Any wandering on the highway?

The Prius is known to be sensitive to front end alignment, which is "amplified" by the electric power steering. I had this with my Gen II, plus it was "darty" when you changed lanes at 75. Since I've experience setting up Solo II race cars, it felt to me like the front was toed out (probably worse on the right). When we put it on the alignment machine I was spot on in my seat-of-the-pants diagnosis. We set it to zero toe in and it cured all of this.

 

No drifting problems with our 2010 Prius IV. 2 hour road trip on a straight highway averaging 80mph. Crosswinds maybe?

 

The highway handling on the 2010 is vastly improved over the gen2 cars. I've noticed little to no wandering. However, it is still a relatively light, tall car, so there's no way it is going to track quite as solidly as my 2007 HyCam for example.

 

I have had the car in for 2 alignment jobs. This is because of pot holes. But, I never had a car this sensitive to pot holes. I do have 17s on the car, but so did my previous cars.

Crosswinds are not as back as gen II. But, it is still there since the car is light.

 

I rented a Prius V over the weekend in Northern CA. I didn't notice wandering, but it was really windy in some areas and the Prius definitely got tossed around a bit. I think the light weight and slab sides of the design make it a crosswind target. I've seen lots of Prius tossed around over the years driving on highway 5 to LA.

 

No "wandering" issues for me.

Some tires are prone to tramlining at higher speeds, so that may have been the issue.

 

As well as grooved concrete surfaces (We have a lot of those here)

 

My 2010 Prius V w/ATP goes in a straight line at any speed on the highway or city streets. I can take my hands off of the steering wheel for a minute or two and it will stay in a straight line.

 

Mine might, but If I go in a straight line for a minute, 45 seconds of that would be rolling down a hillside

 

I find that mine wanders. I also noticed that it pulls to the left slightly if you let go of the steering wheel. We've got crowned roads here so is should drift to the right. Definitely an alignment problem.

 

That wondering or wind buffeting was noted in yesterday's review on CNET:

2010 Toyota Prius

While driving on city streets, we noticed the new Prius still had the wobbly feeling in turns from which its predecessor suffered. On the freeway, the Prius wanders in its lane as wind buffets it around. The steering feels solid, making it easy to control, but it doesn't have that stable road feeling offered by similar midsize cars.
2010 Toyota Prius Coupe/Hatchback reviews - CNET Reviews

 

Can anyone confirm pulling in their 2010 prius?

I went through this whole mess when I bought a new 09 sienna.
First time I drove it on the highway at 55+ it would have a tendency to drift towards the left. I would always have to keep my hands on the steering wheel to keep it centered. Brought it into two stealerships. The first said they checked the alignment and it was fine and adjusted the tire pressure. Still pulling left. I actually went on a road test with the 2nd mechanic and he claims it was the crown of the road. I had to pay for an alignment and it showed caster was out of spec by smidge but it was not adjustable.
I did a search online and found that many toyota's have pulling issues. Especially camrys, solaras, and priuss. I swore I would never buy a toyota again but damn this 3gen prius is nice.

 

Yes, at 65+ mph the front end is all over. This is on concrete with grooves (CA I-5). Will need to test on asphalt but my previous cars didn't do this even at 85 mph on the same freeway section. I guess it is another way to save gas, car feels unsettled at 65+ mph so the driver reduces speed.

 

Get them to check the wheel bearings. I had a new CRV that was pulling and the dealership insisted that it was the roads. By the time I convinced them to actually look at the car they found a defective wheel bearing. By that time, 2 tires had worn unevenly, and since it is a 4wd model, they had to replace all the tires at 20k miles.

 

Have to provide additional data here: Agree with the standard Gen II does not handle better than the Gen III, but not the Touring model. After experiencing both, the Gen II Touring handles better than the Gen III standard.

 

1300 mile trip mostly on asphalt, IIIBlueII handled like a dream, imho. I don't understand "wandering"; my ride at good speeds was so steady that Prius steered in a straight line while using both hands to tighten hairs in hair tie!!! . . . EXCEPT when wind was blowing . . .YIKES!!!

 

When I first drove my Prius It felt a litte darty but then I drove my brothers Honda Civic hybrid and it felt the same. My last car was a "95 Impala SS so I figured it was because of the shorter wheel base and generaly smaller size. Now after 2 weeks everything feels normal.