Re: Pulse and Glide works, But...
As most of you know, the TCH gets excellent FE for the size car it is. I’ve noticed that a lot of you are trying to get the best FE as possible. There are a few factors that affect this effort; terrain, temperature, wind direction, rain, tire pressure, and road surface type to mention a few. Most of these factors are self explanatory as you all ready know.
A lot of you, in this forum, are practicing what is commonly called, “pulse and glide”, to help you achieve FE. I applaud you in your efforts but to me this is a lot of work. If Toyota has designed their curies control correctly on level terrain it should come very close to achieving your goal without this extra effort, however, you the driver, can do better in hilly country by letting the car lose speed as you ascend the incline, while cruise would maintain speed using unnecessary energy. After topping the hill the car will recover some speed as it descends the hill as well as recapturing some energy. After all of this has been said, remember, energy is neither created nor destroyed. The energy that the car uses to achieve speed is lost due to braking, air drag, weather conditions, gravity, friction within the drive train, and as well as rolling friction, (this amount is determined by road surface type and tire pressure).
So good luck, I hope you achieve your goals.
Junie's TCH
Desert Sand Mica
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