Poor steering and handling on the highway.

im beginning to think the same thing. yesterday i was talking to another 04 owner at the gym and he mentioned that he felt his steering could be better at highway speeds also.

he had standard air in his tires and his problem seemed to be combination suspension, steering and alignment from his description.

i specifically asked him about the sensitivity to the drive by wire effect and he was aware of that so i would have to say that he has a valid issue.

he just got his car in Oct (im guessing by the tabs)

 

Shout-out to other LA owners and swap cars for a test drive. I can't get there until January at least.

 

Not sure what the cause is. I don't seem to see that problem, but then I am not usually on a highway. Most of the time I am on US 19 in Tampa Bay area, where speed limit is from 45-55.

Someone on this forum mentioned the car was 'twitchy'. I find the steering sensitive also. Thought it was 'pulling', but if I let go of the wheel, it stays straight.

The prius has electric assist power steering using a torqe sensor to detect you turning the wheel, and thus operating a motor to help turn the steering. The sensitivity is supposed to change with speed. Toyota could look into making the steering assist less sensitive at higher speeds, thus letting you feel the road more.

For those of us with disabilities that make it hard for us to apply much torqe (in response to another thread in this or another forum), Toyota might be able to make the assist response MORE sensitive at low or no speed.

Of course, both of these suggestions depend on the limits of the torqe sensor itself, such as the minimum torqe it can sense, and the precision of the change in torqe it can sense.

 

well steering sensitivity is built in and it took me a week or two to get used to the fact that i no longer had an play in the steering wheel like my pickup had. but now that im used to it, i prefer it.

in my car, driving is very effortless. i have taken my hands off the wheel briefly and the car tracks fine. because of the road tilt for drainage purposes, even when pointing straight, it will eventually start to fade to the side, but it will ride straight for a good piece.

i think you have some flaw, could be tires. some flaws in tires dont show up until you reach a certain speed. could be suspension, could be a lot of things. i do have to believe that its probably mechanical as the computer settings i would have to assume would be the same for all cars and most Prius owners dont have issues with the car.

 

See my comments on this thread: http://priuschat.com/forums/first-1000-mil...html?highlight=

Bottom line is, I've got it too, especially in the wind. Might be my own fault though for changing tires. Still trying to find someone in my area to do a test drive comparison, but as I noted, I rented a 2004 for a day and never noticed the wandering issue at any time. I felt it immediately in my new car as soon as I got much above 45-50 in the wind - about 10 minutes after I started my trip home from the dealer.

Geoff

 

I have owned my Prius for about 8 weeks and I and my wife both have noticed that at highway speeds, the steering seems to be either overly sensitive and the car seems to sort of wander in the lane. It is exacerbated by wind conditions and by uneven roads. Sometimes I feel like I’m a drunk driver and I wonder what other people will think of me because I have actually wandered across lines from time to time. I’d be happy to talk to somebody at Toyota, but I haven’t said anything to them yet about this.

As I have gotten used to the steering, the problem now seems less noticeable. I suppose that I may have been oversteering before and the car is simply much more sensitive to even the slightest movement of the steering wheel than a normal vehicle.

 

I just had a brainstorm. Why not cut the power to the electric steering above 15 MPH? I doubt any power steering is required above that speed. Perhaps I will cut the power completely and take it for a spin. I've often wondered why the steering doesn't feel like the electric power steering on my MR2 turbo. It felt perfect all the time, and was Electric and Hydraulic. It took some special fluid.

At around 40 mph, the steering wheel seems to "stick" in the last position you had it, regardless of whether that position was perfectly straight.

At around 60 mph, it tends to return to straight much more easily.

Nate

 

Mike what are tire pressures in your front as well as rear tires? I know that on my Dodge Dakota when I put new tires on, it wandered an awful lot... My 1951 Ford pickup turns better with new tires and although I don't have any trouble with the steering it handles better with 40-45 pounds of air in the tires... I run 42 pounds in the front of the Prius and have no problem... I drive with my left hand in the hole at the side of the steering wheel... I have found no drift, and have been on a 650 mile round trip from Denver to Gillette Wyoming... encountering rain, road work.. groved for resurfacing as well as oiled and graveled, wind, trucks.. both passing and being passed.. on 2 and 4 lanes.. speeds from 60-85.. I had about 400 miles on the car when I started the trip... I am wondering if the problem lies in the light car and drivers coming from a heaver car..

Bob Andersen

 

Our San Diego Prius Club has raised this issue (wandering at higher speeds and on grooved roads) at a couple of our meetings. One of our members actually sold his Prius because of it. Another has taken it up with Toyota to the highest technical levels. Here is what we have determined to date. Approximately 10% of Prius with packages without VSC (below package 7) have registered the problem with Toyota. Supposedly those with VSC do not have the problem. Those 10% that have it do not respond to alignment, new tires, or anything other than the addition of some weight to the front of the vehicle. That seems to take care of the problem. If you want more info contact me and I will see if the member who did the work with Toyota will get on this thread or correspond with interested parties directly.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Sev\";p=\"45321)</div>

My BC has the problem, so I don't think it's related to VSC.

I'm going to try playing more with the tire pressures to see if I can influence the stability. We're expecting 35-45 MPH winds this afternoon and tomorrow - more than enough for this test!

Geoff

 

Sev:

if you have good info on this subject, maybe you should add it to the FAQ section or something.

 

I took delivery of a 2004 Prius about three weeks ago, and felt it was somewhat "light" at speeds faster than 100 KM/h. Since I don't like Goodyear tires, especially those Integrity's that came with the car, the local dealer was nice enough to offer a great trade to Michelin Harmony. After they mounted the new tires, they checked the alignment and guess what? The camber was WAY off. The car now tracks straight with one finger on the wheel. Here in Manitoba, the roads have excessive crown and grooves, so any alignment problem is VERY apparent.

 

That's a good point. I'm going to have mine checked.

Geoff

 

So I had it checked today and the camber on the right wheel was just a bit out of spec so they adjusted it. Had no time today to do highway driving to see of it made any difference - I'll get out on the highway tomorrow.

 

I owned and driven 01,02 and 04 priuses, I thought that this is normal for these cars, poor steering and handling on the highway. At highway speed the 01 and 02 are not as stable as I would like it to be, specially the blend of crosswinds and truck blast. The '04's tends to dip/drip on the driver side and seems to sort of wonder in lane. I tried tire pressure of 35/33 and 45/43 and results are the same.
Blame the wind blast? Uneven road conditions? Or probably improper wheel alignment at the factory???


GT4jeth
millenium silver '04 pkg#9
oem ev,cn madflaps, x pel, solar cooler

 

the only time i ever noticed a problem with wind shear is when crossing the I-520 Bridge from Bellevue to Seattle. is that a car problem?? nope.

the wind shear is so bad that while on the bridge, lane changes are not allowed and the speed limit drops to 50 mph.

and it still aint nowhere near as scary in a Prius than it was in my empty Ford F150 pickup. there was times in my ford that i felt like i was gonna get blown right off the bridge!!

 

I think Jayman, makes a good point... I had a new Isuzu Pickup a few years ago.. had tire ware or some kind of tire problem that took me back to the tire people as the dealer said it wasn't a car problem... the tire guys did an alignment ..they said it was caused by the trip from Japan where the truck was built to the dealer.. being loaded and unloaded... bumped..whatever.. and that the dealers don't do aligning before sending the car on it's way with the new owner... they fixed my problem...

Bob Andersen