What does Toyota say about their stupid traction control?

I thought Toyota's response was fine. They obviously did read the complaint, they have noted it, and they calmly explained WHY the system acts the way it does.

You can complain about specific situations inwhich The Prius traction control can be "stupid" and be problematic..but it seems to me that if it wasn't designed to protect the transaxle you'd have a much bigger complaint the first time you damaged your transaxle permanently....

Seems to me all machines have strengths in design and application and weaknesses in design and application. I think given you have chosen to drive a Hybrid, with a transaxle and electric motors...and reap the benefits of high gas mileage and lower emmisions....you just might have to deal with corresponding reality that this same machine as a matter of design, might not behave as you would wish in specific snowy or icy situations.

You can adapt the machine by trying different tires, chains or traction devices...but complaining that Toyota has sold you a automobile that protects it's own transaxle from damage?

Why waste your time? You are driving a hybrid that employs computers, transaxles and electric motors for great benefit. If you have discovered a specific weakness of this same system...communicating it to Toyota was the correct thing to do, but before I would call the system anything but correct for being designed to protect itself...I'd try chains, more agressive snow tires, and/or simply deciding in any given storm, or icy day, that maybe The Prius isn't the choice of vehicle to take on the road.

 

I have a GEN2 2008 in the snow i find it reasonable but feel if it was fitted with a limited slip differential it would transform the traction in slippery conditions.

 

Replace "handling" with "control" then. TC is a net-gain and in most circumstances will be better than non-TC.

 

As posted in the other thread. This is how it is done!

 

And there is a TON of wheelspin there, certainly by design. I have an incredibly hard time believing that MORE spin would give better results in, well, any conditions.

 

Yup, it allows the spin up to 15 MPH reading on Speedometer (on my Gen2). If you don't press the accelerator like crazy, HSD won't reduce the power. Give it a reasonably amount and TC should take care of the rest.

 

I don't know if that video inspires too much confidence in me. Seems like it barely makes it up that incline, on very little snow. Plus, it is not snowing or sleeting at the time.

I'd want more traction than that especially if I was in traffic during a time when snow was falling.

Having said that, every car/truck I have ever owned had strengths and weaknesses. I think you can pretty much get out of a machine, what you put into it, in the form of thought out decisions about where and when to drive it, how to handle it, and what tires and traction devices you employ.

 

I wonder how many failed transaxels there would be if you could turn off the traction control? Their trying to prevent damage and breakdowns.

a few of my GM cars had traction control, and they had a traction off button but guess what it still would take over if there was to much wheel spin, this was to protect the drivetrain.

Front wheel cars don't have very strong drivetrains, if you want to be able to peel out/ or have uncontrolled wheel spin get a rear wheel drive.

 

I am 99% sure it's possible to turn of TC in Gen2 through some strange approach, perhaps it is in Gen 3, also.

In that video of the Prius it's hard to tell how slippery the driveway is. it seems quite steep, though.

 

If I remember correctly, the driver of the Prius said under that thin snow was a layer of ice!

 

As I admit freely, I am not a current owner of a Prius, and have never driven a Prius in inclement conditions. I leave it to owners to form their own opinions about viability in snow or ice.

However my observation is that given a transaxle and the nature of hybrid electric motors and HSD and a self protective Traction Control system, given a Prius...the actual traction capabilities of The Tires would have increased importance.

In Oregon, I have always felt comfortable with simply my driving skills and "standard" all-season grade tires. I think if I owned a Prius, Snow Tires would be a must if I where to decide to drive it in any weather that was close to inhospitable.

 

Love my 2010 traction control - gives the car the best performance on snow and ice of any of my 24 over the years cars, (excepting of course a real 4wd ) . It even beats a few AWD cars and truck I have owned.

 

Your 2 statements, highlighted above, contradict each other. Not surprising, since somebody with diarrhea of the mouth says lots of...nonsensical...things.

Why don't you take your...opinions...to a forum dedicated to a car you actually drive.

 

Yes.
Use the Lexus variants of the HSD in the Prius.

 

2010 Traction in Snow and On Ice

In the last two weeks I have had the opportunity to drive my 2010 Prius in a mix of ice, hard pack, and 5 inch deep snow. I have snow tires on the car (General Utimax Artic) and have had no problems with the Prius traction control.

 

+1
What he said.

 

Its really all about having proper tires with the appropriate amount of tread life left. It would have been nice if the OP would have shared which brand and style of tires are on his/her car and their age as in how many miles are on them. For example I have found on both sets of tires that I have gone through on my Gen 2 Prius is that the Prius' wet and snow performance is poor when the tires are past 50% of their life.

 

That's interesting. What is different from the traction control in the 2010 Prius?

 

Frankly, I just don't understand what you people are expecting your car to do under such conditions. Would you prefer to have no traction control and let your tires just spin getting you virtually nowhere? The vehicle is 3,000lbs and has two drive tires. I don't know how many square inches of tire that actually makes contact with the road surface but that's all the car has to grab the road. Throw some ice or snow in between the two. I consider it an engineering marvel each time my Prius makes it up my snow/ice covered driveway in Minnesota. Again, I fail to see what the problem is...