nearly complete on mods

As for whether the dampers do any good or not, I'll know more after this weekend. I'm going to be in the car something like 32 hours over two days, so I should have some sort of impression by the end of it.

 

I was a bit sceptical about the dampers - as I automatically am about most performance "tweaks" - but I've done a bit of background reading, and they do seem to be a real thing outside just GR accessory catalogues in Japan.

Yamaha technology, and standard fit in lots of Lexuses - a second line of defense for chassis vibration if your suspension and tyres are on the harsh side. Also snowmobiles...

Some links:

GR86 - GR86 - TRD GR Performance Damper | Toyota GR Forum for owners of GR Yaris, GR86, GR Supra and GR Corolla
Performance Dampers | Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd.
Yamaha Motor's Performance Damper for Use in LEXUS LC - Contributing to a higher-driving comfort and steering stability - - News releases | Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd.

Certainly a safer bet than all the "anti-corrosion" circuits I've been seeing in pictures the past few days.

Now then, I don't know what to say about the following from the Japanese Prius catalogue. I hope we're getting that as standard, so you don't need to import it:

 

Lol - was this published on April 1st?

 

Got curious about the rear bumper differences, so had a look in the parts catalogues. JP, EU and US are all different, US significantly so.

Japan:



EU:



US:



Part numbers:

Japan:
52023-47100 REINFORCEMENT SUB-ASSY, REAR BUMPER

EU:
52023-47070 REINFORCEMENT SUB-ASSY, REAR BUMPER

US:
52181-47150 ARM, REAR BUMPER, RH
52182-47110 ARM, REAR BUMPER, LH
52023-47080 REINFORCEMENT SUB-ASSY, REAR BUMPER
52615-47070 ABSORBER, REAR BUMPER ENERGY
52187-47140 REINFORCEMENT, REAR BUMPER ARM, RH
52188-47070 REINFORCEMENT, REAR BUMPER ARM, LH

 

I probably should have looked closer at the part diagrams, but to be honest, I thought the rear damper mounted to the underside of the frame, not at the bumper. I did compare part diagrams, but I was checking the wrong part of the car.

I can see that installing the damper on a European Prius would be just as easy as the JDM Prius. It's only the North American Priuses that have the problem. I also still think I could do the modifications much better and quicker than the tech did. Hindsight is always 20/20, but it really didn't have to be that hard if he had just stopped for a moment and really thought about what needed to be done.

 

The text is machine translated by Google, so take it with a grain of salt. All it's describing is a layer of material sewn into the driver's seat to prevent a static charge from building up in the driver. I hadn't thought about it before, but I have to say I don't think I've been shocked stepping out of my gen5 in the 1.5 years I've owned it. I do remember getting shocked occasionally stepping out of my gen3. Maybe the US Priuses also have it and maybe it works. IDK.

 

Yeah, I can buy anti-static being useful for the driver. Certainly never had any personal zapping so far, when I have in previous cars.

But affecting airflow? Really? Maybe to some infinitesimal degree, in theory, but can't imagine it's an effect you could measure.

(And for extra laughs, a footnote linked from it in the spec feature table gives warnings about not bringing pacemakers too close to the transmitter. I'm pretty certain it is just a material layer...)

 

The only thing I can think of is that the engineers tried to tell marketing what this thing was for, and marketing completely misunderstood one part of it.

1. The car travelling at speed builds up a charge because of friction between the car and the air, causing electrons to be ripped away from the air and onto the car. This is actually correct.

2. Some of the charge can be transferred to the driver. Possibly causing discomfort while driving and definitely causing discomfort when the driver eventually grounds to something. Also correct.

3. If the driver can be isolated from the charge buildup or can be continuously discharged by the seat, that would prevent point 2. Correct.

4. Doing this will somehow improve the airflow over the car?!? Uhhhhh, no. That smells like something that comes out of the backside of a male cow.

Are they maybe suggesting they're negatively charging the car so that the electrons ripped off by friction can't easily bond to the car? I don't buy that doing anything, but maybe that's what the marketing is trying to claim? All I can say is that it smells the same as point 4.

 

I've got a longer post sitting unsent on my laptop, but I forgot to hit send last night and I've been on the road all day.

Short answer: Yes, but it's a small difference(which I expected). It takes away a noticeable chunk of the smallest vibrations. Kinda that background buzz that you get at highway speeds on a mostly smooth road.

If the question is: Is it worth it? I would say generally no. Unless you get a pretty good deal, install them yourself, drive a lot at highway speeds, and plan to hold onto the car for quite awhile. But if you satisfy those criteria or have fun money to burn, then maybe.

Side note: I drove 15 hours today and still feel great. If it wasn't dark, rainy, and unfamiliar territory, I'd probably still be driving. Maybe the dampers are a small reason why I'm still feeling great. Idk.

SM-S901U ?

 

Probably a bigger difference would be a beefier RSB and shocks

 

I feel like I have a problem. The kind of problem you go to <InsertTopicHere> Anonymous meetings for. lol

I just realized I now have 9 wheels and 13 tires for my Prius. I think that puts me into 'problem' territory.

I currently have:
4 19" Prime wheels with new Toyo tires(from a very generous board member who went a different direction with their car)
4 19" HEV wheels(original) with Michelin snow tires
4 19" Toyo tires(original) with about 13k miles on them(about 60% tread remaining) that are now backups
1 16" compact spare wheel and tire

 

I also had a head scratcher for a bit.

I put on the new Prime wheels and tires today and then drove to Fargo for food and to let the car register the new pressure sensors(took almost a half hour of driving). I was on a pretty new tank of gas and was really confused when I got to Fargo and my tank mpg was well into the high 50s. My LTD AWD can't do that unless I'm driving really slow, and I was driving the speed limit today(70% 60mph and 30% 75mph).

My air pressure was a touch higher(maybe 1-2 psi), but that couldn't account for a 5-10mpg increase. I briefly wondered if the Prime wheels actually were lighter than the HEV wheels, but that didn't make any sense.

Then I got out of the car and realized I had a perfect 30+mph tailwind the entire trip up.

Ahhhh. Mystery solved.

 

Yeah, I have 3 sets of wheels and tires, but looking to unload the OEM 19's w/Toyo tires.
1- summer set
1- winter set
Don't think that puts me in problem territory yet

 

I think we all say this inside...

 

Haha. So true.
I came from modding suspensions and motors on ALL my previous vehicles.
Told myself "not on this one" with the Prius but I'm already wanting to change the RSB and shocks and in the back of my mind- how to increase horse power......It's a sickness

 

I switched to motorcycle instead on of how to increase horsepower. It's more cost efficient.