POWER BUTTON... does it make much difference at all ??

[commodore665]

right foot i think you mean

power mode is mostly for shift points. drive the car sensibly and you should be able to use either mode just as effectively.

sorry yes I meant right foot

 

[mirrabucca]

My VX V6 has a three- window dash. Leaving it set on litres per 100 k's it shows a big difference in instantaneous fuel consumption as the revs drop when it changes up (ie from 3rd to 4th). When I am in eco mode it will shift at about 70 k's. In power mode it shift closer to 80. So there's the fuel saving. Less time spent in the lower gears. Same in my wife's Cruze. You can see the difference whenever the revs drop even though the right foot hasn't moved. This is mainly because the car is doing less revs per kilometer. That's also why these cars seem to have a sweet spot (for fuel economy) at around 100 to 110. At a steady 60 k's my VX is using about 6 litres per 100 k's. At a steady 110 its at 5.4.
Of course, over 120 and it gets thirsty! And why the big V8's can get incredible economy on a trip. Look at the VS - VY advertised figures. Compare city with country. And compare that with equivalent sized modern cars!

 

[Brettly-2008]

My VX V6 has a three- window dash. Leaving it set on litres per 100 k's it shows a big difference in instantaneous fuel consumption as the revs drop when it changes up (ie from 3rd to 4th). When I am in eco mode it will shift at about 70 k's. In power mode it shift closer to 80. So there's the fuel saving. Less time spent in the lower gears. Same in my wife's Cruze. You can see the difference whenever the revs drop even though the right foot hasn't moved. This is mainly because the car is doing less revs per kilometer. That's also why these cars seem to have a sweet spot (for fuel economy) at around 100 to 110. At a steady 60 k's my VX is using about 6 litres per 100 k's. At a steady 110 its at 5.4.
Of course, over 120 and it gets thirsty! And why the big V8's can get incredible economy on a trip. Look at the VS - VY advertised figures. Compare city with country. And compare that with equivalent sized modern cars!

No V6 Commodore is getting 5.4L per 100km at 110kmh.

 

[mirrabucca]

If I could post pictures...
Best trip was a few years ago (when the engine wasn't worn etc), we went from Canberra to Newcastle. Filled up at Goulburn. Got the Hexam. The average according to the dash was 6.6 litres per 100 k's. Yes, that agreed with the actual pump to pump figures.
The speedo is accurate (digital) and has been calibrated. It agrees 100% with the GPS, both for current speed and distance travelled and distance to go.

 

[EYY]

Power mode is great for hilly areas. Issue is that with standard tuning and not in power mode, it allows the engine to labour too much on top gear.

When you’re approaching a hill it’ll hold too gear too long before changing down a gear, by which stage it needs to change down two gears. In this case i’d say there are fuel savings to be had in power mode. It’s totally situation dependent.

 

[Brettly-2008]

If I could post pictures...
Best trip was a few years ago (when the engine wasn't worn etc), we went from Canberra to Newcastle. Filled up at Goulburn. Got the Hexam. The average according to the dash was 6.6 litres per 100 k's. Yes, that agreed with the actual pump to pump figures.
The speedo is accurate (digital) and has been calibrated. It agrees 100% with the GPS, both for current speed and distance travelled and distance to go.

OK. What PS1 are you running in your tyres? Is it manual? I've owned plenty of Commodores and I'm OCD with getting bullshit low consumption out of them on long trips (even the SS), but I've never had one achieve lower than low 7s over a decent run. What you're saying is you're getting almost 1300kms out of a tank?

 

[NeddyBear]

An interesting post, power mode yes I've seen the button but have never turned it on.