Flat Tire Story

Great story! Glad everyone came out OK. There's a situation where I'd appreciate VSC on board instead of a surprise spin.

One thing, though. My "conservative" side :lol: (Registered Independent :mrgreen: ) says to replace that tire. I wouldn't have much faith in any tire that rode on it's sidewall for ? distance. I also hope they removed it from the rim for a good going over and used a patch, not a plug, especially carrying precious cargo! I'm also surprised the dealer didn't upsell.

The downside is that a new, full tread depth tire could affect chassis dynamics. It depends in part on what the takeoff tread depth was. Of course this would be a great time to get some upgrade tires. :wink:

 

I've always had problems with flat tires, mostly due to nails and such since there's always construction near my office. I just ordered a set of Tire Minder replacement stem valves. You order front and rear pairs calibrated to your requested tire pressure. Then, if the tire starts to lose pressure, the tips change color from green, to yellow, to red. That's about the level of technical difficulty I can stand!

You can order them at www.garage-toys.com . Just search for Tire Minder. They cost me about $22 delivered to SF.

 

When I brought my Prius to the shop on Monday to get the new tires installed, I when out of my way to say "MAKE SURE TO STEP ON THE BRAKE" when starting it.

They didn't.

So I had to repeat the same instruction.

Then while standing there watching the guy shift to "D", I said the level will return back to the default location followed by pointing to the "D" indicator.

He didn't believe me.

Ahhh!

I saw him drive away while holding the lever in the "D" position.

What is the deal with people being totally accepting of some new technology aspects and being totally resistant to others?

By the way, the MICHELIN HYDROEDGE tires I got are pretty sweet! Now I'm really glad about getting that flat tire.

 

The way to fix a tire that has a nail in it is to partially inflate it and install a plug, then you deflate it and remove and patch from the inside. The plug keeps water from entering the steel belt and the patch inside keeps air from seeping between the inner liner and the outer portion seperated by the steel belt.

 

Evan:

i can understand your delight. i have been experiencing similiar wonder in co-workers. i started a new job location recently and although it took about 3 weeks and one outgoing employee, my car is now the major attraction.

to see the look on the face of people riding in the car the first time it starts to move (since they never see a key of any kind) is absolutely priceless.

 

Dave,

The other fun one that comes into play is when people suddenly realize you just "booted" your car like your PC...

cas

 

yep...and as long as Microsoft doesnt get involved, we wont have to worry about lockups either!!

 

Intellivalve

Has anyone out there tried any of the tire-pressure monitoring systems (Intellivalve, SmarTire, Tire-Safeguard)? Sensors mounted inside the wheel transmit a signal to a receiver and an alarm inside the car, so you can always see the tire pressure. They're pricier than what mboileau described above (about $250), but Consumer Reports (Nov, '03) liked them a lot.
I was wondering if the sensors might somehow conflict with the smart entry system and e-mailed Intellivalve, but never got an answer. I take that to mean they don't have a clue.

 

umm $250??

i think my $8.95 digital tire pressure gauge will have to do...

 

Hahaha

So, is it possible to "break" the Prius? As I understand it, normal cars aren't happy if you do something stupid like shift gears while the car is moving. Does the Prius' safeguards have a built-in idiot-factor? Did the dealer tell anyone something along the lines of: "oh yeah, and whatever you do, don't EVER _________"? Just curious : )

 

yes the Prius is practically idiot proof. it wont shift into gear unless its in a stop position.

you can try to shift into reverse while moving forward but nothing will happen. at worst it will shift into neutral. but the car is smart enough to not hurt itself no matter how hard you try to do so.

 

Yup, you can stomp on the gas pedal as hard as you want in park or neutral, and the car will just simply idle, same as if you never touched the pedal at all.

 

Just a question along the same line... I was wondering, if the VSC kicks in, do the brake lights go on? I mean, the VSC makes us of the brakes, right? Probably a silly question, but I was just wondering.

 

I don't know for sure, but I would have to say the brakes would kick in, simply because if the car felt that it needed to take a little control from the driver, showing the brake lights would be a little safety boost, as the driver might be hitting them on his own shortly :mrgreen:

 

No, the brake light switch is attatched to the pedal underneath the dashboard, and only comes on when you physically press down on the pedal. The VSC system uses the ABS systems for its operation.

 

Isn't that a bit of a safety issue, then?

 

In what respect?

The entire operation of VSC is so brief (less than one second), traditional brake lights that use bulbs couldn't even respond quick enough to show anything. And the momentary flash of light from a LED could actually cause unnecessary panic from behind.

 

i would have to agree with John. besides braking wouldnt always be neccesary for VSC to work.

The whole point of VSC is to detect, catch and correct problems almost before the driver is aware anything is wrong.

computers can do that and more in waaay less time than the time the quickest human can react much less think.