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Releasing Cruise Control with Brake

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Main Forum' started by jburns, Oct 1, 2009.

  1. jburns

    jburns Senior Senior Member

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    I don't know how much of a problem this is but my Prius requires a firmer push on the brake pedal to disengage the cruise control than any car i have ever had. To the point that my bride, who is usually asleep in the passenger seat, has her head loll forward whenever I disengage cruise using the brake. This usually wakes her up and earns me a dirty look. I plan on having this checked out when I take it in for the first service but I am wondering if others have noticed the same thing or not.
     
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  2. topkick

    topkick Member

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    My Prius IV does the same. I have to hit the brake harder than my 2007 or any cars before this one.
     
  3. adamace1

    adamace1 Senior Member

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    I have to press harder than before. i just use the off button.
     
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  4. Jasonsprite

    Jasonsprite Junior Member

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    ya this hapened to me too. i had CC set for 70 and due to another car i pushed the break( not too hard) . car slowed down and i took my leg off the break expecting the car to just coast . then i hear the ICE suddenly rev up and my speed increasing. i thought my my self Crap the Accelerater is stuck.when i looked at the display it showed that the CC was still in SET mode . so I hit the breaks a little bit harder and CC cut off.
     
  5. garygid

    garygid Senior Member - Blizzard Pearl

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    On most US cars, the slightest touch of the brake pedal drops out of CC.

    I wonder why Toyota did it differently?
     
  6. jburns

    jburns Senior Senior Member

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    No idea but it is not an improvement.
     
  7. jamarimutt

    jamarimutt New Member

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    Yes, I've noticed this too. I am now getting used to pulling the lever forward to disengage the cruise control.
     
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  8. gil

    gil Junior Member

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    You can add mine to the list and I feel it is bordering on being dangerous in some situations. I've never had any car (and I've had at least 30) that have ever required anything more than the lightest touch on the brake pedal to disengage the cruise control. This is the only issue I have with the Gen III, and it is different than the Gen II I traded in. I suspect it may be the brake switch design or adjustment. I will ask the dealer to check when it goes for its first oil change.
     
  9. dmvp

    dmvp Member

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    Well, you're first engaging regen...so the cruise must not click off until you hit the part that is "full" braking. At least that's my guess. I haven't noticed a problem with it, but I don't use it that often. I find that I get much better mpg without cruise.
     
  10. xbdude

    xbdude opticat

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    I agree. Definitely requires a harder application than my 2006 Prius. Just tap the stalk on the steering wheel. In any abnormal situation, one would be pressing the brake hard anyway.
     
  11. qbee42

    qbee42 My other car is a boat

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    I always use the CC lever to disengage unless it's a panic stop. It's a smoother way to do it, and it avoids flashing your brake lights when you aren't intending to brake.

    Tom
     
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  12. mikepaul

    mikepaul Senior Member

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    Oddly, since I broke my CC lever and avoid using it to disconnect cruise anymore, I find that a quick tap on the brake works fine. Perhaps I 'tap' harder than most...
     
  13. Hopopotamus

    Hopopotamus Junior Member

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    I believe this is what Toyota wanted to do. Some high end cars have this for years now. I personally love it on long rides on the open road( you don't have to set up cc again just get back up to speed when you done braking ). I wish my generation II had this option.
     
  14. a64pilot

    a64pilot Active Member

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    Normally the same switch that triggers the brake lights will disengage the cruise control, which has me thinking that you have to push the brake pedal that hard to turn on the brake lights.
    If you actually got a braking effect without disconnecting the cruise control, the moment the cruise control detected vehicle speed below the set point, it would add throttle to accelerate the car back to the set point. Not realizing what was going on could cause some people to think they just experience un-commanded acceleration.
    Interesting, hadn't thought of that before.
     
  15. Tad Moody

    Tad Moody New Member

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    Seems all have this hard-braking to disengage the cc problem, it's just the way it's designed, and I personally hate it, but, I am not going to bother to attempt to have it adjusted.

    I just notch the shifter into"B" then back to "D". This smoothly disengages the cc, and preserves your speed setting: then, to re-engage, just push up on the lever, and it will take you back to your set speed.

    Another tip is while in cruise-control, you can increase or decrease your set speed by "notching" the control stick. For example, rather than holding the stick upward until the car climbs to the desired speed, quickly push up then release the stick once for each MPH you want to increase. ( Example 5 times = 5 mph ) and the speed will climb to that many MPH faster. You don't have to take your eyes off the road to watch the speedo for your target speed. Same with decreasing speed.
     
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  16. drmalone

    drmalone New Member

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    I've noticed this as well. My '06 only took a light tap to disengage. The '10 takes a much harder push on the brake. I prefer not to turn it off so I can just resume.
     
  17. eglmainz

    eglmainz New Member

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    Correct, this is what this issue is related to.

    On the first day that I had my car, I noticed that I could ot initially get it to go 'ready'. Instead it would only go to 'Accessory' mode.
    This was because, although my foot was on the brake pedal, I was not applying enough pressure for it to hit the actuator, which when depressed triggers the brake lights, and disengages the cruise control.

    This would likely be a significant issue, and if I were you, I would have someone look at that immediately.

    When you ‘disengage’ cruise control, by pulling the stalk towards you, you are only removing the accelerator, but not deleting the speed memory of cruise control. If you then, simply push the stalk upwards again, you will re-engage it, and it will accerate / decelerate as needed to regain that previously set speed.

    If however, you instead disable (turn off) cruise control by pressing the little button on the end of the stalk in, and turning off the cruise control icon on your dashboard, then you would need to reset the accelelorator speed by pressing the stalk downwards again.
     
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  18. a64pilot

    a64pilot Active Member

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    Hasn't happened to me , but I could see as how it could happen. This whole issue is another one of those things, that in my opinion are not a big enough problem to fix. Yes there is more brake pedal movement required than average to disengage the cruise control, noted. I as others just use the stalk to disengage it, no problem.
    But, I could see how someone less informed on how cars work could think they experienced a "sudden acceleration" incident, when they really didn't.
    Since the Audi "incidents" years ago, sudden acceleration whether it exists or not, get's far more attention than it should. I am of the opinion that 99% of the time operator error is to blame.
     
  19. archermoo

    archermoo New Member

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    Of note, all you need to do to disengage the cruise while retaining your speed setting is pull the lever towards you. No need to shift to B and then back to D.
     
  20. eglmainz

    eglmainz New Member

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    That's what I just said... ;)