Interesting things you learned about the Prius long after buying it

Pressing Park while driving puts the car in neutral. I find it very useful for coasting.

 

Putting it into Reverse at speed also goes into Neutral instead, and is easier to do strictly by feel without looking for a button.

 

So this would not work for a "Prius V", and possibly not the "Prius C"

 

Putting it in Neutral at speed also goed into Neutral...

 

But that takes significantly longer, the computers impose a delay to filter out brief mistaken Neutral bumps on the lever.

When selecting Reverse or Park at speed, the car overrides and shifts to Neutral immediately, no delay. This would be beneficial in case of any repeat of a Toyota Sudden Unintended Acceleration event, such as were epidemic a decade ago.

 

This is a great thread. First I learned about the inside handles for the rear hatch.

Now, I learn about an easier way to put the car in neutral. I will be nervous the first few times I try this. This won't cause any damage? I'm assuming no, but I still have to ask.

 

what about the hidden compartments?

 

Not really easier, just faster, skipping the ECU-imposed delay.

The ECUs are smart enough to prevent damage to the car by overriding a damaging command. But do beware that below a certain threshold speed, it will obey a Park command. While the resulting jolt won't hurt the car, it may be too strong for your human tastes.

Shifting between D and R while still moving during low speed parking maneuvering is really no different than doing the same with a manual transmission clutch. It may violate proper practice, but done softly, the car will comply in what turns out to be a non-event. I don't know the threshold speed where it will reject the command.

 

Some manual transmissions might omit synchronizer rings on reverse (and maybe even on first).

Shifting a Prius between D and R works more nicely than it would on those.

 

Thanks to @ChapmanF and @gromittoo for recent mentions of this: the black rubber ribs running along the roof are easily removable, and it's worthwhile to pull them off periodically, clean and wax the channels. Clean the rubber strips too.

 

I don't know if I have those on mine.... Do they pop off front and back? Or siliconed down or both?

 

It is a lot different. In a manual, you have to use the clutch to account for the difference in speed of the flywheel and wheels (and even different rotational direction when going from reverse to forward). In a Prius it's just an electric motor turning the other direction.

 

Just pop off; no adhesive of any sort. Friction-locked at the two ends. You wouldn't want anything gumming up the ends, impeding water flow. Mine was in pretty good shap. Driver's side had some slight surface abrasion commencing. After "sponge bath" cleaning the troughs (and rubber strips) I waxed the troughs, really leaning into it at the abraded zones. should have done this 5 years back.

 

Can't see your link (Amazon?), but if something like ArmorAll, I've avoided such products for decades. Do put a little silicone on door weatherstrips, very occasionally, but that's about it.

I just damp-clothed the rubber, with a bit of car wash detergent in the water. I used Toyota brand, but not mandatory lol:



As long as I'm trotting out product names, used Meguiar's NXT Generation Tech Wax 2.0 on the body, but nothing special. Well, exceptionally impressive name, lol.

 

turtle wax inside out protectant.
it's extremely oily/greasy on plastics but does a great job of restoring faded plastic in process. works well for weather stripping also. on old dirt bike/truck plastics they turn from chalky white to clean color again. I mentioned it's greasy, because I don't want you to just apply it and think you're done... it needs to be wiped off once it soaks in, it it will feel greasy for a long time. makes cleaning up dust with a paper towel very easy.

 

Maybe you aren't engaging softly enough?

Or are our clutches too worn for other's tastes? Not that the spouse or I have ever replaced a clutch on any car (200k and 75k miles on current vehicles, respectively).

 

Have to be even fancier in your clutch-work if the trans was built without synchros on the reverse gear.

 

... or already have it in forward gear before using just the gravity of a minor slope power the rollback motion out of a parking spot.

I do fairly strictly avoid grinding gears/splines, which is a bigger issue on agricultural equipment without syncros. But on the cars I haven't been very diligent about coming to a full stop in one direction before using the clutch to begin powered motion in the other direction. And so far, this hasn't been causing any known problems, we still haven't needed any clutch replacements or transmission work prior to culling whole cars.

 

I haven't ever replaced a clutch either. But it is still a lot different with a Prius than with a manual.