Eco mode. Anyone used it?
I've got the TwinAir and economy is not my first concern, driveability is, but just lately, I've given the Eco mode a run (hey, it's there, why not?).
It definitely makes a difference to the way it drives, but I'm not sure why you'd choose it as I just seem to want to drive the car harder. If I was chasing fuel economy, I'd just short shift like the 'indicator' wants you to.

Has anyone used it seriously? Particularly the TA. I'm not trying to be a dick here because if there are real advantages to using it, I'll experiment further (probably will anyway, just not enthused to).

I tried it and nearly died of boredom. And it seemed to make no appreciable difference to the economy.

On a similar theme, does anyone use city steering mode?

cdmoran said:

On a similar theme, does anyone use city steering mode?

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Hey, it's good for a giggle

Seriously, if you had physical problems such as stuffed shoulders, it'd be a boon. Pity it's not marketed as such. As an option for your typical buyer, it's a sad indictment on the state of modern driving.

gar074 said:

I tried it and nearly died of boredom. And it seemed to make no appreciable difference to the economy.

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I wondered about that. It makes a difference to the way the car drives, but you can make the same difference with the way you press the accelerator.

I tried it in my 4x4 TA when it was practically new, so the engine hadn't freed up - thought it was dangerously unresponsive - tried it - very briefly - more recently and it was noticeably better but I wouldn't try it again.

gar074 said:

I tried it and nearly died of boredom. And it seemed to make no appreciable difference to the economy.

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Same....

babbo_umbro said:

I tried it in my 4x4 TA when it was practically new, so the engine hadn't freed up - thought it was dangerously unresponsive - tried it - very briefly - more recently and it was noticeably better but I wouldn't try it again.

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Yup. I did same only last week and vowed never to try it again! LoL

Cripes, a hard audience here
To be honest, I don't disagree, despite it being another button to play with... occasionally... very very occasionally

I use it when on a long, quiet motorway journey when I'm running on cruise control. Car keeps the same speed of course, but with the 'eco' map it definitely uses less fuel overall. Other than that, no, only use it if I'm below Zero on the range indicator and have no idea where the next fuel station is going to be....

I use it 99.9% of the time. I'm mostly city driving plus about 100 miles motorway a week.

It's definitely not as fun as turning it off but it's fine for most things. I seem to get the same mpg as most other people describe on here. But I'm convinced when I turn it off you can just watch the fuel gauge dropping in front of your eyes

M

Like babbo_Umbro I tried the Eco button when the Cross was new and hastily untried it after a fraught 30 minutes or so. Seemed to make the TA into a flat and unresponsive slug. Again like babbo I tried it again recently (about 14k on the clock now) and it seemed much better, odd.

I just collected my TA Cross and the dealer suggested using it when on a steady speed on the motorway. I think my engine is too new really to have an idea myself, as I'm just getting used to this weird and possibly wonderful little engine!

Twinairs need lots of running in to loosen up, my 500 took at least until 12k, forget about Eco until then, I use mine a bit now particularly in traffic as it smoothens things out a bit and quite like it plus you have the novelty of a nippy car when you switch it off! Would have thought it would be good for driving gently in snow or ice. I've got some good economy results too notably 61mpg over a 250 mile trip but that's not to say you couldn't achieve that in normal mode it's more that Eco forces you to drive more economically but as has been said before, if you drive hard in Eco you'll get worse results then driving hard in normal mode.

R1NGA said:

I use it when on a long, quiet motorway journey when I'm running on cruise control. Car keeps the same speed of course, but with the 'eco' map it definitely uses less fuel overall. Other than that, no, only use it if I'm below Zero on the range indicator and have no idea where the next fuel station is going to be....

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I didn't think of using it then.
How does it affect overtaking? I'm guessing not because you're already up in the rev range - different for a back road where you have to pull out past a slow moving idiot... er... driver.

aussiepanda said:

I didn't think of using it then.
How does it affect overtaking? I'm guessing not because you're already up in the rev range - different for a back road where you have to pull out past a slow moving idiot... er... driver.

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A planned overtake (when overriding the CC) in ECO is fine, you just need a decent run up which of course should be easy given good observation and anticipation etc. But rather more 'immediate' changes of speed and position do require ECO switched off for fear of not getting the job done in time.

But as Mercky said, the ECO button probably does more to your head then it does to the engine, in terms of making the journey more economic overall!

I now only use it in town traffic. My mpg has got better without it!

I have ECO 'on' probably 80-90% of the time. I can honestly say I've never had an issue keeping with the flow of traffic on even small throttle inputs and it definitely helps with economy. With it on, our Panda drives like a typical 1.0L normally-aspirated city-car. Of course, it's a bit flat and not as much fun, but if you look on here, many of those who say it's too slow also find they get low mpg figures - it's a question of driving style.
All ECO does is 'soften' the throttle responses to allow you to more easily accurately match throttle input to what's needed, thereby saving on fuel wasted through misjudged throttle inputs with it off.
It requires a certain amount of energy to maintain a speed or accelerate at a given rate. Over and above that, you try to minimise losses (the TwinAir does a good job of this, being light, lower frictional losses from low cc 2-cyl etc etc) and 'wasted' fuel as a result of using too much throttle. That second part is what ECO tries to address. It doesn't make the engine more economical, so much as give the driver a better chance of driving that way.
If you claim ECO provides inadequate 'go', that's because you aren't driving economically. No harm in that - we all enjoy that little motor, but that's where your fuel economy takes the hit. Accelerating as you would in a larger engined car negates the efficiency advantages, that's why many say larger engined cars can get as good figures - they're doing largely the same job. We tend to forget that modern large engines also have relatively clean, 'efficient' motors, so we're trying to improve on that with marginal gains in how efficiently we can do 'efficient' driving.
I actually think Fiat misjudged it by limiting torque/power - If they'd delivered full torque and power, but softened the initial response (the reverse of most manufacturers 'Sport' button), there'd be less need for swapping cogs on motorway overtakes or for switching the modes when you need to make brisk junction exits.
Eco-off seems a little aggressively mapped at small throttle openings to the point that it's hard to match what's needed to cruise on that first bit as you come off overrun (economically), so you tend to coast-and-burn.
When I turn it off? Busy junctions where I might need the extra 'performance', perhaps if fully laden/towing, busy motorway conditions where I want better 6th gear acceleration to pull out...oh and when I'm doing my very best Juha Kankkunen impersonation!

PS - didn't mean to come over as ranting! I just think people (even some motoring journalists!) sometimes don't understand the two SEPARATE goals modern engines sets out to achieve (large cc performance and torque - turbocharging - whilst retaining POTENTIAL to be very clean-running and economical - small cc and efficiency measures).

Re: Econ mode and Duologic box

Now that I have a few thousand miles on my TA fitted with Duologic box I have been conducting a little non scientific economy test and have noted the following.Using ECON Mode the car is so much smoother to drive and gear changes are almost pleasant.As long as you are not in a hurry then ECON mode is fine.There does not appear to be any difference in mpg when tested over rural runs on several different road types at legal speeds.
If I want to overtake or tackle a steep hill then simply knocking off the ECON mode gives me a different motor .
Its like the old days when I first tried a car fitted with a Turbo (rare in those days)

aussiepanda said:

Eco mode. Anyone used it?
I've got the TwinAir and economy is not my first concern, driveability is, but just lately, I've given the Eco mode a run (hey, it's there, why not?).
It definitely makes a difference to the way it drives, but I'm not sure why you'd choose it as I just seem to want to drive the car harder. If I was chasing fuel economy, I'd just short shift like the 'indicator' wants you to.

Has anyone used it seriously? Particularly the TA. I'm not trying to be a dick here because if there are real advantages to using it, I'll experiment further (probably will anyway, just not enthused to).

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Never, it kill all the fun of the TwinAir.