lane departure etc..

I suspect you're referring to LDA - which is "Lane Departure Alert with steering control". The Manual specifically warns "LDA is not a system which automatically drives the vehicle". It is designed more to intervene briefly if you dozed off etc. It is on by default, though there is a button on the steering wheel RH side to turn if off/on.

It is has been discussed often on PriusChat. It primarily sounds an alert if you go near a white lane marker without your indicator on. It has some relatively limited steering control, and doesn't work at lower speeds (below 50km/hr). They give a number of caveats where it may not see a line.

If say, you let go of the steering wheel, don't expect it to steer for you like a proper driver, though it will do so, first beeping, then correcting your steering as you approach a lane boundary line, probably over-correcting you to the opposite lane marker - and so-on till you are ill - and the beeping will have driven you crazy. It will apparently warn you to hold onto the wheel . If it has more than a couple of driving errors detected, it will also tell you to stop and get a cup of coffee .

 

2. The Prius now has active grill shutters.

A caution about that, if the dealer has installed an engine block heater. A user in Alaska bought a Prius with the heater dealer installed. Apparently, they routed the power cord so it was blocking the shutter movement. The user rerouted the cable after getting a shutter error. Later, the car caught fire overnight in the garage. They suspect the engine block heater cable.

Prius Caught on Fire | PriusChat

 

As well as the on and off switch on the steering wheel you can set the strength of the LDA using the menu screens. I only activate it when I am on the motorway/freeway and then it surprises me with a tug on the wheel and a beep when I change lanes with indicating. If you take your hands off the wheel it will likely tell you off long before the car drifts to a white line. I don't find it very useful in day to day travel but it only needs to work once in anger, hopefully never, to be worthwhile.

 

The LDA works just fine, the steering assist really doesn't work at all. If you take a Rav4 or Camry out for a test drive and test the steering assist (promoted as the same function on Camry, Rav4, Prius) you will see the difference and that the Prius system is ineffective. By the way no one plans to drive distracted, but many times it happens accidentally and this is where the Steering Assist can be a life saver.

 

Yes, the alert works fairly well but even if the road is freshly painted with new blacktop, the best the steering assist might do is bounce you from side to side like a bowling alley kiddy gutter system.

Its only redeeming quality: It does also seem to help keep you from traveling over the lane markers when driving long distances. If you watch on the right hand side of the dash, it will ever so slightly nudge you back away from the lane markers if you drift a bit too close.

Radar cruise I would trust if changing songs on my phone or making a phone call but Lane departure alert is very iffy and cannot be counted on whatsoever in my own personal opinion.

 

to answer question 2: The grill cover opens and closes itself with nothing to do by you or having to store or install something. Think of it like an ac or heat register louver in your home except this one is automatic. A few people have gotten bolts or stuff jammed in theirs and if that happens, you will get an alert on your main information display next to the speedometer to take it in for servicing or grab a flashlight and clear it yourself.

 

As mentioned, the steering assist doesn't nudge the wheel as forcefully as in my wife's RAV4, but the warning beep and visual notification on the MID are usually sufficient indications of lane swerving. I also think (but not positive) that when the turn signals are in play the LDA knows not to give an alert.

 

LDA is automatically turned on as others have mentioned. Handy little feature

 

Correct. If the turn signal is on LDA doesn't activate. The wheel nudge force is configurable. But, I've left it at the default as the beeping is sufficient for me.

 

I don't mind LDA beeping at me or telling me to get a cup of coffee. That's why I bought TSS-P, HUD, and all those other good things.

I don't use phones while driving, that's way too distracting for me!

 

Neither my dealer or Toyota have been able to adjust the force of the LKA nudge. Please tell me how that is configured I'd be happy to try it out.

 

For Gen 4 & Prime LKA (Lane Keep Assist) was replaced with LDA (Lane Departure Alert with steering control).It is primarily meant to alert you to the issue.
On the Gen 4, you can adjust the LDA sensitivity from the MID beside the speedometer. It is the same area where you turn LDA on.

 

Shame the blind spot monitoring doesn't beep.

SM-N950U ?

 

This doesn't adjust the nudge force, only how sensitive the system reacts to drifting out of lane (hope this makes sense...)

 

This whole system makes no sense to me.

 

When I turned mine up, I thought it did slightly improve the steering correction as well as the sensitivity. Naturally, this is another case of YMMV.

 

I'd like to see that feature too, just to let me know there is something there, because the mirror blinking isn't all that obvious, particularly in bright daylight.

 

All in all, while it's a nice feature, I just keep mine turned off.