This is the first time I noticed a snowflake on the MFD. I have seen it on the dashboard before but I was completly unaware that it is also displayed on the MFD when the temperature drops. Has anyone else noticed it?
Yea, it lights on the MFD too for a few seconds. At first I thought this was a joke, we've had so many posts about the snowflake. Then I read closer and saw you were just talking about the MFD.
I know what it means, I was just saying that this is the first time I saw it on the MFD, I always thought it was only on the dashboard.
Good That means you actually watch the road when you drive. It always shows up on the MFD too, but just for a few seconds. What happened to your little freaky avatar? I liked that little guy
BTW it seems to have about 2 degrees F. of hysteresis. But why 37 degrees F? Around here water freezes at 32 and the air temprature usually gets a bit colder than that before the roads freeze. Is it because the sensor is above the road surface? Or are they just trying to prepare me. The one in my friends 350Z comes on at 37 also. Maybe it's some kind of Japanese thing I can't ever really understand.
I think it's because on the upswing in temperature, roads can still have ice above freezing. Also, bridges freeze first and thaw last, so it takes them longer to thaw. Add to that meters aren't perfectly accurate, and it's good to have a little margin built in. I also wouldn't be surprised if some law in some country called out 37 as the setting to trigger at, and they just carried that forward for everyone...
What I like about the MFD Snowflake is that it catches your attention, then disappears. The one on the dash just stays lit. WHich reminds me, have to put a piece of black electrical tape over it.
I'm waiting for the mod where you push a button and it lights a candle under the sensor. Too bad there isn't a easy fix like a switch. Living in San Diego, I doubt I'll even see this (other than startup), but I can understand how annoying that could be. When I rented the Prius it was time for the oil change, but the people who were renting it to us said it didn't matter. I had to look at the "Mantainance Required" light for two weeks wondering what it meant.
I saw the snowflake on the MFD the second time it was cold enough for the snowflake to appear. That was nice because it told me what the snowflake was. I saw it on the dash earlier and couldn't figure out what it was (even though I'd read about it on this site... doesn't look like a snowflake to me!). Haven't noticed it since, though!
Presumably, the trigger is set above freezing because you can have ice on the road even when the air temperature is above freezing. 37 degrees was probably just an arbitrary compromise. Depending on conditions, you could have ice on the road even when the air temp is well above 37. So in the last analysis, the snowflake really serves no purpose. The road could be fine at 35 degrees, making for false positives, or treacherous at 45 degrees, makiing for false negatives. In the end all it really does is taunt northern drivers about the weather. In winter in N.D. the snowflake is always on, which is useless. When it's 25 degrees below zero i don't need my car telling me that there might be ice on the road.
It's because bridges and overpasses can freeze unexpectedly -- even before your temperature sensor reads "freezing". All cars with freeze warnings do this. I've had it in several cars -- Audi, Mercedes, etc. They always warn above 32 deg.
Maggie, I love the avatar. I started laughing when I saw it. Poor guy. The snowflake I saw for the first time ever today, but only on the dash. I haven't seen it on the MFD yet but will be looking for it now. I was going to describe it as a snowflake falling through a Teepee (however you spell it).
Toyota is being prudent showing the "snowflake on road" symbol at 37°F. Depending on relative humidity, road composition and substances on the road, "freezing" can be easily modified to be above or below the normal freezing point of 0°C (32°F). Just as salt and fertilizers raise the freezing point, hydrocarbons (oil, antifreeze & other drippings) also raise the freezing point.
