- #7032 of 7475
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Re: toyota prius navigation updates? [skip1]
by seeko
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Sep 27, 2006 (12:33 pm)
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Replying to: skip1 (Sep 26, 2006 8:59 pm)
 thank you for your response.  pete
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- #7033 of 7475
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Green Battery
by seroq
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Sep 28, 2006 (8:06 pm)
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Replying to: seeko (Sep 27, 2006 12:33 pm)
I've posted this message once before and got only one response, so I'd like to post it again to get additional responses.
Occasionall on the Energy Monitor Screen the battery instead of displaying blue stripes, it displays green stripes all the way to the top of the battery. Again, this happens only very occasionally. Can anyone give mw some info of what this means?
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- #7034 of 7475
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Re: Green Battery [seroq]
by skip1
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Sep 28, 2006 (11:35 pm)
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Replying to: seroq (Sep 28, 2006 8:06 pm)
It is just the opposite of when the lines go red. You have a full charge on the batteries. This usually happens when your driving causes it to be in ice mode more than kicking in the electric motors or a lot of regenerative braking going down long steep roads. etc. I hope this helped
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- #7035 of 7475
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brakes
by seroq
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Sep 30, 2006 (7:56 pm)
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Why does the Prius have disc brakes in the front and drums in the back? Is it a matter of expense?
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- #7036 of 7475
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Re: brakes [seroq]
by backy
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Oct 01, 2006 (8:12 am)
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Replying to: seroq (Sep 30, 2006 7:56 pm)
Yes. The Prius in some other countries such as the UK does have four-wheel disc brakes.
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- #7037 of 7475
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Re: brakes [seroq]
by pathstar1
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Oct 02, 2006 (12:42 pm)
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Replying to: seroq (Sep 30, 2006 7:56 pm)
I believe the 2007 has four wheel discs for Canada. Going by the "electronic brochure" on the Toyota Can. site. The US model is speced with drum rear brakes. It may be a typo in the Canadian brochure - I'll check when they come in and report back.
At any rate, drums are fine for rear wheels. Only 10-20% of braking is done by the rear wheels (unless you are backing up, but you don't do that at speed). 10% is the usually accepted figure. The only advantage to rear discs is they could be less prone to locking. With built in antilock this shouldn't be an issue.
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- #7038 of 7475
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Re: brakes [pathstar1]
by backy
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Oct 02, 2006 (12:57 pm)
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Replying to: pathstar1 (Oct 02, 2006 12:42 pm)
If drums are fine for rear wheels, why does every luxury car and sports car--and even many lower-end cars such as the Prius in other countries--have 4-wheel discs these days?
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- #7039 of 7475
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Re: brakes [backy]
by kdhspyder
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Oct 02, 2006 (2:31 pm)
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Replying to: backy (Oct 02, 2006 12:57 pm)
It's a policy matter with Toyota and Honda on US sold vehicles, I'd have to research other makes. My feeling that it's in deference to the bland manner in which most American vehicles are driven; i.e. transport appliances as opposed to fun, performance drivers.
If posed to the typical 40-55 mph commuter would you pay extra for disks on the back? The answer would likely be, 'No, why?' I've driven 500,000 miles over the last 20 yrs or so and never even considered the need for rear disks.
Other markets have differing 'needs' which may or may not be valid. By my experiences in my driving they offer no added value to a vehicle.
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- #7040 of 7475
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Re: brakes [kdhspyder]
by backy
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Oct 02, 2006 (2:41 pm)
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Replying to: kdhspyder (Oct 02, 2006 2:31 pm)
It probably has to do with expectations. Perhaps buyers in other countries expect features like disc brakes and even little things like height adjusters on seats (another thing absent on the Prius in the U.S.). But in the U.S., side airbags are real big and quickly becoming standard even on low-end cars. I don't think that is true in other countries.
I'd rather have 4-wheel disc brakes and NOT pay extra for them--which is what I did.
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- #7041 of 7475
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Re: brakes [backy]
by pathstar1
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Oct 02, 2006 (8:54 pm)
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Replying to: backy (Oct 02, 2006 12:57 pm)
Why do luxury cars and Prius in other countries have rear discs? That's easy. Because they sell cars! They aren't needed. Really. My Pathfinder has rear drums. It's a 4400 lb vehicle with a lot of power, which I tend to drive "quickly", including on mountain roads. The front disks activate antilock about the same time as the rears - I tested for this, wondering why the antilock seemed too sensitive. It turned out to be the junk tires the vehicle came with, but showed the drum rears were just fine. It did the same with the new Nokian WRs BTW, just at a much higher stopping rate (objects in car pass driver)!
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