Cabin Filter Button

No kidding. And the air filter is dopey. It should be on 24/7 or it is pointless. Adding a dash button and function makes it even sillier.

Auto/on/off headlights are real safety factor especially with a permanently lighted dash and running lights which make it easy to forget to turn the lights on when it gets dark from rain, snow, tunnels or dusk.

 

It works
If a smelly car is in front of me I use it
or if my smelly buddy is next to me and cuts one it works well.

 

The air filter is already on 24/7. All this button does is switch to 100% recirculation (rather than 80%) and speed up the fan for faster clearing of odor, pollen, etc. No special filter is activated.

 

Interesting. Manual doesn't say that. If there's an air filter, it should...umm...filter all the air all the time or it's pointless. Bypassing it 20%, as you say it does, means the air is not filtered.

If all the air in the vehicle is filtered, then no need to have the filter on during recirculating.

All in all, a boooogus system and needlessly complex. Put in a real air filter on outside air. Spend the resources wasted on whatever the wacky air filter button and light and controls do and give people the very necessary safety feature of auto/on/off lights.

 

All air, fresh or recirced, passes through the filter. The 20% (or so) that is mentioned is the amount of fresh air that mixes with the recirced air when in "normal" recirc mode, not when the pollen button is selected.

***CORRECTION***

When the system is in "recirc" mode, outside air is cut off. When in "fresh" air mode, a small amount of cabin air mixes with the outside air. When the pollen filter button is selected, the system goes into "recirc" mode and the vents re-position to blow the air towards your face.

Regardless of mode, ALL air passes through the filter.

Maybe this will help (from the 2010 New Car Features):

 

So the "Pollen Filter" doesn't have anything to do with filtering the air if it is 100% filtered already. What it is really doing is 100% recirc. vs. 80% recirc of already filtered air.

Sounds like the button should be renamed "100% Recirc".

All in all an odd, nearly useless, minor function that gets its own button on the dash vs. very necessary safety feature such as auto/on/off headlights which is totally omitted.

 

You're looking at it wrong. It actually comes in handy if you're behind a foul-spelling bus or you're passing a dusty area, as it immediately closes off any more of the stinky smell from entering your cabin. The fan is sped up to further filter the stinky smell from the cabin when the button is pressed. A very useful feature.

We now get auto on headlights on the 2012 so that's moot.

 

I can see that the "100% recirculate" button has a use but "very useful" is waaaay over the top. They'd do well to rename it to match its actual function.

Unless it is a carbon filter, it won't do much for odors.

If it is filtering out particulates from pollen to Diesel exhaust sending it through the filter again (aka recirculating) shouldn't do much.

For smells in the car, fresh air is the answer.

A likely rarely used, idiosyncratic feature would be the best one could say for it.

 

I don't agree with your statement. DRLs are a suitable substitute for counteracting forgetting to turn on lights (clearance and/or heads). So the only safety factor I see is if a driver needs the extra lights to illuminate things better. If a driver can't recognize that they can't see properly from lack of illumination then they should not be driving. Period.

From what I have read on PC and the manuals, the higher trim models have an auto off function. That is much more useful than auto on IMO.




iPad ?

 

How's this different from OEM charcoal filter that's equipped on all Prius from factory? Lots of us are reporting effective clearing of odor when using the "dust and pollen" button so your assessment isn't consistent with our observation.

When you're behind a foul-smelling, black smoke-emitting bus, you're getting absolutely no fresh air. In fact, you're letting in 20% of the bus' exhaust when in normal recirc for as long as it's in front of you. This is when this button comes handy.

 

It's the other way around. Auto-off is standard on all trims (as it's been since 2010). Auto-on (as well as auto-off) is featured on the 2012 higher trims (Four and Five).

 

Thanks, 32k.

I've used the auto on with rental cars. But I still don't see this as a necessary safety feature. More of a cool nice-to-have.

:focus: Even at 80% recirculation there should be enough filtration available to keep the interior air relatively clean --- and much better than unfiltered outside for those that are impacted by outside air quality. (And don't get me (re-)started on that stupid report about toxic cars.)

 

Fun thread. Useful info.

You can actually see cars that have left recirc in the "on" position. Those are the cars with their windows completely fogged inside as they drive down the road during dry and cold air mass event. Stands out pretty easily up here in the chillier north country.

There must be quite a few cars out there that don't allow much fresh air intake when set to recirculate. I've noticed this type of window fogging mostly on cars that are carrying 4 or more passengers.

When recirc is on, exhaled passenger moisture could easily build up cabin humidity and lead to fog formation on the cooler glass surfaces when all windows are kept closed.

The reason someone might start to feel sleepy when recirc is being used (not so much in a Prius, since there's 20% fresh supply is getting into the cabin) might be the fact that it can get a little warmer than normal if you're running the heater or driving in sunshine. That would definitely make me sleepy.

I need fresh dry, cool air to stay alert when I drive. Thank goodness for A/C when the hot weather hits!

 

Prior to reading this thread I thought the cabin filter was on ONLY if I hit the button and turned it on.

I have it on my RAV4, never hit the button, checked the filter after 40,000 miles and it was filthy. Obviously I changed the filter and I know better.

But it's not explained very clearly in the RAV4 manual.

 

We've used the "fart" button a couple times when driving through Lancaster County after the farmers had fertilized their fields. I was surprised by how quickly the odor dissipated. With other cars, I've attempted to close off the outside air using the rec button...to little avail. Using the fart button, it disappeared almost immediately. Impressive!! We've not yet actually used it for the purpose of its acquired nickname though.

 

Does the person who pushes the button implicate their self?

 

Those are also manual, defeating the purpose. Interesting Toyota spends so much resources on a near useless frill such as the fart filter and does not provide inexpensive but proven safety features like automatic DRL's and lights.

 

They are manual lights also which is really bobo as there is no cue at all that they are on.

Auto/On/Off lights is a solid safety feature that should be on every car and Toyota treats it like Donald Trump's comb over, the last touch on a billion dollar baby.