In today’s cars, beyond being electric, hybrid or combustion, what is sought is efficiency, but also save gasoline, especially now in those that run, where the price of fuel continues to drown many. This is why certain drivers often use a button that comes on the car’s own controls, but if it is used too much it can lead to major breakdowns . We are talking about the ECO button.
The ECO button is used to save gasoline, but…
Things have changed for the worse for owners of combustion vehicles, whether gasoline or diesel. Currently, a liter of diesel is paid 12% more expensive than gasoline, according to the most recent figures provided by the European Union Oil Bulletin.
By contrast, just a year ago, gasoline cost 10% more than diesel. In fact, during the last decade this had been the usual trend, since the gap had regularly remained between 5 and 15 cents per liter in favor of diesel.
This is why, beyond paying a higher cost, many drivers are looking for techniques to save gasoline. And in those, the most modern cars have functions to take advantage of this purpose. We speak, among others, of the ECO mode or ECO button, but that is not for prolonged use either…
What you should take into account
Because, obviously, this is a payment that is fixed as long as you use your vehicle. It is about fuel and it affects motorcycles, cars, vans… the exception, as you know, is electric cars, although in this case you will also have to pay to recharge them.
In any case, in newer cars it is allowed to have an ECO button , which is also used by hybrid cars that run on gasoline, to save fuel from time to time on all our journeys. However, it is also worth mentioning that it is not recommended to use it always, far from it.
Thus, the economic benefits of ecological driving mean that we can save up to 25%, adding other advantages for the driver, such as improving comfort and safety (reducing the risks and severity of accidents).
The normal thing when activating the ECO mode is that the engine reduces the fuel flow and even its power. It’s noticeable, but it will allow you to drive the car at low revs, which isn’t a good thing over long runs. It also alters the behavior of the change in automatic cars, making gear changes before to circulate at low revolutions, causing failures in the transmission .
If we have it activated, the response of the car varies completely
Likewise, in diesel cars, the possible breakdowns that can occur due to abusing slow driving and low revolutions are related to the anti-pollution systems that these engines equip, such as the EGR or exhaust gas recirculation valve, and the famous filter of diesel particles.
In this way, we must think that every time we have the ECO mode of the car activated, the response of the car varies completely . It’s kind of like his personality changes, making him accelerate slower and run less.
