Jump to content
rocky

Accelerating quickly vs slow acceleration?

Recommended Posts

Just got my ffh SE 2014 today. Was always confused when reading the Prius forums about the topic. Wanted to see what my fellow fusioners had to say about this.

 

Which is best for saving fuel and improving mpg on a highway? Which is best for loca-city driving? Is there even a difference of city vs highway depending on the way you accelerate?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Somewhere I have a thread on acceleration on the Fusion. What I do is start out slightly in EV when the battery charge is high enough and when ICE kicks on keep it at 2 bars on Empower, sometimes up to 3 bars, but keeping it at or around the 2 bar mark seems to work best. That equates to about 2KW of power. It takes a very light touch to do this, but after practice it comes easy.

 

What I find doesnt work too well is granny driving it, seems that it wastes fuel driving like this. Get up to speed as quick as you can, by keeping it around the 2 KW and back off as you approach it and then feather the pedal lightly to keep it there. Works pretty good.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Ditto on the explaination!

However I would add one point about accelerating. Yes keeping it at two bars is a good start I actually look at the arrows. Whenever possible I accelerate as fast as the arrow is still pointing up.

A little bit too much to start with I just lighten the load on the throttle to have the arrow pointing up.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

When you folks say 2 bars, what display setting are you referring to?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Just got my ffh SE 2014 today. Was always confused when reading the Prius forums about the topic. Wanted to see what my fellow fusioners had to say about this.

 

Which is best for saving fuel and improving mpg on a highway? Which is best for loca-city driving? Is there even a difference of city vs highway depending on the way you accelerate?

Check out this thread: http://fordfusionhybridforum.com/topic/6994-fuel-economy-tip-list/

It explains what trial and error has found to be the best. I'm planning to create a BSFC map for the FFH as well based on data I log with Torque to try to further expand this knowledge.

 

Somewhere I have a thread on acceleration on the Fusion. What I do is start out slightly in EV when the battery charge is high enough and when ICE kicks on keep it at 2 bars on Empower, sometimes up to 3 bars, but keeping it at or around the 2 bar mark seems to work best. That equates to about 2KW of power. It takes a very light touch to do this, but after practice it comes easy.

 

What I find doesnt work too well is granny driving it, seems that it wastes fuel driving like this. Get up to speed as quick as you can, by keeping it around the 2 KW and back off as you approach it and then feather the pedal lightly to keep it there. Works pretty good.

With the instant MPG gauge turned on, each bar on that screen is approximately 10 kW. I need to further test this to get an accurate measurement when running in EV mode and when running with the ICE on.

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I completely agree with this. Don't baby it when leaving a stop light/sign, but don't push it either. Get to the middle of the intersection in EV then transition to ICE and accelerate. I also try to keep the battery charge at 50 percent. If you do the ICE does more "pushing" than "charging" which IMHO is more effecient.

 

Just my .02

Somewhere I have a thread on acceleration on the Fusion. What I do is start out slightly in EV when the battery charge is high enough and when ICE kicks on keep it at 2 bars on Empower, sometimes up to 3 bars, but keeping it at or around the 2 bar mark seems to work best. That equates to about 2KW of power. It takes a very light touch to do this, but after practice it comes easy.

 

What I find doesnt work too well is granny driving it, seems that it wastes fuel driving like this. Get up to speed as quick as you can, by keeping it around the 2 KW and back off as you approach it and then feather the pedal lightly to keep it there. Works pretty good.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I have been driving my 2015 FFH Titanium for about 4 days now

I am obviously no 'old hand' like some of the forum participants, but I find the suggestions here very useful

 

I have found that when I 'baby' the acceleration when the ICE kicks in, I get a lot more "RRRRRRRRR" noise from the engine. If I press more firmly, without trying to drag race anyone, I get less noise and a more pleasing noise, if that makes sense. So I agree 'Granny" driving is out.

 

I have not been watching the screen to see how many bars I am running, but I will now and figure out where it operates best for me as far as noise and performance.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Watch how much power the cruise control uses when you accelerate when you select resume. That's probably the best compromise.

ECC is a very good coach!

 

As long the arrow is pointing up indicating that the HVB is charging you get the best of both worlds. Good acceleration and good FE.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Which is best for saving fuel and improving mpg on a highway?

 

Unless you are a person who lets fuel mileage obsession take over your life, then the most important factor is SLOW DOWN, within reason.

It takes more fuel to go faster and to accelerate faster.

The other biggie is learning to anticipate stops and slow downs so you can slow down gradually without completely stopping.

Other than that, just drive the car and enjoy it.

Edited by Easy Rider

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Unless you are a person who lets fuel mileage obsession take over your life, then the most important factor is SLOW DOWN, within reason.

It takes more fuel to go faster and to accelerate faster.

The other biggie is learning to anticipate stops and slow downs so you can slow down gradually without completely stopping.

Other than that, just drive the car and enjoy it.

I've had my 2014 FFH Titanium for 3 months now. I live in the metro Atlanta area... and since I prefer not to be honked at, driving slow is not a very practical option a lot of the time. ;) However, I have found the tips here on MPG to be extremely helpful. Trying to get the best MPG is kind of a fun game for me. I don't compromise my speed too much but have found that I can get pretty good MPG using the techniques found here. Really happy with this car... And like you said, Easy Rider, it's just a really enjoyable car to drive. That's the most important part as far as I'm concerned!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...

×
×
  • Create New...