In the category of "how dumb an idea can I come up with", I'm wondering just how interchangeable Toyota steering wheels are? Like maybe taking one from a Camry with the same options(heated, etc.) and swapping it over? I thought I read that all current Toyota steering wheels are technically interchangeable from a mechanical standpoint, but I'm sure the electrical side would need extra help. But maybe no more than just some re-pinning of connectors. Maybe I'll change my mind after I spend some time behind my new wheel(if it ever gets here - delivery date has been postponed numerous times), but I just don't love the look of the Prius/bZ4X wheel.
I don’t like the look of it either. I like the 2009 and 2022 wheel. The 2023 is smaller. I’m guessing it’s intentional because there isn’t a lot of room to spare. When I had my chance to sit in the 2023 and adjusted the steering wheel it was practically in my lap.
I am waiting to get my hands on one of these Yoke Style Steering Wheels! Or even a Gen 3 steering wheel in the Gen 5 would be cool!
To be honest, i like the wheel, but i'm thinking if it's possible to cut it on top and place a bar to free the view of the dash. There's some few cars that have asymmetric wheel, i couldn't believe Toyota didn't choosed a similar solution in the first place. Something like the Ioniq, but all way round. https://cars.usnews.com/static/images/Auto/izmo/i105104136/2019_hyundai_ioniq_hybrid_steeringwheel.jpg
You won't believe how fast you'll adapt to the new things. Just takes a few hours. One thing you won't have to adapt to is the feel. The new Prius wheel feels fantastic under the hand.
I agree with that last. It's a great feeling wheel, and any replacement would have to have the same material.
I wouldn’t mess with the steering wheel personally. It has sensors that gives feedback to the Toyota Safety Sense 3.0, which only the current Prius and the Crown are equipped with. Eventually aftermarket wheels will be available I’m sure.
That's a really good point. But I wonder where those sensors actually are? Since the car has the ability to vary the steering force based on speed and driving mode, I wonder if those sensors are actually part of the steering motor rather than in the steering wheel. And I noted in another thread that the steering wheel doesn't have hand sensors like some other cars to enable lane keeping. The Toyota system uses wheel inputs to satisfy that. Even if your hands are on the wheel, it will give you the warning and then shut down lane keeping. You need to make occasional minor steering inputs to keep the system happy. That suggests the location of that safety sensor is further down the system; either in the clock spring or down in the steering column.
I think I read in the manual not to use steering wheel covers because they interfere with the sensors. I’ll have to go back and look that up.
You are correct; it's in section 5-5 of the manual. I'll have to test that the next time I'm out highway driving. It's just strange to me that I can have just one finger around the bottom of the wheel and the LCA will stay active as long as I jiggle the wheel every once in a while. Is the hand sensing really so accurate that it can detect a single finger? Maybe I'll try to find something mechanical to hold onto the steering wheel to see if that will trigger it. BTW, the roads around here are not busy, very flat, and very, very straight.
However it works, I’m a huge fan. I came down this road in Arizona, letting the LCA do its job. Just giving it a jiggle when the message came up. It did a better job than I could.
I'm envious. lol All area within 30 miles of me is flat enough to accurately determine the curvature of the earth(no exaggeration - I live in one of the flattest places on the planet). It's over 200 miles to get anything more than small hills.
I'm like 99% certain that the system uses resistance to wheel motion to detect hand presence. One of my two biggest gripes with the lane trace assist mechanism is how it constantly yells at me every 15 seconds, no matter where I put my hands, unless I jiggle the wheel or white-knuckle grip the thing to give the wheel actuator some resistance so it knows my hands are there. Just holding onto the wheel isn't enough. Also doesn't really matter where my hands are. whether it's 10-2, 9-3, or just holding onto the bottom, the same applies. Gotta apply some force, whether it's jiggling or resistive pressure. (If you're wondering what the other gripe is, it's how the monocular camera is terrible at figuring out the curve of a road when that road is on anything other than the most shallow of grades. It consistently over/understeers at certain points along my usual route when the curve simultaneously goes over a hill or through a valley It's actually really dangerous to use in these situations, as it has no complaints sending you straight into the opposing traffic lane or right off the edge of the road if you don't forcibly correct it.)
I found this photo in the Taiwan Prius Club recently where one member retrofitted a GR Corolla steering wheel.
Old thread, but I'll take the opportunity to fill in info here - there are two versions - higher spec models have a wheel with capacitive sensors. If I recall correctly in the US that would be the XSE and XSE+ Prime models with Lane Change Assist. Just a light touch suffices on those. Other models like the XLE rely on actual physical feedback.
Hmm, not sure what I was thinking when I wrote the above. Checking specs on Toyota's site, the SE has LCA, so it should also have the capacitive touch sensor.
