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Hybrid Vehicles Hybrid Vehicles - Archived Discussions Toyota Prius: Problems & Solutions 
711 messages, Last post on Oct 27, 2006 at 3:23 AM
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I rented a (2005) Prius while on vacation in Arizona this year. While visiting the Grand Canyon I experienced difficult snow and ice conditions. There were many vehicles (mostly SUVs, go figure) in ditches. During that whole day I only experienced one problem and that was more engine braking than I wanted while creeping down an icy hill. What I found was that the front wheels were rotating and skidding at the same time because of engine braking, that is to say the indicated speed was about 10MPH but I was descending the hill faster than that. In the end I had to select neutral so that I could achieve balanced braking from all four wheels.
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Replying to: texvegas (Sep 13, 2006 7:08 am) Reading between the lines, I would say that the HSD system has a snow/ice traction control bug. And another commnet the 50/50 weight is being touted for the wrong reasons. 50/50 is considered ideal for a true sports car in good weather conditions. 50% of the weight on the RWD and 50% on the steering. For traction you want more on the drive wheeels. Actuallly most front wheel drive are 60% on front wheels . However, this does increase wear on those wheels and makes steering heavier. That is why there is so much to od about i4 versus V6 in handling. with I$ theres is close to 50/50% weight distirbutuion. The auto manufacturers changes nothing add the additional weight of the v6 and the steering is heavier. If you are wealthy , I understand the ideal snow car is a Carrera 4 with Blizzacks on all four wheels. Studded snow tires last resort, unless wehater conditions really really bad. The studs tearr up everything have bad handling excpet on ice and return poor mileage. Almost as bad as snow chains. Glad I don't deal with either naymore. MidCow |
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Replying to: grandtotal (Sep 13, 2006 8:19 am) The problem arises when the Prius is stuck in the snow. On conventional cars, one can "rock" the vehicle back and forth to get the car moving again. The 2004-2005 Prius (at least) would not allow the wheels to spin in this situation, resulting in the car just sitting there, dead as a doornail. There was nothing mechanically wrong - but the computer would not let the driver engage the wheels. The situation would not come up unless the Prius got stuck. You simply never encountered the proper conditions. Some people are posting that the 2006 Prius corrects this problem, but so for no one has posted any personal experiences. Perhaps next winter...
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Replying to: stevedebi (Sep 13, 2006 8:28 am) Seems most would prefer not getting out, to actually getting themselves unstuck! 
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Replying to: terry92270 (Sep 13, 2006 8:38 am) Your are absolutely right Terry and you can accomplish this is you plan ahaead and carry the sand , cardboard, or wood plank with you. But what hapens if you don't have any of those items on board, either a freak or unexpected ice/storm comes up or you just didn't plan ahead and put the supplies in your vehicle. What do you do? That is why you rock a card back and forth! Might be too far or too cold to walk! good luck, MidCow
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Replying to: midnightcowboy (Sep 13, 2006 11:01 am) I also always keep, even in So California, a camp shovel, which I could always use to dig down for dirt, if really stuck. I mean, just how much space do those take? 
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Replying to: terry92270 (Sep 13, 2006 12:28 pm) Many people have said they drive the Prius in snow, but a few have had the "immobile" problem, which is related to the Prius. Heck, I can make a Prius do 10,000 MPG, if I ride a bike... 
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Replying to: stevedebi (Sep 13, 2006 2:03 pm)
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Replying to: Mr_Shiftright (Sep 14, 2006 8:40 am) Hopefully some people will post their experiences this winter. Any Prius owners out there want to deliberately drive into snow to see if the 2006 Prius will "rock"? 
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Replying to: Mr_Shiftright (Sep 14, 2006 8:40 am) It's not likely any but the most inside engineering people at the manufacturer know what was done (if something was done) to mitigate a problem like this. I highly doubt it would perculate up to the dealers, specially one in such a temperate zone as San Fran. Now then, if some smart tech living in the snow belt was running to ground a root-cause for claims of an owner, and if that tech made the report through channels, well then, maybe that tech would know what was happening, and what was being done. The point is, with highly computerized complicated control systems going in our vehicles, how does the user community (or service technicians, or salespeople) end up "knowing" what the system is really doing, and if it is working per design... if it's a bug, or a "feature". Systems behaving as normal or being problematic? That's our future. |
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