imo there should only be two choices, Fast & Go Even Faster!

 

This was in a Alfa Giulietta i had as a loner and i found it a nuisance having to select sport all the time...

Had a wee play with the modes earlier this morning. I've settled on a custom setting. Steaming and engine in sport, everything else normal. I'm not a fan of the 'engine' noise but the response seems better so I'll put up with it.

Had a wee play with the modes earlier this morning. I've settled on a custom setting. Steaming and engine in sport, everything else normal. I'm not a fan of the 'engine' noise but the response seems better so I'll put up with it.

 

There is a fairly easily accessible plug under the bonnet up by the bulkhead to disconnect the sound generator - won't throw any errors.

Looks like I'm different to everyone else. 

 

Motorway Driving - Eco Mode (Dont see the point of anything else)

About Town - Eco

Some **** next to me at the lights - Sport

Twisty Roads - Sport

 

"Normal" just dulls the effect of "sport" 

Motorway Driving - Eco Mode (Dont see the point of anything else)

 

Because Eco doesn't do anything for you on the motorway? Apart from minimal gains from the less AC power consumption, you get nothing... Try it.

Because Eco doesn't do anything for you on the motorway? Apart from minimal gains from the less AC power consumption, you get nothing... Try it.

Apart from the weird coasting .....

I don't see any increase in mpg when in Eco on a long run on the motorway

Sent from my phone so please excuse brevity and spelling

 

Because Eco doesn't do anything for you on the motorway? Apart from minimal gains from the less AC power consumption, you get nothing... Try it.

 

Hate to disagree but, Eco will allow the gearbox/engine to disengage (coasting will display in the instant consumption tab of the DotMatrix) on downhill sections when no throtle is required. It's Fn marginal if it helps much but, as I'm trying to keep my fuelly nearer 30 than 20 mpg to calm the wife whilst still having some fun so, every little helps.

Regards

T

Edited 21 March, 201412 yr by themanwithnoaim

I have always had the (some would say bad)habit of putting the car in neutral when on a long straight downward slope or approaching traffic lights on red etc. My next car is auto,not supposed to manually do it with those. So if the car does it automatically that's fine by me.

  

Hate to disagree but, Eco will allow the gearbox/engine to disengage (coasting will display in the instant consumption tab of the DotMatrix) on downhill sections when no throtle is required. It's Fn marginal if it helps much but, as I'm trying to keep my fuelly nearer 30 than 20 mpg to calm the wife whilst still having some fun so, every little helps.

Regards

T

I tried Eco on a long run to London, early hours of the morning, minimal traffic, 70mph all the way for 250miles. Absolutely no difference in fuel consumption to leaving it in normal on the same journey, which I do regularly. My best ever of over 61mpg was achieved on the same run in normal.

I found in Eco you had to use more right foot on the uphill sections than you did in normal, probably negating the savings made when coasting.

Sent from my phone so please excuse brevity and spelling

purely from what I have read on here, I'd have thought Eco would make most of a difference in Town traffic. More start stop situations and coasting ability. On the motorway, the chances of coasting anywhere for any length of time is minimal. The majority of the trip, obviously depending on any traffic issues, you will hopefully be sitting at the same speed with minimal acceleration / deceleration. If your sitting at a speed, 70mph say, the engine will be doing a set amount of revs, and the load on the engine will be the same, so in that situation, Eco, Normal and Sport, will all give the same MPG.

Ok, at the start of the journey, and the end of the journey, and a few times during, there will be some acceleration / deceleration, but over a couple of hundred miles, that will have a minimal affect on overall MPG

Personally I use Normal most of the time as I find it a little easier to stick to the speed limits than in Sport. I save Sport mode for when I'm feeling....Sporty.

Mine is a company car and I pay for private use per mile, not on fuel use, therefore I have no use for Eco, as it costs me the same whether I do 20mpg or 70mpg. I do like seeing how well I can do on a journey, but most of the time, I enjoy the acceleration more

purely from what I have read on here, I'd have thought Eco would make most of a difference in Town traffic. More start stop situations and coasting ability. On the motorway, the chances of coasting anywhere for any length of time is minimal. The majority of the trip, obviously depending on any traffic issues, you will hopefully be sitting at the same speed with minimal acceleration / deceleration. If your sitting at a speed, 70mph say, the engine will be doing a set amount of revs, and the load on the engine will be the same, so in that situation, Eco, Normal and Sport, will all give the same MPG.

Ok, at the start of the journey, and the end of the journey, and a few times during, there will be some acceleration / deceleration, but over a couple of hundred miles, that will have a minimal affect on overall MPG

 

Plenty of times when it coasts on motorway runs for quite lengthy distances, but you have to give it some welly to stay at the same speed on uphill sections.

 

I don't see what difference it would make in town with Start Stop - does it cut in more often in Eco mode than normal? In a DSG it is easy to control with the pressure on the brake anyway. I might try it on the way home to see if I can tell any difference in the behaviour of the Start Stop between Eco and Normal.

Personally I use Normal most of the time as I find it a little easier to stick to the speed limits than in Sport. I save Sport mode for when I'm feeling....Sporty.

Mine is a company car and I pay for private use per mile, not on fuel use, therefore I have no use for Eco, as it costs me the same whether I do 20mpg or 70mpg. I do like seeing how well I can do on a journey, but most of the time, I enjoy the acceleration more

I'm fuel carded as well, but they divide your spend by your mileage to get a cost per mile and then I have to pay back the private mileage. Doing it that way I receive no benefit in kind and it keeps the tax man happy :-)

 

The good news is my business journeys are long motorway runs at 55mpg+, my personal mileage is more like 45mpg, but it is all averaged out so I am better off by doing this way!

currently i pay 15p/mile, which doesnt seem too far off for me. (using very very rough metal calculations).

Mine is total miles each month minus business miles. Strangely, somedays i apparently take a slightly longer route to work for some reason

Edited 21 March, 201412 yr by Rob123

I have always had the (some would say bad)habit of putting the car in neutral when on a long straight downward slope or approaching traffic lights on red etc. My next car is auto,not supposed to manually do it with those. So if the car does it automatically that's fine by me.

 

Not just a bad habbit but dangerous and a waste of fuel.

Not just a bad habbit but dangerous and a waste of fuel.

Why a waste of fuel as surely your revs will be lower???

 

NT

Why a waste of fuel as surely your revs will be lower???

NT

If you stick it in neutral fuel is needed to stop the engine stalling, but if you just take you foot off the throttle while in gear the fuel is shut off as it's not needed and the forward momentum of the car keep the engine turning so no throttle = no fuel.

Why a waste of fuel as surely your revs will be lower???

NT

Don't you watch Top Gear?!

I remember when JC drove from London to Edinburgh and back in that A6 he said modern engines don't use fuel when engine braking.

Well, I did an unscientific eco mode experiment on the way home. I couldn't tell the slightest difference between the behaviour of Start Stop in eco and normal. What I did notice is that it took almost 10 miles for the engine to get to operating temp when in eco mode. I had driven 10 miles in Manchester city centre traffic to get to the M60 and it still wasn't up to temp. In normal mode it has been getting up to temp well before I get to the motorway. And, to top it all, I achieved approx 8mpg less than normal in a lot lighter traffic than normal. Doubt if I will be using mode again.

Sent from my phone so please excuse brevity and spelling

Economy is crap when the engine is still cold. One of the big downsides if you do a lot of short trips. Any engine, regardless of fuel type and displacement will be crap on fuel in that scenario.

Does driving mode selection makes sense on less powerfull engines like 1.4 tsi? (or is it a waste of money)

Does driving mode selection makes sense on less powerfull engines like 1.4 tsi? (or is it a waste of money)

Paying for it on a vRS would be a waste of money, never mind a 1.4.

Coasting is a complex subject and not always totally intuitive.

 

Firstly, try taking your foot off the throttle with the car in gear and out of gear. How far can you coast? The answer is very much less distance when the car is in gear because of the engine braking effect. So there is not much point in coasting with the car in gear. Even downhill it would need to be a pretty steep slope to be able to get down without having to use the throttle at some point.

 

Secondly, watch the average fuel consumption figure when coasting both in and out of gear. In my experience this is an amazingly accurate reflection in the Octavia 3 of the results at the fuel pump, and coasting in neutral has a much more profound effect on this readout than coasting in gear. Best to try this relatively early in a journey, after the car has warmed up and you have got to a realistic journey figure as the results are more evident at this point than further on in a journey.

 

Thirdly, I do not believe that Eco mode can ever disengage the drivetrain. It certainly does not (and cannot) on a manual gearbox, and I doubt it does on a DSG either.

 

Fourthly, it is certainly true that the engine will require fuel to keep it turning over at idle when the drivetrain is disengaged, but this will be a very small amount indeed as the engine is doping hardly any work at all

 

Final point is this one of safety raised by Neily03. I would be interested to know what he feels the risks are. Firstly I would not advocate coasting in any situation which is potentially hazardous, such as moderately heavy traffic. However I cannot think of a situation where the split second it would take to put the car back in gear would not be sufficient. If the driver is not engaged enough in driving the car to be able to do this then an accident would happen anyway. In almost all hazardous situations braking and steering is what is needed, not acceleration.

Economy is crap when the engine is still cold. One of the big downsides if you do a lot of short trips. Any engine, regardless of fuel type and displacement will be crap on fuel in that scenario.

 

I know, the point I was making is this is my daily journey, and I normally use normal mode. In Eco it took significantly longer for the engine to warm up, and after reaching the motorway I did another 12 miles at 70mph.

 

I can't see any benefit for Eco mode, I returned less mpg than I do normally on the same run.

If you stick it in neutral fuel is needed to stop the engine stalling, but if you just take you foot off the throttle while in gear the fuel is shut off as it's not needed and the forward momentum of the car keep the engine turning so no throttle = no fuel.

Correct! In gear, no fuel used at all. In neutral, fuel used as at tick over.