I just saw a Lexus commercial where the narrator claimed, "someday, you will be able to decide whether you want to drive more economically, or with more power". And lo and behold, they show a switch to change between power and econ mode. Pretty sure my car has been doin just that since last century, Lexus.

 

And I know this isnt an inspection story, i dont know why it did that. That was an old post.

 

Habit. And now the newer S60's have econ, sport, and advanced. What up now Lexus.

 

I thought they meant hybrid, duh.

Toyota is going downhill and that could have been the reason; everyone is panicking at the moment at their headquarters in Nagoya, Japan. Their public relations/advertising dept people may have been under serious stress or harassment by management/co-workers commonly seen in Japanese society.


JPN

 

I thinks this is a funny story.
Thanks for spend your time to post.

 

It is easier to copy something that works and market it as new than to come up with a completely new idea. Been going on for years!!!

 

I'm not tryin to start anything, but that commercial was for a hybrid. I think it is a kinda new concept to be able to drive a hybrid like a performance car or an economy car through the flip of a switch.

 

I actually said the same thing when I first saw the commercial. I've never used the sport mode on my 850; what does it do differently?

 

Toyota has actually had power/ econ modes for years. The '87 Camry had the feature. What they're showing off in the ads probably has to do with something specific to the hybrid- Running a Toyota hybrid (they're the only ones to market hybrids with electric motors powerful enough to move the car on its own) with both the gas engine AND the electric motor at full tilt could very well make for quick acceleration, especially with the instant torque of the electric motor helping launch.

Which leads to another thought- Take a turbocharged Volvo, and add an electric motor to help with launch... hmm...

 

My poor 850, when it ran well... when I put it in 'sport' mode,' it seemed to give it more power when accelerating, and also let the engine rev up more before shifting. I like the acceleration, and I use it on freeway onramps when I need to get up to speed and merge quickly.

 

If you have a turbo, you will notice a big difference. It tells the ecu computer to act like a sports car and not worry about saving gas. So, it lets the engine rev up faster, causes the transmission to shift later, and makes the throttle respond more agressively. In my T-5R it acts like I turned the turbo on. I use it all the time when driving on the freeway. When I hit the gas, it pours it on. If I punch it from a stand still, it actually causes my car to growl and dig in.

On my 960, non-turbo, I don't notice it that much. I think I need a tune up but it does shift later.

The switch can be flipped at any time. I use to think it should only be switched while at a stop but that is not the case.

I seen that commercial. Just shook my head.