[trefilov22]

Does anyone get worse mileage in Eco Mode than in regular mode? It seems to me that my 2015 EX gets about 3-4 mpg less in Eco mode....

I never really got got gas mileage in any mode to begin with, and the trip computer shows that I get 27 or so mpg typically, which is actually about 23 mpg if I figure out on my own (miles driven / how much gas I actually put in the tank).

 

[Lawzen]

"Eco mode" has been discussed many times on different Kia/Hyundai forums.
My personal take is this. If you live somewhere with flat, long roads with little traffic, you maximize the benefits of using Eco Mode.
However, most people seem to live where there is some form of stop and go traffic mixed with elevation changes. Factor in those, and Eco mode doesn't really present a benefit, and if it does, its super minor.
I keep Eco Mode off. The car just feels better to drive, and gas mileage isn't that bad to begin with just driving normally

 

[trefilov22]

I agree

 

[vaca22]

I drive in Eco mode exclusively, and I've gotten used to the squishy, floaty ride quite nicely. 85-90% of my daily commute is highway...although traffic tends to ruin the flow of an otherwise simple trip.

If I fill up and get directly on the highway to work, I've gotten over 37 mpg by the time I've reached my destination. All things factored in I'm averaging 27 or 28 mpg combined.

I've been doing this since I got it in early November. When I need to dust someone I hit the Sport, then back to Eco. I've driven long enough in Eco mode now to be very familiar with it, soI think I'll move on and see what the regular mode can do.

 

[Turbonut]

I drive in Eco mode exclusively, and I've gotten used to the squishy, floaty ride quite nicely. 85-90% of my daily commute is highway...although traffic tends to ruin the flow of an otherwise simple trip.

If I fill up and get directly on the highway to work, I've gotten over 37 mpg by the time I've reached my destination. All things factored in I'm averaging 27 or 28 mpg combined.

I've been doing this since I got it in early November. When I need to dust someone I hit the Sport, then back to Eco. I've driven long enough in Eco mode now to be very familiar with it, soI think I'll move on and see what the regular mode can do.

If you have a 2.0T turbo there's no way you see 37 mpg unless going down a long hill in neutral. Also if you see 37 on the highway and only 27/28 overall, city mileage must be @ 17. Quite a difference.
Sounds like my old Jeep Grand Cherokee V8, when going downhill I could see 92 MPG.
Couldn't resist.

 

[Cheeseboxes]

I recently purchased a used 2016 Optima w/2.4L. So far, car gives me between 30 - 35 mpg around town. That's in drive mode. (I tell people I drive for economy lol) Was curious how the ECO mode would work. Took a road trip, filled the tank 1st. Was able to get on the highway, switched to Eco, set the cruise control at 65mph. I did 204 miles round trip, gassed up back at the same filling station. Took 4.75 gallons. Did the math, eyes got a little bigger, just under 43mpg! I'll be retesting this in the very near future as I'm driving to Myrtle Beach in about 10 days. Will let you know my results if you like.

 

[Turbonut]

Actually better mileage than the Optima Hybrid.

 

[jim2664258]

If you have a 2.0T turbo there's no way you see 37 mpg unless going down a long hill in neutral. Also if you see 37 on the highway and only 27/28 overall, city mileage must be @ 17. Quite a difference.
Sounds like my old Jeep Grand Cherokee V8, when going downhill I could see 92 MPG.
Couldn't resist.

Interesting because that is exactly the numbers I see. If I fill up and immediately jump on an interstate it will take awhile but it will hit 37+ - in fact on one long trip pretty much all highway it nearly hit 40 before I pulled off the exit. 2015 Optima SX Turbo. Normal mode, not Eco. I routinely get 27/28 overall, mostly highway driving for my commute to work with a lot of stop-and-go with traffic, then around town driving on weekends. I drive on I95 and I81 when I see the numbers in the high 30s. Really surprised me the first time it happened.

 

[Turbonut]

Have you ever checked the mileage manually? 99% of the 2.0T owners complain about the terrible fuel mileage and Kia also agrees that the mileage is not good, and as I stated above, the numbers you're seeing are better than the Hybrid. In fact the EPA on the '15 2.0T is 20/30 24 combined, and normally the EPA is overly aggressive with the numbers, but in your case you see 30% better mileage. Our '11 2.0T is rated 22/33 26 avg, better than the '15 and I've never seen that fuel mileage, with or w/o eco.
It is what it is.

 

[tonester]

I've achieved as high as 34 mpg overall (my own calculations rather than what the computer reported) on my 2018 2.0T in ECO mode driving at speeds mostly no higher than 72 mph (not saying that I was averaging 72 mph the entire time) but yeah for the most part it's kinda difficult to normally achieve more than 32 mpg (with the 2.0T) w/o "cheating"--e.g., driving back home from Tahoe to Sacramento in my case. I suppose if I could discipline myself to cruise at 65 mph on a 400-mile stretch of mostly flat freeway I could get high-30s.

All other things being equal, cruising (i.e., no throttle variation) at a fixed speed in either ECO or Sport mode should not result in a drastic difference in fuel economy between either mode.

 

[Turbonut]

Just thought I'd add, today, checked the avg mpg as shown in the cluster, 26 mpg and manually calculated to 26.1 and that was with a 220 round trip in there.

 

[tonester]

LOL typically for me my manual calculations run ~1 mpg lower than what the cluster says...

Slight tangent--I think the TPMS reading in the cluster might be reading a bit high as well; on a recent commute the cluster reported 35 psi but when I checked the tire pressure with my trusty dial gauge shortly after I had stopped, the gauge read 30 psi. Now it's possible that my gauge may have lost some of its accuracy over the years--I'll have to buy another tire gauge to double-check; if it reads identical to that of my old gauge then I would suspect that the TPMS is off since after all what are the odds that two tire gauges are equally inaccurate?

 

[Turbonut]

^At least you can see the pressures on each corner, but when the TPMS sensor lights on
our '11 it's a search and seek adventure to see which one is the culprit.

 

[tonester]

LOL on my '04 GMC it's the same way (no individual indicators for each tire), but even worse I've been procrastinating on getting new TPMS sensors for it since the original ones have apparently died a graceful death some time ago.

"Search and seek adventure"?? C'mon, it ain't that much of an adventure--all it takes is a few seconds with a trusty tire pressure gauge...not unless you're trying to say that the TPMS indicator is triggering a false positive, in which case yeah not sure how one could easily figure out which sensor is the culprit without some creative detective work or removing the sensor from the wheel itself.

 

[Turbonut]

No not a difficult job, just an annoyance and I do keep a digital unit in each car, never know. The 2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee has a bad R/F TPMS. I replaced them all when I purchased new tires and one a no go. Have another sitting in the glove box....... Want to buy a Hemi?

 

[KingFatty]

To get back on track, here are 4 thoughts on ECO:

1) ECO mode changes how the transmission shifts, but what else? I think it changes the responsiveness of the gas pedal too.

2) It's pointless to evaluate ECO performance using highway driving, where the car doesn't shift much at all (transmission sits in 6th gear the whole time) and you don't reposition the gas pedal. Steady highway cruising should use the same gas whether ECO is on or off.

3) You need to resist "fighting" how the car feels on ECO with the lower shift points and slower gas pedal response. I think some people don't like how it feels (you are saving gas so the car will be less peppy) and "overcompensate" by pushing the gas pedal even harder (like when they want to make the car downshift to feel peppy, they burn more gas by pushing down the pedal more, to force the downshift right then even though ECO is saying no you should be getting into and staying in higher gears ASAP).

4) You can use your RPMs as a guide to save gas and help ECO do its thing. Just ease off the gas pedal when you reach a target RPM, like 2500 for example, and let the transmission upshift early and resist poking the gas pedal to force downshifts.

I'm interested in hearing more if more recent versions of the car use other techniques when in ECO mode, but my knowledge is based on my 2012 year. I try to adopt a money-saving mindset when using ECO most of the time, and I turn off ECO when I want to enjoy the drive.

Another consideration is whether your transmission has learned very aggressive shift points based on your driving history. Maybe consider giving ECO mode a new try, and reset your shift points. Then, as you drive more conservatively with ECO mode on, you'll enable the transmission to learn new shift points that saves even more gas.

 

[tonester]

TBH I don't know what exactly the computer does or doesn't do when in ECO mode but I'd guess that throttle response is affected and perhaps ignition timing as well? Also maybe how much fuel is injected for any given throttle position?

Not sure how great a fuel economy one could achieve if keeping a steady throttle (i.e., cruising) with the engine at 2500 rpm; granted I dunno what the gearing is on previous-gen Optimas but on my 2018 I know that in top gear with the engine at 2K rpm, the speedometer reads ~70 mph so I can only imagine how much higher the speedo has to be reading at 2500 rpm (in top gear). Not unless you meant to say don't rev the engine higher than 2500 rpm when accelerating...

 

[KingFatty]

Tonester yes, thanks for the clarification. I've sometimes tried keeping revs as low as 2000 when I'm really trying to hypermile, but people behind you can get grumpy...

 

[Turbonut]

Turbo 6th gear/ final drive the same 0.77/2.89.
On the trip to Florida in 2017, eco would see 30 mpg, normal 29, but at 70/80 and acceleration needed, I choose to keep it in normal at all times, but wife at times puts it in eco and I get caught when I don't see the eco light on.

 

[tonester]

Tonester yes, thanks for the clarification. I've sometimes tried keeping revs as low as 2000 when I'm really trying to hypermile, but people behind you can get grumpy...

LOL been there, done that--thus why when on freeways I keep it at around 72 mph and stay in the #2 lane or higher (towards the right side of the road) for the most part. I have my CLK55 if I had a desire to cruise at much higher speeds and/or looking to pass vehicles in a blink of an eye...