My Prius drifted backward at a ramp.

You must have got a lemon then. I recommend you take it back, get a Honda and stop coming to this forum. There's def something wrong because all of my Toyota hybrids (past and present) drift forward on shallow slopes. Recommend taking it back, getting a Honda and leaving us alone.

 

The Prius has a hill start assist mode but you have to firmly depress & hold the brake while stopped until it beeps and illuminates a light on the dash. This mode engages the brake pads for you. However, you cannot release the brake pedal because the mode will only hold for a few seconds.

This is a vastly inferior system to what other vehicles offer. The Ford hybrids will automatically hold you still on a hill and you can release the brake without a worry. The Ford system uses the traction motor to supply just enough force to overcome gravity pulling the car backwards down the hill.

 

No Comment!

 

He's not talking about hills, he's supposedly talking about shallow slopes.

 

My hill assist is my brake.

 

Driving 101. Keep your foot on the brake when stopped. Or put it in park with the parking brake.

 

Isn't it designed to be engaged just before you step on the gas to start moving again? When I have to stop on a hill, I generally use my left foot to hold the brake, so I can work the gas pedal with the right foot. We get our Prius tomorrow, so I don't know when I'll get to use the brake assist. There is a place near Wal-Mart that has a small hill at the exit light, so maybe I'll try the assist early when there is less chance of having a car behind me. For some fun, try driving San Francisco with a manual transmission.

 

I found the civic hybrid prone to roll back on mild uphill slope, maybe due to its cvt design.

And I'm not trying to bait anyone; that was our previous vehicle. Other people driving the car mentioned it too.

Bottom line, you learn the car's behaviour, and as long as it's not too out of line you adjust.

 

I'll try.

 

There's a rectangular pedal next to the accelerator pedal called a 'brake' pedal.
Non-hypermilers use this pedal to slow or stop the car (AND KEEP IT STOPPED) instead of using their car to slow or stop traffic.
Even when the car is stopped, it is the driver's responsibility to ensure that the vehicle remains under the driver's control.

In most countries, you have to show some proficiency with the driving task before you're allowed to operate a vehicle on public roads. In the United States, you just have to have 16 candles on your birthday cake.

 

I havent used the Brake function on joystick much. Is there an advantage using that instead of Foot brake?

 

^no

 

Ah hem. Given that you are new, the B is engine brake. It is like downshifting with a traditional transmission when you are going down a large hill. It is not used for coming to a stop or staying stopped.

 

When I was young, I drove a VW Beetle with a stick in San Francisco and Berkeley. I found the parking brake terrifically useful as a way to keep the car from slipping backward while starting uphill from a red light. It didn't seem so hard, and I was hardly Mr. Coordination.

 

This is an excellent way to sum it up. Every car will have little things you don't like, but you learn to live with them and sometimes even come to like the things that at first were irritating.

 

Reminds me of an old Bill Cosby routine:

Cosby: You know you can't go to heaven if you are driving a Volkswagen and drift backwards into San Francisco Bay and die.
St. Peter at the Gate: "How did you die, my son?"
Cosby: "Me and my Volkswagen drifted backwards into the Bay."
St. Peter: "YOU go to hell!"

I use the Prius's brake assist feature and it does fine on hills.

 

Just to clarify, I wasn't saying it was hard for me, just if the OP wanted something more fun. My '70 GTO and I did fine until I tried to be Steve McQueen and bottomed out crossing some of those intersections. And I didn't need no stinking parking brake.