dreyfus

I've noticed over the months of driving my ES350 that the rolling resistance of this car seems to be quite low. By that I mean when I'm coasting in drive or in neutral the car doesn't slow down as rapidly as other cars I've owned.

I notice this most when going down hills with other traffic in front of me. Without the car in front of me using their brakes (and me coasting), I find I often have to use my brakes because my downhill speed keeps me creeping up on them.

Of course this effect is more pronounced in neutral as there is no drag from the transmission. But in any case it's very noticable and is a good thing. It means better gas mileage and is indicative of a well-built car.

ES350Bob

Downhill that seems normal to me.

On a reasonably flat straightaway I noticed the downshifting slowing the car to a point and then oddly it maintains RPM near or at 1,000 for quite some time, both my former and current ES350 did/do this. I have not selected graph display of MPG when this is happening but intend to because it seems the auto=throttle, AKA software, for some reason adds fuel to maintain the more or less 1,000 RPM.

Have you noticed that as well about your car? And if so, that may be part of the reason you are adding brakes on downhill settings, as any RPM induced by the software when the car is on a downhill is going to net speed.

Kaius88

i guess it depends on your style of driving and where you come from. My previous car, a manual transmission Miata, had no resistance because I press the clutch when im coasting, thus keeping it in neutral. I find that ES350 has lots of resistance in comparision.... As soon as I stop pressing the gas, it feels like the car slows down considerably....perhaps downshifting. This occurs only on city streets and not on highways. Sometimes I wish the car would automatically go into neutral when the gas is not pressed.

dreyfus

Any downshifting without pressing the gas will slow the car, not speed it up. The RPMs should go up at this point.

I can travel my usual routes in other familly cars without braking for the car in front of me. So the ES350 is often rolling faster than the car in front of me or my other familly cars.

dreyfus

Putting an AT in neutral should be equivalent to clutching a MT. Of course an AT in gear will crawl compared to a clutched MT. I'm just noticing I have to brake for cars going downhill in my ES350 more often than I do when driving other cars - all other variables being the same.

Yeah, an automatic neutral that would instantly jump to drive when the gas is pressed would be sweet, but hard to engineer.

Be glad that you don't drive a hybrid with that regenerative braking.

ES350Bob

Here is what I notice: Get the car up to say 40 mph on a reasonably flat road, let your foot off the gas and it will on it's own downshift spiking the RPM only to a point, that being roughly 1,000 RPM more or less and it keeps going and going and going, it is as though it has it's own cruise control for a lengthy period of time.

As to what that may or may not do or has anything to do on a downhill slope I don't know as it is rather flat here in these parts.

MD350

When I bought my ES, I thought the same thing. It was something I had to get used to for a few weeks. But, yes, your feeling of the rolling resistance was exactly mine. I am used to it now.

Macklin

I noticed this exact thing after I bought my '98 ES. This car is exactly the same in that respect. I believe it certainly plays into why both cars get such good gas mileage.

onsknht

Both Bob and dreyfus have a point... But there's a difference.

All this BS about the transmission "learning" is just that BS... This is one example.

I readily notice that the transmission will either allow the car to coast or it will cause it to downshift depending on the conditions being driven. For example if I drive in traffic (stop & go) the trans responds to this and readily downshifts when the pedal is released. However drive at the same speed as stop & go traffic (say 40 MPH) and be able to maintain the speed without stopping and the car will coast or freewheel without downshifting.

I wish I knew the magical combination for which the transmission "learns." This should be something in the owners manual, I got more explaination regarding the use of my coffee maker than Toyota supplies for their transmissions... Would be nice if they simply stated something like the following.

"The transmission will learn the driver's habits and operating environment within "X" miles or "X" minutes of driving time and react to these inputs. Driving at a steady speed will will cause the transmission to go into #1 mode, in stop and go traffic it will go to #2 mode and aggressive driving will cause #3 mode to control the transmission ~~~~ These unique modes have the following characteristics.... Blah, blah, blah ~~~~~ To change the transmission mode, the driver needs to maintain the desired driving style for "X" miles or "X" minutes"

Or better yet... Give me a Granny, Economy, Sport and Race button.

dreyfus

There you go! Just like on my '85 Camry.

psp

Isn't R for Race?

Nextourer

Why? Lightly pressing the accelerator on Toyota hybrid models make the car go into "Glide" mode. This is when the engine is off and the battery is NOT supplying power nor is the car regenerating and sending power back into the battery.

This is identical to clutching in manual. There is no drag from the drivetrain (for all intenstive purposes). To simulate an automatic drag, we just lift off the accelerator and regenerate.

ZaKapitan

It's one of the reasons your car gets such good gas mileage

This thread sounds a little too much like a minor complaint.

dreyfus

Not from me, as is evident from my opening post.

ES350Bob

It's ok dreyfus, this is not an "official" site, so nobody should take it seriously even if it was a complaint about getting great gas mileage.