TRAC works and works well!!

A couple of times while making a left turn, I've needed to clear the intersection quickly. The first time the car was in ECO mode, and it bogged just enough to concern me. The second time the car was in PWR mode and I ended up chirping the tires and blasting through the intersection (although I forgot to look to see if the slip indicator was flashing). There was definitely no bogging while in PWR mode!

That's my hope too -- I guess we'll see soon enough!

 

i did this the other day making a left at a T intersection.

my co-worker was surprised

 

Wanted my wife to test the TRAC, so in our neighborhood there is a 4-Way stop that the intersection of those two streets is constructed of Cobblestone, which is EXTREMELY slick, even in ideal weather conditions. We thought this an ideal location to test the TRAC!

We went to that intersection, stopped at the Stop sighn, put the Prius in PWR mode, applied FULL power, and virtually INSTANTLY the tire began slipping, which was IMMEDIATELY abated by the ABS, which promptly brought things under control.

Under FULL power, the ECU and ABS were easily able to keep tire slippage under complete controll, permittting the car to track ahead straight and true, without retarding the throttle, thus permitting the engine to remain at nearly FULL song, this still leaves virtually FULL power available.

I remember reading posts about Gen II Prius, who under poor traction conditions, would literally lose ALL ability to maintain (or regain) traction. I would hazzard a guess that the 2010s will not be afflicted with this problem. Doug Coleman stated earlier, that the engineers thought they had overcome this traction deficit.

David (aka Blind Guy)

 

The previous generation of the Prius transmission was chain-driven while the new generation 2010 is totally gear-driven. I'm betting the chain was a good part of the reason for backing off on the power.

Avoiding that chain-drive and the bladder fuel tank were two very good reasons for me to go with the 2010 over the 2009.

 

I used power the other day while making a left turn and was surprised when the inside tire was struggling. I didn't give it much gas and the car accelerated really briskly. (Surprising my friend as well.)

My car only has under 100 miles on it still, so I'm taking it "easy" but does anyone know if in power mode, is pushing the gas pedal down half way pretty much the same as flooring it? Some cars like the Inifiniti G35 it is ... quickly jab the gas half way down and the car accelerates like a bat out of hell. While it's doing that if you floor it, nothing changes.

I will experiment more once I have more miles under the car's belt.

 

Power mode works that way with the Prius. You have the same amount of power available in all modes, but the pedal sensitivity is adjusted.

Tom

 

It's a great feature you can just control it on the fly ... I used Power Mode the other night on Mulholland Drive and it was enjoyable. Now, when will these tires wear out so I can put on something better.....? LOL

 

An answer we got from Toyota in http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii...63556-2010-traction-control-3.html#post917395 is that

Based on your (and Blind Guy's) comments, I understand better their answer now. So it is possible that the behavior of the Prius in snow/ice will be different than in sand/mud (because of the delay before which TRAC will engage). I am eager to try a Prius in such winter conditions.

 

We'll know soon enough regarding snow driving conditions

 

For finally fixing what for six model years you(Toyota) claimed, despite numerous complaints, was normal behavior.

 

This comment is petty, uncalled for, and distorts the truth. Overly conservative traction control *is* normal for earlier Prius, and telling a Prius owner otherwise would only convince him that there is something wrong with his particular Prius when in fact his Prius was behaving normally.

I've never heard anyone on this forum praise the earlier Prius for its excellent traction control. Many of us have commented on how the post 2004 Prius has vastly improved traction control, but none of us have ever thought it was great. In most cases we have learned to live with it and have adapted to its quirks, but all of us have always wished it worked more like the traction control on an FJ.

Tom

 

How 'bout a little challenge for all the 2010 newbies? Gather a few Gen 2s and a few 2010s and let the drivers do their best. I feel confident that those with Prius driving experience will do just fine with the old TRAC, since driving experience will trump the "new" TRAC behavior in most conditions. I'm glad Toyota continues to improve on the systems in their cars to please more customers. I'm as happy as anyone in my 'old' Prius with TRAC that appears to have been improved in the 2010. Improved for the masses. To me, though, the other 'improvements' in the 2010 only make me want to keep 'old blue'. just my ramblin' opinion again...

 

From your post I get the idea you think I somehow attacked the members of this forum. Not sure how you got that idea but you're wrong. If as you said an "overly conservative traction control" is "normal" then the problem was a design flaw and my comment about the six year time period remains valid.


EDIT: In reading my comment again I can see how my wording looked as if I was attacking the poster. When I used the word "you" I was thinking of Toyota and not Tideland Prius. I am editing my original post.

 

That makes sense - fair enough. I mistook your post as a double-barreled blast aimed personally at Tideland, but I'm happy to see that it's not. We do get the occasional ill tempered person posting away with personal pot shots, which makes me a little testy when it's undeserved.

Anyway, I now understand your post and withdraw my knee-jerk reaction. Thanks for the clarification.

Tom

 

Here's my experience with it last night, as written in my blogs:


With my Classic Prius (2001), I rarely ever triggered it. With my Iconic Prius (2004), it engaged frequently. With my 2010 Prius, the behavior on snow is still unknown... but I got a taste of it this evening. I decided to leave the left turn lane and go straight instead. There was very little traffic, so I thought I'd push the larger engine & motor from a dead stop to see what it could do in that particular situation while still in ECO mode using standard tires. There was only about 2 feet of regular road surface available before reaching the large section of paint for the crosswalk. When the Prius hit it, rather than the usual brief power pause with the Iconic using high-traction tires, the wheels rapidly spun (I could hear them quite well) while the TRAC light flash on & off. That was intriguing. No pause, yet the traction-control engaged anyway... without stopping the wheels entirely! Looks like Toyota did some serious research and found that happy balance we had always hoped for. Sweet!

.

 

I appreciate the updates.
I'm holding out until the snow reports before I make the decision.
Keep us posted.