Prius Traction Control Complaints on the Rise

The indications or the speculations?

 

The "aftertmath" pictures of the Saylor car front brake rotors and pads indicated that the pads had been used so severely that the pad material had begun to bubble...boiled.

The Sikes "aftermath" statements indicated the same but not as severe.

 

The "wheelspin" example the original poster used was getting unstuck from a snow bank. Your video shows acceleration easily aggressive enough to produce wheelspin in the posters circumstance.

 

I remember. I also remember discussing how this could happen, however, I'm taking to many painkillers to really remember so I'll refrain from trying to argue any points and bow out of this dispute.

 

is this a traction control problem?

 

Only if TC doesn't kick in. This is also why I stated I have never tried this on a slick surface. After which, you stated that a slick surface should not be required. So I went out to video what happens on a non-slick surface.

I will amend my earlier suggestion that during force charge the RPM may reach 3000rpm+. The highest it went during my test today was 2450rpm and after the car warmed up it stayed between 1947-2000rpm.

 

I just tried it today, with the brakes fully applied and the gas pedal down, the engine was at about 1350 RPM - not WOT - regardless of how far down I pressed the gas pedal. When I released the brake, the car instantly moved forward, but I let up on the gas a bit and it was quite controllable. I didn't hold it down for a long time, only several seconds (I was at a stop light, with cars behind me), but the RPM stayed pretty steady.

If the gas pedal was somehow floored (like by the floor mat) while you had the brake down, then released the brake, this might startle you enough to not regain control before hitting something, but pressing the brake would stop the car.

Reread my post. I said FWD handled better in slippery conditions, I wasn't talking about dry pavement. This thread is about traction control, as you recall. I agree on dry pavement RWD does have performance advantages (as I also said). When people are focused on improved fuel economy, being able to handle jack rabbit starts (torque steer) is not a priority, you don't generally have that much power anyway. Handling during adverse conditions is more often a concern. Hence the difference in drive train between sports cars and family cars.

Your last line should read: The best handling cars on dry pavement are still rear wheel drive.

 

Which one was the Saylor car? Was that the one that came out shortly after this problem went public, but they found he had been alternating between accelerating and braking and was probably just deliberately seeking attention?

 

No, you are thinking of Sikes.

Saylor was the San Diego CHP Lexus crash that killed four, triggering the national publicity. It involved at least pedal entrapment from an improper floormat, in a dealership loaner car, for which the dealership had previously been notified of a problem. This was a true ran-away vehicle displaying serious brake damage, far beyond that of Sikes.

 

Not sure if you saw it but I did the same thing and posted the video on the previous page.

 

Where do you see the snowflake? I don't believe I have ever seen it displayed.
thanks.

 

The snowflake icon is on the earlier Prius. The Gen II Prius has a pop-up banner that appears at the top of the MFD. I don't know if the Gen III has anything equivalent.

Tom

 

My 2005 doesn't have the banner. It shows a little snowflake looking thing on the dash display (where MPH is shown). I think the snowflake does show in the MDF as well. You'd think I'd remember such things. lol

 

And it must be repeated yet again that this was a non-hybrid Lexus ES350. Not a Prius, not a hybrid, no HSD - an ordinary engine (way overpowered for the car's requirements) and ordinary automatic transmission.

 

Makes me wonder if in this situation the ICE RPM might be a function of the hybrid battery SOC. Low SOC = high RPM = quick recharge.

 

No, on dry pavement there is generally a surplus of traction so sharing that traction with both stearing and "drive" hardly ever represents an issue. It's when things get slippery that "sharing" can get dicy in a big hurry.

 

This thread . . . after four long, exasperating, boring tedious years - above all else, the content herein proves . . . . . .



zombies never go away ... never sleep ... never lie down ... they never give it a rest -



.

 

I had read that and agreed in my post. My point which I should have made more clear was that handling did not cause the shift to front wheel drive, it was done to improve fuel economy.

FWD doesn't necessarily mean bad handling. I believe the first successful commercial FWD car was the mini, which was in response to the first oil crisis (In europe, not america in 1956). It handled great for cars in that day, but all things being equal give me the rear drive. I chose the prius for it's fuel economy not its handling.

Now you know I have to respond to that. On wet with traction control (the topic of this post) RWD often handle better. It all depends on the situation, up hill rwd, fast turns fwd, slow turns rwd, heavy braking rwd. In heavy snow or mud the unequal weight distribution helps fwd. So no I don't buy into your change to my wording.

The pilot in command is the most important piece of safety equipment. Bad decision making of driving in unsafe weather conditions, or driving at speeds too high for the weather conditions are the biggest cause of these accidents. I just would like the car company to give me control and let me turn down the hyper active nannie traction control.

The second biggest safety equipment is having appropriate tires. I've replaced my oem ones for better traction. If these two things are taken care of, the advantages of FWD for safe handling disappear.

 

http://www.caranddriver.com/features/09q4/how_to_deal_with_unintended_acceleration-tech_dept

Even a 500+hp Mustang was able to stop with full throttle at 100mph. It took over 900ft, but it was done.

Now - if you pump the brakes and the throttle is really stuck and you can't figure out how to turn off the engine...

 

I think the snowflake disappeared in 2006, when the higher resolution MFD was introduced.

Tom