Engine Noises and general weirdness with new 2011.

As for braking, if it's an electrical motor whine time noise (similar to that of what you'd hear on electric light rail car or BART), that's perfectly normal. That's the sound of regenerative braking aka recapturing some of your kinetic energy and converting it into electrical energy for storage in the HV battery.

What happens if you shift to neutral and brake? Regen can't happen in neutral. Roll down your windows and compare.

As for "pick up" having gotten worse and engine working harder, is it only when your HV battery is low or you're in Eco mode? If that's the case, that's also normal. You can try driving in "normal" mode or power mode.

As for "whistling" while accelerating, is it also an electrical type noise, that's sort of warbly? If so, also normal. I've heard all of these on my 2nd gen and while test driving 3rd gens. You can definitely hear them if the ICE (internal combustion engine) is off and you have the windows down.

Fortunately, you have an EV button so you much more easily disable the ICE (when not denied or kicked out of EV mode) so that you can tell if it's coming from the ICE or not.

 

Eco mode really deadens the accelerator pedal response for the first part of pedal travel. You've probably noticed that it makes the car feel like a real slug. It shouldn't change anything in terms of the ICE's noise. It does do a few other things besides adjusting the accelerator pedal mapping. (Has been discussed numerous times here on PC.)

As for "whistling" while accelerating, it doesn't sound like paper flapping in the wind at all. At least on level pavement, during light acceleration, it's sort of a shrill sound that varies in pitch, several times a second. I did some quick searches and wasn't able to find videos of the above sound. The warbling shouldn't easy to hear at all if all the windows are shut.

IIRC, when accelerating slowly from a stop in EV, the sound should be more of a steady pitched whine (again, like a BART car) and not so much of a warble.

(I'm from CA but haven't moved back there yet.) You should be able find a knowledgeable 3rd gen Prius owner from here for a ride along to see if it's normal. Or... besides going to a service department, you could try taking a test drive of a 3rd gen to see if the sounds are the same.

 

Regarding huge revs up hills, do you have a big hill within the first 50 seconds or so of your trip? If so, read the following thread:

http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-...3304-odd-experience-higher-speed-tonight.html

That's the inverter, I believe it's its "converting power" noise (anyone?), and definitely during regen like cwerdna says. When you open the hood it's the silver thing that says "Hybrid Synergy Drive", it takes different types of current and converts it back and forth to put energy into the battery, to direct energy from the battery to electric motor, etc.

You'll get used to the sound, and then when walking around outside, you'll start to know when a hybrid is about to pass you, cause you'll sense the inverter sneaking up behind you

 

Yep! If I'm standing outside, I can always tell if it's a Toyota, Nissan or Ford hybrid slowing down near me when I hear them emitting the noises I'm so used to.

Sometimes, I hear the noises, expecting to see a Toyota hybrid, only to see a Ford Escape hybrid instead...

 

Everything you mention I noticed too in the first few days of ownership. [You are right to be concerned after making such a big investment] But as I learned, these are normal for a hybrid and very different from the feedback a traditional gas engine vehicle gives. At 800+ miles it is not broken in, it will 'soften around the edges' in the first couple of thousand miles although the high pitched regen braking sound is there if you listen for it. Sit back and enjoy the mpg - my wife is getting 48-49mpg in San Diego, probably not as many hills as the Bay area. Hers now has 1700 miles on it. The Prius is radically different and there is an adjustment period for the driver.

 

I think the other stuff you mentioned is normal Prius noise, you will learn to love it , don't be bummed. Your Prius doesn't have as much power to spare as a RAV4 so it is working harder but that's OK, it's designed to do so.

The alignment should be checked if you think it is out. Toyota will do it free for the first year or 12K miles but get it in fairly soon to prevent excessive tire wear.

 

If you are under 25 or so there are frequencies that you will be able to hear that us older folks can not. There are a couple of iphone apps that will make these sounds - I got one and drove my 9 and 11 year olds crazy for a while.

 

I've driven mine for 2 and a half months now (2200 miles) and have never experienced any of these noises.

 

I'm 27, and sometimes hear it, sometimes not.

It's certainly nothing to worry about, and is a normal VFD noise.

 

Keep in mind too that the engine speed is only partly determined by how far you press the gas pedal. The car will adjust the RPMs based on other factors too, such as the charge in the battery. This could make it feel like you have less pick-up - for example, you press the pedal until you hear the engine rev to 3000 RPMs and go no further because the engine sounds like it's working hard. On one day, the battery is fully charged (7-8 bars), and the car will be trying to get rid of some of that extra charge (it always wants to be at 6 bars), so you'll accelerate quickly. The next day, the battery is low (anything under 6 bars), and you again stop pressing the gas pedal when you hear about 3000 RPMs. In this case, you won't be pressing as hard (so the car isn't accelerating as quickly), even though the engine is making the same noise; some of its power is going to charging the battery, rather than to the wheels. So the difference in acceleration can be quite noticeable, even though the noise is the same.

The DVD that came with your car will have some examples of normal noises, I suggest you give it a listen. Overall, I'd characterize at least most of the noises you describe as normal; the others may or may not be, it's hard to tell from your description. Maybe record them and post it? But I'd say there's nothing to worry about - enjoy your car, and turn up the radio a bit.

 

All these whisles, relay contacts clicks and so on are normal, You will hear the similar ones in every tram. The high freq el. noise is what I like the most , when driving in Ev mode.

 

Hi all, I am also a new Prius owner here. Is it normal that the car takes a while to start with a "noise" when I put the Prius in "R" mode? Thanks

 

Are you talking about it taking several seconds between when you've put your foot on the brake + pressing power and when the ICE starts? If so, that's normal.

It's got nothing to do w/putting it in R, D, or any other position.

You don't need to wait for the ICE to start to move. If READY is lit, you can go. The Prius actually has no reverse gear and the ICE doesn't need to run to go in either direction.

 

Yup, as an experiment, try turning on the car and leaving it in P...you should still hear that thunk when the engine kicks in.

Unfortunately, the Prius is not fully electric.