Active Eco button

[ChrisMA]

I rented a Fiat 500 after my civic was rear-ended, and I now own a Hyundai Elantra. Both of these vehicles had an Eco button. The Fiat was an automatic and it did change the shift points. My Hyundai Elantra is a standard, and it has a reminder as to the gear you should be in. The Hyundai Forum does talk about this more but in short it makes the throttle response slower, I am not sure about the shift points in the automatic but paying attention to what speed the car shifts should be obvious.

As for the part about America versus the British? I'm not sure what that's about. I've allways been cautious about a country that's burned my capital down and enslaved my sailors but, I guess they helped my country get into a war that prevented me from speaking German.

[Draigflag]

Guys there's no UK vs US rubbish, I was merely stating that driving an auto is lazy, unless its for a medical reason of course. Driving a manual in my opinion is not only more fun, but its probably the quickest and easiest way to experiment with different driving techniques to save fuel (not to mention cutting emissions too!)

And please dont make out that Im somehow responsible for historical events that happened hundreds of years ago, its a tad off topic!

[AzSoul]

My KIA Soul! has an ECO button. I've read and believe that with ECO on, the transmission will up-shift at lower engine RPM (e.g. around 1400 RPM into 6th gear at 40 MPH observed) and the engine management computer will lean out the fuel/air mixture. So with ECO on, under similar conditions of load and RPM, the engine uses less fuel but makes less power. And, since the transmission shifts into higher gears at lower RPM, the car is doubly sluggish compared to ECO off.

The lower RPM up-shifts increase economy most dramatically if the driver accelerates with a very light foot. On two occasions while driving the same 10 mile city/highway test loop the MPG meters showed an average 15% MPG gain when ECO is on. The test drives were in a new 2013 KIA Optima and a new 2013 KIA Soul!. In the Soul!, the increase was from 25 to 28.7 MPG. I bought the Soul! and have found the MPG meter to be very accurate, often +/- under 0.1 MPG from actual MPG. See my AzSoul log notes if you'd like more details.

[mhungry]

Originally Posted by Draigflag

And obviously, its easier and safer to go into neutral in a manual on hills, and use gravity instead of petrol!

Shifting into manual is illegal while moving in most jurisdictions within the United States. I live in Washington state and it's illegal to coast under RCW 46.61.630 (http://apps.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=46.61.630). It's been a law since 1965. We have far too many hills with curves and rainy conditions around here to risk the loss of control inherent in coasting.

Coasting is not inherently safer. You do not retain instant control of your vehicle as your power source is disconnected from your wheels. The subsequent shifting into gear while moving is more likely to cause you to lose control of the vehicle. This is especially true if you're on a manual and don't pick the right gear to move into properly, and shoving an automatic from neutral into gear and making it choose a gear instantly can be a huge problem if you accidentally hit the accelerator while doing so.

The Hyundai Elantra manual is very specific about this; they wouldn't put these warnings in place if there wasn't a safety risk they could get sued for:
(2013)Manual Tranny:
"Never take the vehicle out of gear and
coast down a hill. This is extremely
hazardous. Always leave the vehicle in
gear." Page 5-17
(2013)Auto Tranny:
"Do not shift from N (Neutral) or P
(Park) into D (Drive), or R
(Reverse) when the engine is
above idle speed." Page 5-19
"✽ NOTICE
Always come to a complete stop before
shifting into D (Drive)." Page 5-20
"Never move the gear shift lever from P
(Park) or N (Neutral) to any other position
with the accelerator pedal
depressed." Page 5-22
"Never take the car out of gear and
coast down a hill. This may be
extremely hazardous. Always leave the
car in gear when moving." Page 5-22

I know that's rambling, but they don't put these things in for no reason. It's in the manual because it's a liability issue if they don't cover it, which means it does have a root in a potential danger source.

[8$PG]

Originally Posted by Draigflag

Guys there's no UK vs US rubbish, I was merely stating that driving an auto is lazy, unless its for a medical reason of course. Driving a manual in my opinion is not only more fun, but its probably the quickest and easiest way to experiment with different driving techniques to save fuel (not to mention cutting emissions too!)

This was fun!

Since almost all of my cars have been automatics I must be the laziest swede east of the Atlantic.

But seriously why I like automatics is more sort of a political reason. I'd rather not be a part of the mechanics inside the engine messing with the details how it should do the job. Manual transmissions are just a technical heritage just as we call the accelerator pedal the gas. Modern engines will do the work based on your command as a driver and not let the driver command how much air is let through the throttle directly. It is the same with weather to change gear or to change throttle position. It's up to the car to handle that stuff imo. The driver just requests a change of action based on external conditions, the car decides how to mechanically execute the action based on it's internal conditions, unless there is a manual transmission in the middle...

I occasionally drive manual cars too, and it's kind of nice for a change.

It might be that the driver knows better if 5:th or 4:th gear is the best gear, but imagine the car thinking: why does he do that; Press that clutch too late or too early, too fast or too slow and scratch my syncing rings all of the time and revving/lugging the engine way too much not even requesting to go faster. He's just tormenting me, I can do this so much better, just let me handle it please! You concentrate on driving the car instead.

And the ECO-button: Works for an automatic transmission improving shifting towards economy, but for a manual. You will probably be able to do it better yourself. There's more to it than limiting the throttle position to reduce average speed. Many times it's better to use more throttle if the gained momentum can be put to use to improve the internal efficiency of the engine.

[litesong]

Originally Posted by vertice

I have a 2013 Hyundai Accent.....with Active Eco button. Do you guys use it? Does it really help improve fuel economy?

I have the 2013 Hyundai Elantra that I have featherfooted to 38.5mpg(fuelly average ~ 30mpg) in its first year with 15% city driving. With ECO engaged, the engine becomes lethargic. Featherfooters are OK with it, but leadfooters despise it. In warm conditions, ECO may provide a trace more mpg, but only to featherfooters, who may relish the soft lethargic feel of the gas pedal, thinking it provides extra control, at the low end of performance. Below ~55degF, ECO has little effect. Near freezing, ECO loses mpg. ECO is only for warm temperatures.

[snatchell]

I am not using my Active ECO on either of my Hyundais. I have a 2014 Sonata SE and a 2013 Santa Fe V6 and both are doing quite well with ECO turned off. Much more responsive and as long as you are lifting your foot off the gas on downward grades the MPGs are still very good. I was getting 28MPG in my Santa Fe on Skyline Drive going up and down hills constantly.