Hi all. Haveing just got my first hybrid car. I'm curious to no. When for example you pull up to some traffic lights.. Do you. A.. Leave it in drive,, with the foot brake applied. B.. Leave it in drive and apply the hand brake. C.. Press the park button. Then re engage drive to move off I'm only asking ,, so I can learn the best method ,, to save unesorsary where on my new car. Thanx. Regards Marc.
I honestly think all would work fine. I suggest the foot brake though for a couple reasons. A. At some point you will wind up driving a normal gas guzzler, even if it is a friends. You might want to retain the muscle memory B. Again... keeping the muscle memory of using your foot might help when you really need it to stop in an emergency (STAR system brake assist) C. The car was designed to be driven like a regular car D. The oil on fingers destroys car interiors after time, paint gets worn off buttons etc. No sense ruining the appearance of the park button when the foot pedal is less like to show signs of wear.
A.. Leave it in drive,, with the foot brake applied. Don't do the others, you could damage another car doing so or forget to remove the hand brake, damaging your car. Also, if you are using an ipad.. turn off auto correct,,.. You will no (know) y. Your posts and credibility will both benefit.
Like the others said. Just do it like you'd do any other car. Keep it in gear, foot on brake. Why would you even consider the hand brake?
Thanx folks. I was just asking for the best option. I mentioned the hand brake , because my dad suggested it's the same as holding it with the foot brake? Just a thought. Ps thanks for the heads up on the iPad spell check lol
The hand brake is a mechanical brake to your rear wheels that will mess up the rear brakes if left on too long while you drive away from the light or anytime you drive with it active. The foot brake is a hydraulic power brake to all wheels that works in conjunction with the hybrid system to optimally use engine braking, power regeneration and normal braking as needed. A hand brake is only really needed when you park on a hill or in the unlikely event your normal brakes fail totally. I have never used it in that kind of emergency mode, and rarely use it when parking unless it's a really steep hill.
I use A, but here in the UK there are some that say they are dazzled by brake lights when stood in traffic at night. I don't find it a problem myself and prefer to have the brake lights showing as cars are approaching from the rear. Pressing the footbrake also cancels the "creep" effect, cutting power to the electric motors and saving HV battery power. Putting it in "N" cancels the charging of the HV battery and using the Parking brake with it in "D" puts a strain on the transmission as it tries to creep and uses up the HV battery.
I don't understand why you would think this car requires some special procedure at red lights. What did you do at red lights with your previous car?
It could be that the Prius is also the OP's first Automatic transmission being from here in the UK, where most cars are manual (stick shift) transmission.
Foot on brake at red lights. Press Park and parking brake at drivethrus because those stops can last a longtime And finally hand brake and shift to neutral and turn off at known long red lights in my conventional Civic to simulate stop/start. Turn off signatures in Tapatalk Tapatalk
We are taught in the UK to use the handbrake when stopped at traffic lights. The reason given, at night, is to stop you dazzling the driver behind you and spoiling his night vision, in fact when you take your driving test you would fail it for stopping for more then a few seconds without putting the handbrake on. This is doubly important when stopping at a pedestrian crossing, if a car shunted in to you at a crossing and you did not have your handbrake applied, you could be shunted into a pedestrian, if your foot slipped off the foot brake peddle, After saying all that most drivers of automatic cars just hold it on the foot brake, me included.
I think some would use a parking brake when stopped on a steep hill and/or in a car with a manual transmission. However the newer Prii have a hill hold feature some don't know about until they inadvertently engage by pressing hard on the brake while on a very steep hill. That feature holds the brake for you for a few seconds after you let up to prevent roll back that the normal drive mode can't hold by itself. In the US, manual transmission have gone the way of the Dodo bird, unavailable on most vehicles. One reason is modern automatics can get better gas mileage and long term reliability than manuals. As for "spoiling his night vision", no one seems to worry about that anymore, particularly with the HIDs and Halogen headlights that can blind you even on low. Personally, I want the distracted driver behind me to see the high mounted brake light so he might realize I am stopped and not plow into me, particularly important in rural areas with no street lights. They still allow texting while driving in most areas of Texas!
