2010 Traction Control Demo

Thanks, thats a great video of the TC. I still however am going to buy snow tires next snow season

 

Super video! BTW - What tires do you have?

 

... clearly showing that the prius *can* spin the tires just
fine, but deliberately chooses not to for longer than it makes
sense. Excellent debunking material for the TC naysayers...
.
_H*

 

That's the way to do it!

Thanks for the demonstration of the precise torque control of the electric motor. I don't think this kind of precision from the traction control can not be done in a non-hybrid.

 

Your 07 with Good Year Integrity stock tires? If it had Ecopia, it may make it up.

 

That was beautiful.

 

Nice video, even though I don't expect to see snow, I hope it works this well mud roads I sometimes encounter.

What indicator lights went on when you were slip sliding? I still wish it had an off switch, but skid and traction control are cool features.

 

Thanks for a great video. I have been nervous about posts involving traction control just shutting off power to the drive wheels rather than spinning. We will have snow on the ground until St. Patrick's Day, so this is important. I haven't had problems so far, but I went with studded snow tires. (They were impressive to the locals in Charlotte over Christmas.)

 

I have a 2010 Prius and I too have noticed that the traction control is extremely sophisticated. But, in winter conditions my old Volvo 850 with winter tires and comparatively primitive traction control is still far superior to the the Prius with the OEM Yokohama S33 tires. So, to me, tires make ll the difference. While one would immediately notice the improvement in hill climbing ability with winter tires, the difference in braking is amazing.

 

We don't get these tires in EU - are these winter tires?
If no, then the TC has done an excellent job to get you all the way up - with snow *and* ice. If it was with winter tires, TC did nevertheless a good job in:
- not stopping the car at all
- getting you where you wanted in safety
- no need of chains on your tires to do the job

 

They are Bridgestone ECOPIA EP20 all season tires for NA.
Bridgestone supplies ECOPIA EP25 summer tires for JP and B250 ECOPIA summer tires for EU.
Bridgestone to supply ECOPIA for Gen3 Prius (Japanese only)

Ken@Japan

 

you need to update your profile. i was half convinced it was a 2007 you took up the hill.

 

There are couple other videos showing TRC in action as well as for Gen II.
2009:

2010:

 

Some of us have walked that driveway w/o snow and ice. It is a slope that people with large feet in worn sneakers could suddenly rediscover involuntary 'skiing' either via sneakers or butt.

Bob Wilson

 

Fortunately, I live in warmer climate place, so I've no experience to see how TRC works on the icy road.
However, I'm curious to see any differences on climbing hills between going forward in D and backward in R.
Anyone?

Ken@Japan

 

Compare the Prius to a Range Rover, second half of the video.
I tried to reverse my Prius up a very steep dry driveway, not enough torque to get going and too abrupt at the bottom to get a rolling start.

 

Showing yet again that it is not the car, it is the tyres that are the problem. Traction control is not a problem if the tyres have traction. Spinning the wheels is not effective in getting traction - much like stopping distance is greatly increased if you lock up a wheel and skid. If the tyres aren't gripping, back off.

Anyone who lives in a location where snow and ice are a regular occurrence in winter should get some winter tyres and fit them as soon as the temperature starts to drop.

We've been caught out a little by some unexpected cold weather the last few weeks. Someone near my parents' house, a few miles away, built an igloo (of sorts):



My car's been buried in a snowdrift since Tuesday night and I've not tried to move it, though some neighbours have now been successful. The OE tyre on my Prius is the Bridgestone Turanza ER30, a summer tyre; winter tyres are hard to come by, and no fitter offers to store your other set of tyres for you when they're not in use. I don't have anywhere to keep a spare set of wheels, so I can't easily install winter tyres.



Driving to and from my parents' house on 23 December was mostly OK but I had trouble parallel-parking - just as I wanted to turn the wheels back, to swing the front end in, they slipped and spun, meaning I couldn't get close enough to the kerb. Luckily someone left from a less-iced-up space further up the road and I used that space instead. I did not notice traction control completely preventing the wheels from spinning - I could hear that they were spinning.

My neighbour's 5.7L Jeep Commander Limited hasn't moved since Tuesday either, it's not just me!

This is what my road now looks like to drive on: