Scary driving Prius on a windy day

Nope just a stock OEM car. I heard they are not that expensive. I don't drive in the dessert much. It is rare. They have the open land very few obstructions like trees or buildings to slow the wind down. This is to attend a Wake with my wife and her Mom.I'll drive slower than usual. The other option is my wife has a Hybrid Acura ILX but she likes to just drive it local near home or to work.

 

Wakes are no fun I found driving the rental Prii that I let the car drift around rather than fighting the car. Seemed to make it more relaxing but still had to allow room in my lane. Construction zones were interesting with narrow lanes and concrete barriers. Still, a bone stock Prius even though it is like a kite in the wind, it still handles yanking the wheel at 70 mph to miss a critter that popped out on the road. Must be that stability control kicking in? Don't know, but the car handles high speed maneuvers like a piece of cake, yet will drift all over the road in heavy cross winds Maybe tell your wife about the Plus Perf kit before Xmas Maybe Santa will bring you a few boxes of goodies to install later on The Plus Perf package sure makes a difference in handling compared to stock.

Mike

 

Thanks I'll look into it.

 

Let's remember that the Prius has a rear beam axle and McPherson strut front. This is simply not a high performance system. There is little or no passive rear steer and the roll center in the rear is relatively high compared to the front.

Do other vehicles perform better in crosswinds? Well, my gas-sucking, high maintenance Audi A6 is superb compared to the Prius.

To wit, every vehicle is simply a compromise.

 

Ditto. Aftermarket center braces help GenIII and GenII a LOT in crosswinds. Plenty of discussion threads about this on PriusChat.

 

Have a Ford F250 Superduty diesel that I drive and drove prior to getting the Prius... only thing I noticed was on I-95 in the rain when two huge tractor trailers passed me there was a slight twitch like I was getting sucked into a vacuum... nothing that could not be corrected but it briefly made me think of comedian Jeff Dunham's comments on his blue Prius, "When you can drive under an 18 wheeler, say 'That is really dirty' and drive back out, that is just too damn small."

 

ABSOLUTELY... there are days that I won't even drive it due to wind gusts I recall times when I could virtually be bumped into the next lane without warning. I had a Mercedes 4 door e class as well as the prius a few years ago. I totaled the Mercedes in a multiple car crash and that car was like a tank.. had I been driving the Prius, I would have clearly died that day. (nothing to do with wind gusts, but just taking an opportunity to state how light and unsafe they are)... should getting good mileage have a price tag this steep? (i.e. death) after reviewing several postings on here, I find that there a many, many people are in denial in terms of stating that 'any' car will feel a gust of wind... yes, this may be true, but not as severe as while driving a Prius. come ON!

 

I swapped the front and rear sway bars from a Corolla to my 04 Prius. Big difference in stability. Even took out some of the oversteer.
Just replaced the lower control arms and struts, tires and alignment.

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NO, it's not true with most cars