If you’ve decided to try out your car’s eco mode, you might be wondering when you should use it. Given that your vehicle will operate with reduced power in eco mode, it works best when you won’t need to accelerate rapidly, such as in congested suburban streets or slow-moving traffic. Eco mode excels in city driving, where stop-and-go traffic is common. Since eco mode reduces the throttle response and shifts gears at lower RPMs, it can help you save fuel in urban areas where the transmission often has to work nonstop.
You may also want to consider using eco mode when going on a long trip where you’ll be driving at moderate speeds (between 30 and 60 mph), such as highway driving with cruise control. In these situations, eco mode can improve fuel efficiency by keeping the engine running at lower RPMs, which conserves fuel over long distances.
There are also times when you’ll want to avoid putting your car in eco mode because it may do more harm than good. Eco mode isn’t the best choice for high-speed highway driving, where you might need to accelerate quickly to overtake a car or merge with traffic. The reduced power output can hurt your vehicle’s performance in these situations. You also won’t want to use eco mode if you will be towing or going up steep inclines because the reduced torque and power might not provide the necessary performance to handle these conditions safely.
