a bat out of **** if I want - I just need to hit the throttle more. Than again, I have a 50-mile farm road commute with a 45mph average speed limit and nearly zero traffic. I've only ever uses sport mode to see what it was like. It was noisy and favored engine over battery. It was cool being pushed into the back of the seat, but not worth the significant mileage hit. Regular vs. normal is essentially the same but with control input dampening.
EV will only work if:
You stay below the "power" band of the meter
You have more than three battery bars
The engine is not cold
The cabin is not actively being heated
That said, I'll kick in EV mode if enough battery exists and I'm on a slight upgrade where there is a downhill immediately thereafter.