After reading all of the threads recently debating the merits and flaws of the electronic traction control system the Prius uses, I thought I might share an inadvertant experiment. As I'm now living in sunny Arizona, finding a snowbank is less than likely. However, near my house, there is an overabundance of large swaths of extremely loose sand to the sides of the dirt road I live on. A car was stopped on the aforementioned dirt road, and traffic was coming the other way, so I opted to go around to the right- over the loose sand pile. Oops- got about halfway through and the sand, the car started slipping, and the traction control kicked in, and the car slowed to a stop. I was able to nudge the car about another foot forward before I wasn't going to get anywhere. So- reverse- I backed up a couple feet, but made no real progress. I tried what I had read elsewhere - keeping the accelerator floored, and, indeed, it started to 'auto-rock' the car, pulsing the car backwards (I was still trying to reverse). It was making progress, but was extremely slow, and, after all, I did need to get in to work, so I tried something else: Keeping the accelerator floored the entire time, I made sure I had no one approaching my car, and I started using the transmission control to alternate between reverse and drive. Presto- rocked the Prius right out of the rut! So, to make a long story short - stuck in the sand, or possibly a snowbank? Keep the gas floored and shift from R to D and back, and you'll be back in stealth mode in no time.
Yes, at low speeds (under 10 MPH or so), you can go directly from D or R or vice versa without your foot on the brake- as the car moves 'against' the new 'gear', you'll see the battery charging
well cool, i need to try that one day but could be tough, wont try it unless i have a slippery place to experiment... used to have a place... my yard... but sold it.
Try this also: As you approach a light, shift to B; when you stop shift to N and then to D. The ICE will stop immediately.
Interesting thing here. To be behind you at that light while you're working the R-D-R-D would be something to see.. the reverse lights coming on/off/on/off.. This whole things still seems like something is wrong. When the accelerator is pressed, the car shouldn't slowly come to a standstill having zero wheel spin. I'm surprised if they can fake transmission drag in software that they can't give us a little clawing action when under 2mph and the traction control is taking over. You'd think a little faked up wheel spin wouldn't "Ruin" the drive system any more than driving the think up to 5mph would. Keep on experimenting guys, when I get mine, I'll have to find a few situations for experimentation before I wind up learning this one at a stopsign somewhere.
One of the reasons that the traction control is so protective is due to the immense torque of the electric motor- if you have a wheel spinning at speed and it suddenly gets traction, it could seriously damage the axle, the motor, or both!
