According to the Toyota website pedestrian detection is included on all Prime models. Regarding PCS, I suspect that people are getting confused by the fact that since PCS and DRCC use the same hardware they are typically bundled together, leading to the misconception that DRCC must be turned on for PCS to work.
I have experienced this twice with my Prime Premium. Once when someone inappropriately merged in front of me on the freeway and once when someone slammed on their brakes because the person in front of them was pulling into a parking lot. Neither case did I have cruise control turned on. While I was moving my foot to the brake at the time of the alert, the system beat me to begin braking.
I have experienced PCS 3 times now. Each time I got the flashing Red warning on the Multi-Info Display and the loud beeping, accompanied by the sudden braking. All 3 times it worked great. 1 out of the 3 was pretty close to the vehicle in front and the other 2 I could have stopped myself anyways. PCS helps if you are actually distracted or lose sight of the distance closing. But if you are used to driving fast and braking fast at the last minute, then PCS will annoy/freak you out a bit. All in all, I think PCS is great and a potential life-saver, or accident-saver for sure. I have never dared to actually let my car keep going to fully test the PCS but we have Toyota and IIHS for that kind of testing. But PCS has already saved me some headaches for sure. And for some of you in this thread, the DRCC distance control is annoying when you are slowing down to bumper-to-bumper traffic so I would turn off DRCC myself and resume after as well.
I stand corrected...sorry for the incorrect info...learned that I have something on the Premium that I didn't realize I had.
believe it or not I tried this. It did not work. Don't think its enough mass for radar to pick up. Its funny to watch. see below https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/65644567/test%20prius.mov
The radar can't "see" a balloon. You need to use something that reflects RF energy. My wifes Subaru uses 3d vision so it might pass your test. JeffD
This system does work! I tested it (see this video): . I've also experienced it preventing a minor collision, when I almost ran into a wall on a tight corner at a car wash.
