So, the other day while I was on the highway doing 55mph....trying to sip gas (still testing this cars abilities) I switched into the manual shift gears........and at 55mph it said it was in 4th gear...hmmmm. I would have guessed it to be in at least 5th. So, .....I shifted to 6th because at cruise speeds....higher is better (minus hill of course). The rpm's did not go down....and really didn't seem to change in performance much at all. At least not to the naked eye.

Well, I have a nice long road trip coming up this weekend......and we are gonna see if we can break this 30.5 mpg state we are in.

Let me know what you think! (thrashpile@gmail.com)

 

Using cruise control and not driving like a bat out of hell you will probably see more than 30

 

Drive 57-58mph and it will probably choose go into 5th gear ;)

 

In my experience with the automatic, it will aways switch into forth gear, I experimented this by driving like 20 kph, 4th gear, 110kph 4th gear, and pretty much any speed in between, I think they just have it default to fourth gear in the manual shift mode, however driving the highway speeds and just leaving it in the automatic position I would assume it would be in 6th gear

 

I didn't think to try going faster and then see what gear it goes into! But then again....if 6th is geared for a faster speed..........and my fuel flow goes up.......it would negate the benefits for 55mph.

Well, I'll keep you posted. This long road trip will give me a lot of info on performance at highway speeds and 4th thru 6th gear fuel consumption. (Weird, the sticker on the car said in small caps like "up to 36mpg??????".........I never believed it, ....but ponder it!!!)

Thanks for the replies!

 

fyi...

the way the tiptronic works is that you are setting the highest gear that you are allowing the tC2 to go.

so if its in 4th gear but you are driving slow...the car could be in 2nd or 3rd or even 4th...but wont go higher than 5th or 6th

likewise, driving in 6th gear is the same as putting the car in D

the only difference being the Eco function is disabled in shifting mode...meaning mpg would probably get worse than in regular drive

 

I took a 400 mile road trip from MD to NC and I got 33mpg average on the trip down there and the return trip.

If you want the best fuel economy, just leave it in drive and try to keep the ECO light on. The auto always strives for fuel economy first, performance second. You can tell this because it always upshifts as soon as possible. The car will choose 6th gear when you are driving as slow as 40 mph, with RPMs sitting at 1500ish.

The trans always defaults to 4 when shifted into manual mode. Whether you shift into manual at a standstill or at highway speeds...4 is always the result.

 

On ECO Mode: It's not really a 'mode', but more of an indicator. When you are driving economically (not mashing, slowing accelerating, etc) the light remains on. This way, you know you're doing your part in keeping high efficiency. ON = Good Job! Off = Good Job Accelerating! haha

On Sport Shift: Whenever you change to Sport mode, it will always default to 4. And KidJustin is right, it doesn't mean you're in that gear. You can be in that gear or any lower gear. So 4 will allow the computer to choose 1-4, 5 allows 1-5, and if you try to downshift in the wrong situation, the system will not shift and will beep at you. 4th gear is a great highway passing gear and engine braking gear, that's why it defaults there. In older Toyota vehicles with 5-speed autos, it would default to 4 also since that was the last power gear before the 5th overdrive gear kicks in. It seems the 6-speeds being used have 4 performance gears and 2 overdrive gears.

On Fuel Economy: The 5-6 gears are there to help with higher speed MPG. It helps keep the engine RPMs low, so you will be able to drive at the speeds we're accustomed to nowadays without getting terrible MPG. Engine RPMs is related to fuel consumption in an automatic vehicle, not vehicle speed. If you're spinning at 2500 RPM at 80 mph in 6th gear VERSUS spinning at 3000 RPM at 70 mph in 4th gear, you'll save more gas going 80 mph ( just plugged those numbers as an example, don't grind me on the RPMs and MPH being off =P ). My V6 Camry has a 6-speed auto and gets over 31MPG on all-highway trips (~80mph to Vegas from Los Angeles) but only gets around 24-25 with stop and go driving.

 

I tried to experiment this by driving one whole commute in 6Sport mode on city streets, and noticed a considerably smoother ride than driving in D.

I don't know how healthy for my car it is to drive in 6Sport mode during low MPH. I know it might be costing me more gas because it does take longer to accelerate, but the acceleration is very smooth compared to D.

 

Cruise control often times will make gas mileage worse. On uphills you will notice the engine speed increase, and the opposite for going downhill, which logically makes sense. Though, this is not an efficient way to drive. Check out www.ecomodder.com

 

Ok, upshifting to 6th didn't do squat on RPM.....it stayed the same. So, that doesn't make a difference. Reply to the earlier post about the computer controlling things...regardless of shifter selection......nothing here to gain.

My first long road trip (267miles....4.5 hrs) ......and I avg. 65mph.......got 33mpg. I went a little faster on the way back....and 70mph didn't seem to make much of a difference.

Driving 55 mph on trips less than an hour seem reasonable. 65 mph only has a 10 mile advantage.....so...not really worth it. I think there is a balance between saving gas and making a trip too long and just using gas you think your saving (and wear and tear on you).

 

^Not sure what's up with your car, but 6th drops them for me...

Likewise if I'm cruising in 6th and I drop it to 5th for a pass, noticeable difference.

Albeit, there isn't a huge change, but 6th is definitely a useful 'overdrive' gear.

 

Is the eco mode only available in automatic transmissions?

 

The eco LIGHT is only available in auto's.

It's not a mode though. It simply measures how much you are mashing the accelerator, versus how fast you are going and tells you if you are driving in a fuel efficient manner.

So it's an indicator that lets you know if you are driving economically, not a mode that forces you to.

 

Guys, all the manual/sport mode does is sets the highest gear it is allowed to shift up to. So there is nothing "Sporty" about the mode at all, just looks. The manual mode is just a replacement of "low" "1" or "2" gears on other automatic cars. You can keep it in manual mode and set it to 6th gear and drive all day, it will not make a difference....it will still automatically shift through all the gear by itself!

However if you are driving ~50mph in automatic mode and switch it to manual then it will actually down shift to 4th gear because its a default and your RPMs will increase. The car will not allow u to shift very low if it will result in RMPs of 6k or 7k and will make a beeping sound.

SOOOOO: the only use for it is in the snow and towing something

 

I explained that it clearly worth it to speed here: https://www.scionlife.com/forums/sho...96#post3856096

 

I want an ECO light

 

i turned mine off, it got annoying

 

That's good to know. I was wondering why I never see it!

 

Ditto. Seeing it turn off every time I accelerate made me feel like the car was disappointed in my economic decisions. Think you're better than me, car?! So, you'd drive all slow and easy if YOU had control?! Well, guess what...You don't! I've got the feet, you've got the pedals, and you're gonna mind. So just keep doing what I tell you and keep your little green light to yourself!

Sorry, what were we...? Oh yeah...the light got annoying.