Prius v - rolls back when stopped on steep slope

Re: Prius v - rolls back when stopped on steep slop

Yup, the V has the same feature.

 

Re: Prius v - rolls back when stopped on steep slop

Hill assist, as others have pointed out, is used if needed while still in Drive. Also.....

The Prius HSD doesn't have conventional gears including park. It uses what's termed a parking pawl. When on a slope and placed in Park, it will roll back till it engages the internal pawl. Depending on the degree of the slope, the impact can be quite hard. Engaging the parking brake before letting off the brake pedal is the proper technique to eliminate this.

Congrats on your new car! :rockon: and :welcome:

 

Re: Prius v - rolls back when stopped on steep slop

I would try to avoid driving in slop. It's messy and gets all over the running gear.

On a different issue, if you need to start your Prius on a slope, you should use the built-in hill-holder feature. Just press the brake until you hear the beep.

Tom

 

Re: Prius v - rolls back when stopped on steep slop

You step on the parking brake pedal to engage and step on it again to disengage. That's for parking not hill assist.

 

Re: Prius v - rolls back when stopped on steep slop

When the hill start assist is engaged it will indicate with a yellow light on the dash

 

Re: Prius v - rolls back when stopped on steep slop

You may be spoiled by a nice feature of some Subarus. Most cars, including my older Subaru, lack this feature. Manual transmissions will roll back on the slightest slopes. Automatics generally idle with significant forward pressure, so can hold position on steeper slopes before rolling back. The Prius 'idles' with much lighter pressure, so its rollback performance falls in between.

As others have already pointed out, you can press the brake hard until the Prius Hillholder feature engages with a beep and a flashing yellow icon on the dash. I believe that it remains engaged as long as the brake is lightly pressed, then releases about two seconds after letting go of the brake or when forward motion begins. But being accustomed to free-rolling manual transmissions, I just don't use it.

This will work. But most drivers will quickly get the feel of doing this with just one foot. Drivers of manual transmissions won't need to adjust at all.

Don't become one of those absent minded two-foot drivers who continually rides the brake pedal, as this can slash fuel economy and cause serious premature brake wear in normal cars. (I don't know how the Prius responds to this abuse.) These drivers are sometimes recognizable as having their brake lights on much of the time, or randomly flashing on and off, even as they accelerate uphill. Their brake lights often change states when hitting road bumps or dips.