What's your favorite "Prius noise"

shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh............

 

The brakes quietly applying themselves just before the engine starts while parked, to reduce the rocking of the car. (Gen 3 does this. Gen 1 didn't. Not sure about Gen 2.)

 

??? Really? Mine doesn't do that, as far as I know, and it definitely "rocks," especially if parked on a slight downhill, with my foot not on the brake pedal. The reason this happens is clear if one knows about the planetary gearset in the transmission. Better it should rock than add needless wear to the fragile brake controller.

 

who knew?

 

Well, you might think "better it should rock", but the folks programming the ECUs clearly thought "better it should apply the brakes".

From here, I can't tell whether there's really something wrong with yours and it doesn't, or you just haven't recognized the sounds, but it's pretty unmistakable if you're listening for it. Sounds a lot like the brake self-test that happens a couple minutes after power off.

And no, it doesn't eliminate the rocking completely. Just controls it some.

 

The morning winter engine start up rattle

 

If so, that has to mainly for aesthetic or marketing reasons, to avoid startling customers who don't understand the reason the car tends to "rock" when starting. .The parking pawl likely sees more stress due to other causes.

 

Well, sure, it's to make the experience of the car nicer. I like that they think that down to such little things, so that's why it's my favorite noise.

Also, I sometimes camp in my car, so I like that it keeps the rocking less pronounced.

So to keep the thread on topic, do you like the clicky noise when you put the parking brake on?

 

Actually the question should be " what's your least favorite noise" and my answer would be, " all of them" , they all scare the hell out of me!!

 

The spaceship whirring sound when on regen braking.

 

I like the lack of sound when in EV mode.

 

Pretty specific, but at very low speeds, when you're in a drive through or have some other concrete/hard material wall just beside you that reflects the sound, you can really hear this lovely two-tone ____----- PWM-type noise as the motors move the vehicle forward (this is up-to about 5 km/h).

 

My favorite Gen II sound was the hot coolant storage cycle in the thermos bottle at turn-off. Getting ready to be less polluting for the next use period. Gen III is a little more difficult since it was so much more quiet. Maybe the brake pressurization cycle change in tone from before to after making the Prius ready. I could tell from the difference in low tone on 12V only to high tone when on DC-to-DC inverter power when it was time to put my 12V battery on the recharger/conditioner. Favorite Gen IV sound? It is also very quiet most of the time. I do like the Pedestrian Notification System sound and how people in parking lots and on street corners take notice of it. It allows me to proceed with no delays when people know I am there, as it is intended.

 

Anybody with that as their favorite Prius noise probably likes having cavities drilled without lidocaine.

 

I was unaware of that feature, so anything that makes the rocking less is good.

I have no idea whether this is bad for the car, but when parking for camping sometimes I will let the car roll, quickly apply the parking brake which stops it, then immediately shift into park. It might be a placebo effect, but it seems like loading the parking brake like that reduces the shake/rock during the night when the engine starts.