I'll let the 5 speeds have their own thread 
I'd like to have a discussion on the technique of acceleration for best mileage results. I will refrain from making a poll because too many polls isn't fun
(also, i babble here, a LOT, so either read it and try to understand or ingore it :? )
Basically, which is better? I can name 4 different ways off the type of my head:
Granny: being VERY light on the pedal. so much so that the Assist will turn off way before you reach your desired cruising speed.
Normal: giving it a good amount of gas. the Assist will continue to assist until you reach cruising speed.
Aggresive: giving it plenty of gas. the Assist is almost full and acceleration is pretty strong, RPM gets pretty high.
Flooring it!: putting the pedal to the metal! full assist, and 0-60 in 14 seconds!
(12 with S mode! :twisted: )
i've done all of these quite a few times, though I usually stick to normal or aggresive (depending on the demand, of course)
I'll skip to some of my theories now; Flooring it and the S mode are practically the same thing. If you floor it while moving, your revs will move up, the CVT will adjust, and if you push S, there is practically no extra pull or "rubber band lag" which leads me to believe flooring it and S both use the "map" the computer has to pick the pre-determined gear ratio for the speed at full throttle. Of course, S mode is different in that if you push it before you push the pedal, the CVT ratio's will change and get "ready" for you to give her all she's got. in other words, flooring it will still take a few seconds for your RPM's to reach redline, while S mode puts you higher up quicker.
Now, there's "another" way I'd like to add. first of all, the assist has a "minimum on" which will start when the demand (your pedal) reaches a certain point in relation to your speed (and incline of the road). let me just babble a scenario...
say you are stopped. you want to get to 50 mph, so you push the pedal half way down and leave it there. the computer will adjust the RPM's and assist for where you have your foot, and acceleration will be smooth until you reach your desired speed.
now let's say you are stopped. and you touch the pedal EVER SO SLIGHTLY. if you do it lightly enough, you can get the car to move without any assist! granted it will be SLOW, but you can accelerate just using the gas engine. (but since the pedal isn't far down, the computer thinks you just want to creep, so don't expect to actually accelerate to freeway speeds this century without using assist)
now the wierd part (like i haven't confused you already!)... if you give the pedal a little bit more than a feather, the Assist will turn on (and turn on very suddenly! quite a jolt!), and it will do so at the "minimum on"
okay so if you left your foot there, you would accelerate to the speed demanded by your pedal. say 10 mph.
the Assist would then turn off and you would be cruising. BUT!
What if you kept feathering the pedal to where the assist will be "minimum on" all the way to 60mph?
So theoretically what you are doing is pushing the pedal down slowly but steadily all the way until cruising.
I see 2 benefits to this: A) the computer never really knows where your pedal is, so it won't adjust to high RPM's thus consuming less fuel. B) the ratio of electric propulsion to gasoline propulsion is very high. so you're getting a lot of the electric motor/it's doing a good portion of the work.
now i'll open the table up to you guys. post your thoughts or theories about accelerating, don't be shy, just post!
I'd like to have a discussion on the technique of acceleration for best mileage results. I will refrain from making a poll because too many polls isn't fun
Basically, which is better? I can name 4 different ways off the type of my head:
Granny: being VERY light on the pedal. so much so that the Assist will turn off way before you reach your desired cruising speed.
Normal: giving it a good amount of gas. the Assist will continue to assist until you reach cruising speed.
Aggresive: giving it plenty of gas. the Assist is almost full and acceleration is pretty strong, RPM gets pretty high.
Flooring it!: putting the pedal to the metal! full assist, and 0-60 in 14 seconds!
i've done all of these quite a few times, though I usually stick to normal or aggresive (depending on the demand, of course)
I'll skip to some of my theories now; Flooring it and the S mode are practically the same thing. If you floor it while moving, your revs will move up, the CVT will adjust, and if you push S, there is practically no extra pull or "rubber band lag" which leads me to believe flooring it and S both use the "map" the computer has to pick the pre-determined gear ratio for the speed at full throttle. Of course, S mode is different in that if you push it before you push the pedal, the CVT ratio's will change and get "ready" for you to give her all she's got. in other words, flooring it will still take a few seconds for your RPM's to reach redline, while S mode puts you higher up quicker.
Now, there's "another" way I'd like to add. first of all, the assist has a "minimum on" which will start when the demand (your pedal) reaches a certain point in relation to your speed (and incline of the road). let me just babble a scenario...
say you are stopped. you want to get to 50 mph, so you push the pedal half way down and leave it there. the computer will adjust the RPM's and assist for where you have your foot, and acceleration will be smooth until you reach your desired speed.
now let's say you are stopped. and you touch the pedal EVER SO SLIGHTLY. if you do it lightly enough, you can get the car to move without any assist! granted it will be SLOW, but you can accelerate just using the gas engine. (but since the pedal isn't far down, the computer thinks you just want to creep, so don't expect to actually accelerate to freeway speeds this century without using assist)
now the wierd part (like i haven't confused you already!)... if you give the pedal a little bit more than a feather, the Assist will turn on (and turn on very suddenly! quite a jolt!), and it will do so at the "minimum on"
okay so if you left your foot there, you would accelerate to the speed demanded by your pedal. say 10 mph.
the Assist would then turn off and you would be cruising. BUT!
What if you kept feathering the pedal to where the assist will be "minimum on" all the way to 60mph?
So theoretically what you are doing is pushing the pedal down slowly but steadily all the way until cruising.
I see 2 benefits to this: A) the computer never really knows where your pedal is, so it won't adjust to high RPM's thus consuming less fuel. B) the ratio of electric propulsion to gasoline propulsion is very high. so you're getting a lot of the electric motor/it's doing a good portion of the work.
now i'll open the table up to you guys. post your thoughts or theories about accelerating, don't be shy, just post!