Eco, normal or sport?

I’ve been driving around in eco mostly and I’ve noticed that lag. so today I decided to spend all day driving around in normal and the mpg was negligible (0.1) but the response from the engine was way better.

is eco even helping with anything? Is it placebo?

 

noticed the same thing. My take is Eco for Highway we’re minimal throttle changes.

 

I stay in Sport. MPG’s have not been a factor, as the difference is minimal. The response is what I like.

 

All ECO does is change the relationship between the angle of the pedal and the torque requested from the engine. For instance, if you want 200 lbf ft of torque, Normal will produce that torque with 20% of pedal and Eco will be 30%. All it does is help you accelerate more moderately which does help fuel efficiency. If you don’t change how you accelerate, then all you’re doing is pressing the accel pedal deeper.

 

thanks. That’s very formative. No more eco for me then

 

Is tow/haul the monster is was before as far as aggressive tune?

 

Oh, I forgot that it does change the HVAC settings to an ECO mode. Not sure what this does exactly but maybe reduces how often the compressor cycles. This is what the owners manual says about the modes.

 

Just reading that eco sounds pretty boring lol

here is my eco mode, hehe

 

When I had my 21, I was anal about tracking actual MPG. Actually kept a spreadsheet with tank and running averages. I decided to engage the Tow/Haul mode 100% of the time for a few fill-ups. There was zero difference in average MPG. I drove about 70% interstate, 20% city streets and 10% stop and go. No off road.

 

It does sound very textbook and vague. Maybe it lessens the hvac air being blown hence saving gas

 

Different manufacturers have different forms of Eco/Sport modes. In general they change your throttle responsiveness through the ECU. Which means in eco your pedal will respond slower to keep you from taking off and waisting unnecessary fuel. Sport will be the opposite, meaning a more sensitive pedal.

Fuel/air ratio as well. When you accelerate you need more fuel and air, duh. But it’s not economical. So eco mode will decrease the ratio keeping it as low as possible.

Transmission shift patterns can be changed as well. The transmission should be in the highest gear and it should also change gears as little as possible. The vehicle might feel like it’s struggling some, but in theory it’s getting better fuel mileage. Holding the highest gear possible means lower RPM’s.

Some will even decrease your A/C cycling to prevent as high of load. This one makes no sense to me as modern vehicle A/C operates on a clutch system. So the load can’t be that high, but eco mode can do that on some.

As far as our truck, I have no idea what it actually does besides throttle response. I hope that answers your question

 

It's my understanding tow/haul does not allow you to go above 5th gear, into 6th gear?

If that is true, you should lose mpg, especially running 5th gear on the hwy.

 

Tow/haul doesn’t change the top gear available in my 19. Gotta use the S mode on the shift gate for that.

 

Tow/Haul Mode typically lets the truck truck hold a lower gear longer. Then it keeps the gears from shifting too much. Your throttle response is increased, which improves towing acceleration. It increases the engine braking for obvious reasons.

 

Thank you, most of that I was aware of.

I could have sworn I read somewhere it will not go into overdrive either.
Fairly sure my truck will not go into 6th gear with tow/haul on but need to double check.

Also, when using tow/haul my 2014 will downshift to engine brake all by itself much sooner than normal when decelerating.

These trucks already do not free wheel when coasting worth shit, and this makes it much worse.
I find this behavior of the truck seems to be where it eats a lot more gas, slowing down to much causing me to use gas to often speed back up instead of free wheel coasting like cars do.
I find myself having to slip into neutral a lot more to keep momentum when trying to coast throughout the days normal driving operations.
This is with tow/haul turned off.

I can see how this is a beneficial safety thing when towing/hauling loads (and using the tow/haul button), but it seems to also exist on a lessor level under normal driving without tow/haul engaged which is a terrible idea imho, and very noticeable and annoying.

Coming from 4Runners, they don't do this, or the Tundra does it much more, so I notice it a lot more.

 

Just a heads up.. if you are going pretty high speeds don't throw it into neutral. It isn't good for the transmission since the pump isn't turning as fast to lubricate/cool the parts that are still moving(think bushings from your rear tires still going)

 

Haven't used tow mode yet but Sport Mode is a kick in the pants!

 

No trying to hi-jack the post. But try running your truck in 6th gear instead of "d" should help relieve the engine braking a bit. I typically shift mine to 6 whenever i'm driving anything over 5 miles or so. It seems to feel like its getting better gas mileage in releality the number haven't really changed much.

Mine's a 2010. (and just leave it in 6th, you can shift into 5th before the truck if you want, but it stills shifts itself just fine).

 

I’ve seen no difference in MPG. So
Maybe the HWY theory is it with eco

 

That it is. There's a bit of a lag when you push the little pedal on the right, but once the turbos kick in...it's niiiice.

 

I thought this was a 3rd gen post - 10 sp tranny,

 

I think you understand wrong. It always shifted into 6th gear. My cruising RPMs were about the usual 1850.

 

Very possible I am mistaken.
I also thought people said not use overdrive while towing though?

Think I even read here people manually select 4th gear and leave it there when towing.
However, this feature does not seem to function as some of us thought either so that may serve little/no purpose.

Maybe I was confused by the heavy engine braking it provides and also holding gears longer.

 

Every now and then there's something relatively complex that some fine individual takes it upon themself to put into laymen's terms for us peasants - and we thank you for it lol

 

Same reason I don't use Eco anymore, no noticeable MPG change even on the highway with cruise control on as well as the lag or different amount of pedal effort required to move the truck forward.

 

I have been running sport mode for the last month or so. Doesn't seem to be impacting my MPG in any meaningful way either. I may be getting .5 mpg worse compared to normal. I didn't like eco mode at all, it kept doing the throttle lag thing coming out of a rolling stop at stop signs. Normal even does it from time to time, but I haven't noticed it as bad in sport.

 

Lol I was thinking the same thing going though this thread. Actually double checked to see if I was in the right place!

 

I enjoy driving in Sport mode as well, I just hate having to switch it on start up. I wish that it would remember what mode I left it in.

 

In Eco mode the throttle response is definitely toned down. Also, the AC blows pretty low. On really hot days, I usually have to turn the fan on the AC up higher than I normally would. I have never driven in normal mode for an extensive period.

 

In my leveled limited with 35 inch tires there is difference between modes
17.4 mpg eco
16.1 mpg normal
Testing sport now

Same commute, same driving style , same gas station and this is full tank average

Also I was told that eco is better for long term reliability since turbo does not spool that often