I have a 2020 Toyota RAV4 Hybrid with 22000 miles. The question has to do with ECO, Normal, Sport mode. First, does it hurt the engine to run in ECO mode all of the time. I have been doing a lot of highway driving and was wondering if I should be running in Normal mode on at highway speed and ECO in town.
What are your thoughts?
Joe from PA
It does not hurt the engine.
I think that if it was harmful, then
A) there would be a warning somewhere like in the manual , or
B) the computer would not LET you use it all the time.
I think that a lot, if not most drivers, use eco all the time. If this was damaging engines, Toyota would be facing a lot of big lawsuits. That would just be really stupid design and I would be surprised.
In fact, I suspect that eco mode might even be better for the car. Less wear and tear.
It was designed by the engineers to improve the gas mileage and it is not something like these autostart/stop gimmick. You can use them all the time, although I would say it is more effective in city driving. You can track your mpg to see how it works for your driving.
