Econ or no Econ?

[XR6_661]

Who here uses econ?

Mine is pretty much on all the time!

Is there much of a difference between econ and power?

Post your thoughts!!

[S3SR]

i dont have econ only manual...lol

the power and econ is in the right foot anyways

[GlennBA]

Originally Posted by FALCONSR

i dont have econ only manual...lol

the power and econ is in the right foot anyways

What he said..
Power mode holds gears longer in the autos, and uses more petrol.

[janddbone]

My old man has an EL Auto with around 400,000km on it now.

I drive it every now and then; and basically I look at it this way with his model. The button just says Econ... That means the function for economy is either on or off. It is not a 'Power' or 'Econ' function, just the one. As far as I know the Econ fuction works by locking the torque converter up in third and forth gears and by adopting a more laid back and labouring shift map. I use it on the open road, or generally when I am not needing ot change gear much, otherwise it is just pointless and puts more strain on the transmission. Other models are different to this. In the end it is your right foot that determines how much fuel you use, and selecting the correct gears to keep you moving along, that is what they are for!!!

Dad always used to drive with it in econ always, mainly because the button sounded cheaper!!! Now the car is getting on and worn out he only uses econ on the open road, he notices it is overall a more flexible car without econ on...

On a side note, the Auto is the original, nothing but servicing every 100,000km or so... No worries at all so far.

[Cooper69S]

I understand econ to be really a city-driving feature. afaik the only difference is earlier shifts and earlier lockup. haven't paid enough attention to the AU shifts lately, but in my EF in econ it locked in 3rd at 55kph, shift to 4th at 70kph. in power it shifted to 4th at 60kph but didn't lock the torque converter until about 80, so either way, once you're up to highway speed it'll make absolutely no difference whether you're in econ or pwr except for kickback when overtaking, so may as well leave it in power.

I always drove in power in the EF because otherwise it would always stay in 3rd until i got to 70, and most of the roads were 60 - always felt like it was wanting to change gear but couldn't. I think they fixed that in the EL so you could do 60 in 4th in econ...

Geoff

[GlennBA]

Originally Posted by FALCONSR

i dont have econ only manual...lol

the power and econ is in the right foot anyways

^^ what he said ^^

[Fairlane]

Econ always it holds the gear to long in normal mode, its pretty stupid (you can get to run anyway if you floor it)- all the torque is down low on the 4.0l anyway. If im in the city or on a windy rural road i still leave it in econ and just lockout 4th; seems to work better.

[The Monty]

There is no power difference. I use econ when Im shifting manually, as it holds the gear better, and gives firmer shifts, and no econ when Im mountain driving, or driving assertively.

[XR Martin]

Doesnt make a difference in terms of economy for me. Im not if its just my car or all ELs do it, but on econ, the gearbox never seems to know what gear it wants. So I run it in 'power' mode all the time and it doesnt gear hunt as bad.

[ssb2005]

econ and second (or third :p)for gravel drifting :p (mm torque)
power and manual for hills, econ (and manual) generally for city, flick the power button when i want more puncy downshifts in the city when im feeling agressive or for fast overtakes.
power seems stupid just cruising cos it holds the gear way to long, its good for when your up for it

[TURBOTAXI]

I use power mode because on econ the turbo loads the trans too much

[Dezza]

I keep it in Economy for general, slow driving, but use Power if I want it to hold gears a bit longer. A lot of the time, I manually use the gears anyway, so it wouldn't matter what mode it's in

[Dezza]

Originally Posted by ea_silver_ghia

I keep it in Economy for general, slow driving, but use Power if I want it to hold gears a bit longer. A lot of the time, I manually use the gears anyway, so it wouldn't matter what mode it's in

Well, now my car is a manual so I no longer have Econ. Therefore my vote is now wrong

[Taylornator]

I use Econ for normal driving and Power for when i'm towing or carrying heavy loads

1990 NA Sportsman 4spd Auto

[[Tonko]]

i use economy most of the time.
for some reason my tailshaft thumps in power mode, so i just go easy or keep it in Economy

[EA2BA]

mine lives in power mode, but in really heavy traffic i drop it to econ as it kicks too hard between gears.

the big difference between them for me, is kickdown, econ thinks too much.

[Lukeyson]

in the wifes car, power all the time, she hates gay kickdown response.

i dont know how true this is, but i thought the power mode, because of the quicker shifts, made less heat in the auto, therefore being better for the life of the box, especially behind the old weezer????

[BlueRaven]

Well I've got a different reason for using econ. I always drove im power and found, once shifting to econ, that we were getting an extra 20 - 30ks out of a tank on city driving.

[max]

Originally Posted by BlueRaven

Well I've got a different reason for using econ. I always drove im power and found, once shifting to econ, that we were getting an extra 20 - 30ks out of a tank on city driving.

Shittay? Is that a fact? I'll have to give it a go! I thought it was primarily a long distance criusing feature. I'd whack it on the highway cruise set on 115 klix and with economy on the tacho sat on just under 2000rpm. Tank of LPG got me all the way from Adelaide to Melbourne.

[BlueRaven]

Originally Posted by max

Shittay? Is that a fact? I'll have to give it a go! I thought it was primarily a long distance criusing feature. I'd whack it on the highway cruise set on 115 klix and with economy on the tacho sat on just under 2000rpm. Tank of LPG got me all the way from Adelaide to Melbourne.

Yeah, I didn't know how much it helped on highway traffic - but city it definately makes it difference.

Power on our AU has a habit of dropping too many gears when you plant it, meaning your car is momentarily screaming its head off until it decides its not going to get any more speed out of 1st/2nd gear. It also holds gears longer up the rev range.

[Smoked]

Originally Posted by BlueRaven

Power on our AU has a habit of dropping too many gears when you plant it, meaning your car is momentarily screaming its head off until it decides its not going to get any more speed out of 1st/2nd gear. It also holds gears longer up the rev range.

I have also found that. Can be quite annoying when it drops to 1st, to only climb 200rpm and change up.

[XR6_661]

That's the main reason why I use econ, better fuel economy in the city. I wouldn't mind otherwise, but trainee wages are shite!

[OzJavelin]

Econ for normal driving .. it (AU V8) wants to drop back gears too-fast/too-often for normal overtaking and whatnot in Power mode. Power mode for acceleration and towing only ..

[Smoked]

Makes bugger all difference for me. The gears hold a bit more in normal mode, shift harder too. ECON just shortens the shift.

[Dauphin]

I find that power mode just makes the auto trans more busy with its shifting, so I leave it in econ. Can get from A to B all the same.

[Jason[98.EL]]

i didnt vote but i do use both

i use power around town and if im on the highway i use econ

i do it this way as i have been told by my mechanic

by the way its my old man and ill believe him over anyone else

jason

[BlueRaven]

I think it comes down the preference...theres no right or wrong way.

[merlin]

With or without Econ A/C is just as cold so I use Econ - runs the compressor at a lower speed.

[Dauphin]

I read an archived road test review (at goauto.com.au I think) of the AU II Fairlane last year. The author said something like it was the best gearbox, always in the right gear for what he was doing, in perfect synch with what he wanted. I wonder what he thinks of the new 6-speed ZF compared to that.

[Scruba]

Econ is best used on the highway as it locks the torque convertor so not real efficient for around town driving.