I'm trying to get a discount on my car insurance from Liberty Mutual, so I recently agreed to plug in (under the dash of my 2012 Prius c) a little device from their RightTrack program. It tracks my driving behavior for 90 days. One of the criteria is how much "hard braking" I do, i.e., the "number of occurrences of rapidly decreasing your speed." I'm only 8 days into the program (though I haven't driven every day), having driven 165 miles, and I'm already judged as having 2 hard-braking "events": first (on Feb. 9): from 23.0 to 14.3 Mph (duration: 1.0 second); second (on Feb. 14): from 14.3 to 6.8 Mph (duration: 1.0 second). I don't have a 2nd car, so I can't compare vehicles, but It seems that my brakes "grab" a little stronger than I would normally expect, so that I'm not really "playing on a level field" with other cars. I feel like writing Liberty Mutual's CEO, suggesting they consult an unbiased, expert organization (such as Consumer Reports' auto-testing centerI about this issue, but first I'd like to hear from some regen-brake experts in this forum.
I do not know about the c, but our regular Prius has nice brake modulation. Do you keep a decent following distance, stay near speed limits?
Rusty rotors particularly after a rainy nite in Georgia make for grabby stops. A fix could be ceramic brake pads. Wait I can hear my neighbor backing down his driveway, as his brakes on his Lexus squeal and sets my teeth on edge.
Yes, Mendel, I drive quite conservatively, always staying in Eco Mode to maximize MPG. It's always good to be reminded to keep a "decent following distance," as "tailgating" causes any driver angst as they look in their rearview mirror.
while they can be a bit grabby at low speeds, 23 to 14 in one second tells me you're braking too hard, you had an emergency, or your brakes are broken. maybe test drive another to compare?
