Hi all, I am seriously considering changing to a Prius, but I have one worry. Having been used to a manual gearbox and a handbrake for years, losing both at once will be a bit disconcerting when I have to join a queue of vehicles going up a hill, as I do every day on the way to work and back. How do you go about it without rolling back? Any andvice welcome.
Welcome! US spec Gen III cars (maybe worldwide) have a feature called Hill Start Assist Control (HAC). IIRC (as we live in the flatlands), when stopped, you hold the brake pedal down firmly until a buzzer sounds. Then when you release the pedal, you have two seconds until the brakes release.
Great. Thanks for that. I will check that the same applies here in the UK, but if so, I'm converted. I did test drive one, but that was on the flat, so no chance to experiment.
The Prius will not roll back on a normal incline as when you release the foot brake the transmission will try to make the car creep forwards, no need to use the parking brake in traffic.
I'm not sure how steep your hills are, jools, but I queue heading up a relatively steep hill regularly. I am not overly concerned about the Prius rolling backwards. Though others might disagree, I will sometimes do the two-footed "one on the brake and one on the gas" and transition in unison until I'm moving. Easy peasy. Also, welcome to Priuschat! :welcome:
I'd think it's much easier starting up a hill with an automatic than a manual. Juggling 3 pedals, feathering the gas and releasing the clutch and all: if you can manage that you will have no problems with an automatic, LOL The Prius transaxle has slight "creep forward" if you take your foot of the brake, which helps. In practice I've found just using right foot and going quickly from brake to gas there is no problem with roll back. If the hill is really steep I'll occasionally use the Hill Start function that car compulsive mentions, it works very well. But even then, it's almost just for novelty value: I'd still be fine with my usual technique.
Yes the UK version has this and it works a treat. You can test it on the flat - when stationary in drive with your foot on the brake just press the brake a little harder and the car will beep, the traction control light will flash. You have activated the hill start assist. If you let your foot off the brake the car will hold and then after about two seconds there will be 2 beeps and the brakes release and the car creeps forward. You don't have to wait for the 2 beeps - just accelerate and the car switches the brakes off early. p.s. The girlfriend converted to automatic last year and asked all the same questions you have. She just couldn't believe how easy they are to drive. Now she's got used to it she says she'll never go back to manuals - she hates it when she gets a manual courtesy car.
As mentioned already, in a Gen III you have the hill start assist, which is easy to use. Let's suppose you buy a used Gen II. Since you are used to using a manual transmission, you are adept at using your left foot. It would be trivial to use your left foot to hold the brake while positioning your right foot over the gas pedal to prevent rollback. That takes some getting used to and possibly can add confusion. That being said, I almost never use hill start as a quick transition from brake to gas is enough. You do feel like you roll back a little, but the Prius does "creep" automatically so that prevents it from being as large as in a manual transmission vehicle.
No worries, this transition is easy. Others have already posted all the keys. It is the opposite transition, from an automatic to a manual transmission, that can be difficult.
As Fuzzy 1 stated the transition from manual to auto is easy, one of the reasons why you can drive an auto in the UK if you passed your driving test in a manual, but you cannot drive a manual if you passed in an auto.
