Scary driving Prius on a windy day

Sure, but that's true with most cars in 40 MPH winds. Unless you've got a lowriding sportscar, you're gonna feel the wind. I'd hate to be in a VW microbus in those winds!

 

Is it me, or are there a lot of people on this site who sound like they've never driven a car before? Really.

To the person who started this thread - yeah, not too long ago I drove on the highway with high winds, and yeah, I got buffeted around. But no more so than any of the other cars I've ever owned. Actually, because of the Prius' aerodynamic body, maybe a bit less noticeable.

If you really want to feel the wind, try driving a large SUV that has a large cross-section. I don't care how heavy the vehicle is, if you have 40 mph cross-winds coming perpendicular to a big boxy SUV, you're gonna feel it bigtime! Ergo, that's why most state highway departments will BAN large trucks from crossing bridges, etc when there are high wind warnings.

 

The Prius is actually heavier than most cars it's size, so wind effect would actually be less than a similar sized vehicle.

 

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My Prius replaced a 97 Camry... I would say I feel a bit better in the Prius than the Camry with high winds. In Feb/Mar. we should get our 80+ mph gusts so I will report back than.

 

Do you have 15" tyres? they are good for fuel savings, but I am not too sure about stability with side winds on a car that big and that heavy. It will not be unsafe, but surely 15" tires on such a car is not geared towards stability.

 

GreenGuy,

About 2-3 weeks ago I drove in 60+ MPH gusts, and sure it knocked me each time a hit would come but not that I would sway out of my lane at all....

I saw a few other cars swaying more, so don't think given the Windspeed, I did bad at all. Sure, you could feel the gusts and it did want to sway...but I was glad to not be in a higher profile vehicle, as they seemed to be the one's "swaying".

Not a really bad experience at all....

 

I think it's funny that the windshield wipers shake the car when they are on fulll speed.

 

To the OP: I find the Prius less stable in wind than my old super-heavy SUVs, but I consider the Prius' behavior in windy conditions quite acceptable. (My personal opinion)

 

FWIW, we had a big wind/rain storm here in San Diego a few weeks ago that subjected me to cross-winds. I observed at the time that the Gen3-V with 17-inch wheels was noticeably more stable than I had expected. I guess your mileage may vary...

 

I have had a Ford Taurus and a Lexus RX330. They both do that. I think the cars all do that now. It is those slanty big windshields leading to big wipers and the fast swing speed. My thoughts anyway.

 

Hello GreenGuy:

It has been reported here on the forums that the G2 seemed to be very susceptible to wind gusts at highway speeds. Some of it seemed to be related to wheel alignment, or lack thereof (the rear camber and toe cannot be adjusted). Some of it was related to the stock Integrity tires. And some said that adding aftermarket body stiffeners also helped.

I've driven minivans the last decade or more. And yes, it does seem that in certain windy situations my G2 Prius is less stable than I would like it to be, or even that I might assume it should be. But like many other things, I've grown use to handling it, so it's not too bothersome.

Some have speculated that side gusts are the worse, since the Prius is actually fairly tall for its profile. I think that the height-to-width ratio for the G3 is pretty much the same as for the G2, so I would assume that most of what effects the G2 would also affect the G3.

Keep in mind that during the first 12,000 miles you can get one free wheel alignment from your Toyota dealership. If you haven't had this done yet, you may want to try it. Sometimes alignments can get knocked out during transport. Although the rear end is not adjustable (without using shims), the front end is. If your alignment is off it could exacerbate wind effects.

Also keep in mind that there is an adjustment called the "Zero Point Calibration" that needs to be done on a Prius after an alignment is performed. So that's another reason that I'd have the dealership do it for you (not all tire shops have the equipment to do the ZPC). This calibration is necessary if the toe settings are changed, so that the VSC can function properly.

 

no problems drive the car in a cross wind here, but then my other vechcule is a extended cab pick up with a cap on it with you can fill a 10mph cross wind

 

The Prius body style has good aerodynamics - from the front. From the side it sits up pretty high for a narrow car. Add to that narrow tires, no toe in, and very tight electric power steering. The combination is a twitchy car that takes a little getting used to, especially in a gusty cross wind. Once you get accustomed to how it handles, it isn't any worse than most cars.

The real trick is to not over control. When I first drove my Prius, I white knuckled my way home on the highway for the first one hundred miles. Eventually I loosened up a bit, and everything was better for the rest of the trip.

Tom

 

Really? More than other cars you have driven? I assume that's the basis for this thread - it handles worse than other cars you have driven in windy conditions?? If that's the case, then name a few..." and we can work out the physics. It's (mainly) gonna boil down to weight and cross sectional area for wind resitance. The cross-sectional area used to calculate force/resitance to change should be smaller on the Prius than most sedans. But the weight also may be less than many sedans? It would have to be determined on a case by case basis...but wind resitance for the prius should be smaller than most.

 

This short quote from Car & Driver's review of the 2010 Prius:

"It tracks better and is less susceptible to crosswinds than the Insight. "

Not sure if this sheds much light, as it would have been nice if C&D had compared it to more conventional sedans.

 

I am with you GreenGuy... I come from a Corolla and a Lexus IS350 and find the Prius to be more susceptible to cross winds than any of those two cars.
My wife has a Camry Hybrid and it also "suffers" cross winds less than the Prius.
Just my 2 cents. :mod: