Cold Weather Indicator Light

Huck,

The "yellow snowflake" jokes have all been made. In other discussions it has been observed that the symbol is yellow as a sign of caution, and that the snowflake is not the only symbol in that icon. The snowflake rests between two curving lines and some kind of dashed center line, so we think it is a "caution - roads may be slippery" warning.

This may be very useful to drivers who are unaccustomed to black ice or the first cold spell of the season, when driving habits adjust. The snowflake will stay on until the outside temp goes above 37 F., and there is nothing you can do about it except to say, "Yep, it's cold!"

 

it says 37º??

mine was on a few times last week at 42º but not on at 45º...

to be honest with ya... dont need the car to tell me its cold outside...

 

i agree that it's a snowflake on a divided highway. took me a few days to figure that out... cute icon, basically saying 'drive carefully, fool, there might be some frozen stuff out there'!

 

Mine always goes on at or below 37F. Maybe Dave's car's thermometer needs calibration? I equate the symbol to the "Bridges freeze before roads" signs we have before every bridge on the interstates in VT. The road won't freeze at 37F, but I bet with wind blowing over and under a bridge, the deck might.

 

I agree with bruceha_2000. It's an indicator that ice can start forming on roads. Bridges are more likely to start forming at 37 though. I like the indicator and every indicator the car has. It's just a little reminder of safety first.

 

i dont know why my car had the ice warning on at that low a temperature but we all must realize that pure water freezes at 32ºF. perhaps there are things common in nature that when mixed with water raises the freezing point?

 

Dave I think that the main concern is the overpasses that freeze before the rest of the roads. I think however they could have made the light come on at like 34 or 35, 37 seems a little too high.

 

You can clearly have situations where temperatures are below freezing, the roads ice up, the temperature rises into the 30s, and off you go in your Prius. The ground can still be frozen.

37 degrees may seem kind of high, but they have to err on the side of caution. It is the marginal situations that are the most dangerous.

 

This car is just a really safe car. They took a lot of precautions. It also might be a problem if someone tries to rely on that light for ice being on the ground. I'm sure someone could email Toyota and ask them.

 

Tony...black tape

Bob Andersen

 

well just got home and it was 39º and dropping. still no snowflake. too bad the Prius did nt have a fog warning because its definitely rolling in tonight!!

another thing i noticed is that it seems that my headlights point pretty high in the sky. never realized how much the angle of the car can affect the aim. in thick fog it was hard to see the road ahead at times.

 

Just as general info, this type of warning is pretty standard in the auto industry. Mirrors with temperature read-outs display ICE for several seconds when the temperature is below about 37 degrees. Other outside temperature displays do similar warnings. The thought has historically been that, since the car does not know whether the temperature is immediately increasing or decreasing in the area you are driving, that warning of possible near future freezing, especially overpasses, or warning of prior freezing, again focusing on overpassses, is in the safety interest of the driver. What frustrates some is that the warning goes off and it may be 37 degrees and only going up and never have been less. In reality the feature is particularly usefull when you are driving north or driving in the evening as temperatures drop. You at least get some sort of notification that road conditions may not be good in the near future.

 

When I see the dashboard snowflake it's almost like I hear Pria say:

Well, it's pretty cold this morning.

You know I'm not going to warm up quickly and I will probably take a big bite out of those MPG numbers you carefully tended.

Be calm and accept the fact we won't be able to recover those numbers by the time you get to work.

I sure hope it's warmer this afternoon so we can get the reading back where it belongs.

Have a good day.

 

Perhaps you don't for routine driving (communting, errands, etc.) But if your on a long dist. drive or in the car for a good amount of time with the automatic climate control on you may not realize there has been a change in temp. outside. Also where I live one can traverse quite a range of elevations (1000s of ft. in minutes.)

I don't think Prius is alone in having this indicator either. I've seen it in other cars I've been in.

Al

 

The light is a unique oddity for the first few days, but I can see it's going to get annoying at worst, useless as best, as the winter goes on. It's going to be on from now until March or so, here in Canada and most of the northern United States... it's not a big annoyance or anything, but I wish there was a way to turn it off for those of us who are used to thinking "It's between November and April... could be more dangerous out there."

It's also kind of a false alarm. If I wasn't used to driving in the cold, and I drove for a while with it on, and didn't know any different, would I really be better armed for when I DO run into black ice? Could become a case of The Car That Cried Wolf for some drivers.

Far better for us would be a system that actually works to detect black ice. Or better still, a little glowing coffee mug to remind us that we haven't gone through the Tim Horton's drive-through yet this morning. Now THAT would make a difference in how I drive my car!

 

:iagree and I don't think they really thought this through. I mean, there are plenty of locales where the temps rarely, if ever, drop to 37º and others where it stays at or below that temp for months on end. Being in the latter , I'd like a button to shut the thing off.

I need one with the coffee spilling out of the mug to remind me the coffee is sloshing out of the cup.........and onto the side of the seat. :wink:

 

My Ford has one like that on the temp gage. I for one appreciate it. We get a lot of black ice around here in the winter and having one more warning is a good thing in my view. I don't always know how cold it is out because we have an attached garage. My indicator came on for the first time last week it was 35 at home but dropped to 32 along the way. Slowed a bit and gave everyone around me a wide berth.

 

yes henry that indicator is ideal for this area. it nearly is never cold enough for black ice, but with the rain we get here and that fact that winter temps are within 10º of being dangerous makes the thermometer very handy.

then again... i guess we could just glance at the temp every once in a while.