Traction Control May Leave Prius Owners Stranded in the Cold

"Unreliable"?

I wouldn't go as far as say unreliable, but at least a concern under the right conditions. I am not aware of a single gasoline only model that would do that. It is an odd quirk.

lol

Is that the reaction of your real estate colleagues, when they see your lack of business acumen?

This isnt necessarily a problem, as the traction control is doing its job, by not allowing the vehicle to skid out of control. And it is not only an issue on Priuses or hybrids, other passenger cars with traction control have this issue. You either have to accept that TC will control your car in certain situations, or opt not to use it. (What I dont know is if it can be disabled in a Prius, but it certainly can in other cars.)

TC is still so new, and there are a lot of real world experiences yet to be shared. Hopefully others have good insight into this, and that this post doesnt just turn into a Prius bash.

but a normal TC would prevent skidding but keep the wheels moving, slowly.
this seems very odd, maybe it's just this guy's car.

Hey Toyota Mark, Where have you been? You state TC is so new but in reality it has been out for over ten years. Then you go on to say this is not a problem.
Maybe it is "new" to your beloved Toyota and they are having problems no one else has. We all know how good they are at hiding problems.

"Traction Control May Leave Prius Owners Stranded in the Cold"

Just driving the Prius is enough to leave you feeling cold.

Haha Matthew that was a good one! I would rather drive a Ford Escape Hybrid or Honda Accord Hybrid

Owned. Owned. Owned. Man, that is hilariosu stuff right here. Sure hope they don't get rear ended by a semi.

BTW, why do lots of Prius drivers drive with their headlights on during perfectly sunny days? They should know that it ruins their fuel economy.

No, not Daytime Running Lights. HEADLIGHTS with the REAR LIGHT ON DURING THE DAY. I bet those Prius buyers want to show to everyone that they are driving a Prius and turn on the HEAD LIGHTS (you can see the rear light on, you idiot) but don't even know that they are using up energy for no reason.

Read this part.

"His Toyota service manager told Christopher that he was able to duplicate the symptoms on a level snow covered surface and apparently achieved the same results with two other Prius cars that were in the dealership fleet.

But after reporting the problem to Toyota, the service manager told Christopher that the Prius was operating as designed.

Christopher said that he "will consider this vehicle unsafe for road use under any snow or ice conditions and frankly feel that if all Prius vehicles are designed to do this someone ought to look into the situation to try to force Toyota to modify the design."

Diesels have no reason to limit their torque as long as the transmission can handle it. More torque at lower RPM means that the diesel can move the vehicle easily without increasing enginen RPM and using up fuel. The end result produces diesel's great fuel economy.

"frustratingly enough, the tire you want to spin doesn't"

Gee, I wonder why. Differential anyone?

"Here's one, why do diesels have 8 million ft.lbs of torque when they can do just fine with 150ft.lbs and burn way less oil."

Stupid comment of the week. But then I guess you owned a Pontiac Sunfire, so one might assume your concept of what makes a good car is somewhat skewed from reality.

You still didn't answer my Prius question.

The V10 TDI is for the Touareg which is a genuine offroader. Sorry but you must be used to cars without torque, 150 doesn't really cut it for anything. Get the point, the extra torque on the diesel doesn't waste fuel as diesels are still the most fuel efficient piston engines on the planet. It just makes up for lower RPM and "sometimes" slightly lower horsepower.

BTW, the Lexus LS 600h doesn't need 400+ hp, what a fuel waster.

huu76, Toyota makes its fair share of horrifically inefficient engines. You know why Honda is the most "green" car manufacturer, but Toyota isn't? The Land Cruiser's 4.7L V8. Sure it's a nice car (people will strike back), blah, blah blah... but that's not the point. The car gets 12mpg and has 270hp from a MASSIVE 4.7L V8. The Q7 V12 TDI (another hi-po diesel) gets 20mpg and has 500hp and 700lb ft of torque from what, a 6.0L V12?

hue76 you are right! The Touareg isn't even close to being a true off roader! Toyota is slipping badly! If they keep this up they will be worse than a Dodge! I now like the Honda best for reliability and fuel mielage.The new tundra sucks badly from what my exeptations are from a truck! Toyotas reputation as a fuel efficient reliable vehicle are fading fast!

Nope, no gas guzzler tax because it is an SUV. No SUV and pickups pay the gas guzzler tax, but they all SHOULD/MUST. Which is a shame. The EPA taxes around 50,000 cars (with SUV/pickup like fuel economy) but allows about 8 million SUVs/pickups to guzzle and pollute without any gas guzzler tax.

The V10 TDI is an older diesel so its fuel economy is good but not grat. It is still one of the most fuel efficient real SUVs, especially when power/torque are considered. The V12 TDI with more power/torque gets better fuel economy. The LS 600h will still use up quite a lot of fuel, why can't it have a 200 hp engine from the Camry, as I am sure that would get better fuel economy.

What makes you think that bio-diesel is cleaner?

Actually not true on all of those accounts. I personally have no problem with a vehicle that gets 20-30 mpg. Or even sports cars/sedans as those are sold in trivial amounts, those 8 million SUVs/pickups are the "trouble makers"

The average SUV/pickup would have a 3,700 dollar gas guzzler tax, something that would "The purpose of the Gas Guzzler Tax is to discourage the production and purchase of fuel inefficient vehicles"

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/info.shtml#guzzler

Why are your comparing an SUV with a sedan? I am just saying that the V10/V12 TDI is the LS600 of the diesel world, more power by using more fuel. You can't have it both ways.

Actually the gas guzzler tax for an average SUV/pickup should be around 2,100 (there is a different calculation)

Still that would do what the gas guzzler tax is designed to do. Currently it doesn't as seen by 8 million or so 16 MPG (combined) vehicles sold each year.

I'm waiting for recall #287.

This is scary. I dont see how people could possibly say that the wheels need to stop instead of slip for "safety." I'm tired of the idea that slow = safe. Denver has had some really bad weather this year and my E430 sport with summer tires is just not the car to drive in it but I have on occasion. I turn the traction control OFF when I need to get around town. I learned that the hard way after traction control physically stopped me mid turn while turning right with oncoming traffic. In my estimation, being able to control your car yourself in instances like that is 10 times better than having an old computer think it out for you. There is just no calculating the human factor.

This reminds me of that cts-v video, accept this time a company that is idiolized by idiots (aka. the American general public)is shown to be less than perfect. Next time some one brings up the "lousy gm quality" i will bring up this article.

Im sorry idiot was not the right word, mabey Moronic Drones, that is a more fitting description for most Americans looking for a car.

Hello there lightningSVT. is FUTURE is biodiesel algae? Till then, biodiesel is destruction of forests in Amazon Brazil, Borneo, Malaisya, Thailand, and the list goes on...
How much does it cost scarce wildlife, deforestations, devastating floods causing deaths? Aha! 20 cents per litre! Good for ya sucker!
njoy your big fat ass in those flexible palm trees ...

"This Prius article proves that Toyota's reliability and quality is overhyped! Toyotas are junk!"

This article proves nothing. My wife's IS350 is horrible in the snow. It goes almost nowhere. So instead of spinning and slipping this car just simply shuts down instead of going nowhere?

You re so typical west-thinking arrogant! Check out what you ve written: << last time I checked, Michigan does not have any palm trees.>>

Exactly lightningSVT. You care only for your big fat ass country-town. You don't give a damn about destruction in other parts of Earth. That explains your sick way of thinking about bio-fuels...
Makes you wonder what future to be expected for life, when people are so mindless...

lightningSVT
paparokefte,
paliokourada amerikanikh, paparomalaka, mounopano tou kerata,
emena tha peis ypokriti? gamo to kerato sas paliopoustrakia amerikanoi tsoglania, kala sas kanoume kai sas gamane oi taliban. alla eseis den katalabenete, thelete ki allo! PSOLES ths kouradomhxanhs!!! aei sixtir mounopana aderfes kai jaderfes... esti na gamiosaste panta.

<< Your an idoit! This is an English language page!>>

Your an i do it?

Hey lightningSVT this is an English language page!GTFO!

<<Hybrids are a scam! They are worthless.>>

hahahaha!Hey lightningSVT. You dont have to convince us. Go persuade your "american-way of thinking" automakers not to build hybrids. hahaha

<<The Toyota Prius is a Tin can. If a Prius owner pulls out in front of a big American SUV or SEMI truck, ITS OVER!>>

Etsi etsi, autos einai o gnostos amerikanikos tropos skepsis.
Telika oute poulaki exeis, anikeis kathara sto trito fylo. katakei meria pou eisai, psakse gia kanena palikari melampso me prosonta... tha se boithisi na xalaroseis...

Anyone who pulls out in front of a semi truck is game over.

Even in your pretend mullet mobile.

The 0-60 in 5.1 GS450h is worthless. Besides the worthless mustangs what vehicle that ford offer have this kind of sprint time, but will still get MPG in the upper 20's?