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We are in our 4th week with our Pruis and we are really enjoying it..it is such a great car..roomy, confortable, full of neat gadgets, good looking and a super toy. We have been getting about 46 to 51 mpg..
We had leather seats put in and glass tinting last week//;; it is quite cozy;
We have started planning a lengthy trip for this fall..heading west and north and down the coast it is something we have talked about for years.
my friend from ov pk was here and fell in love with the Prius. Would not be surpised if he did;t buy one in the future
Ken
How many late model Honda's have you driven? How many late model Toyotas? If you have no experience with comparisons, I will leave it up to the reader to determine "foolish statements".
It is not a question of benefiting from VSA, it is a question of the degree of benefit. I said it doesn't need stability control, not that it wouldn't benefit. But with the HCH design, the anti-lock brakes will provide enough control, IMHO.
Are you suggesting that VSA is not more critical in cars that have softer suspensions, and a higher center of gravity?
The Prius in base form does not come with VSC, front & rear curtain airbags or side airbags. You have to buy option package #4 or #6 to get those safety features. If you are going to put side airbags in a car they should be standard. Toyota uses it as an option to make the car look less expensive. I would think side and curtain airbags are more important than stability control. What percentage of the drivers drive on snow and ice in the USA?
Airbags are also included with packages 1, 3 and 5.
jprice SoCal '05 Silver, #1, 4800 miles, [non-permissible content removed]. mileage 46.5MPG
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Yes it rains and there is flash flooding and water poolig. Houston drivers drive too fast most of the time and slow down somewhat in the rain. Given the average driving ability, I am not sure how much VSC would help in the rain. But I am still a realtively new Houstonian , only been here 3 years.
Snow, last Christmas yes. I live in the NE Houston area. It dusted the cars and dusted the grass and was gone in less than a hour. Didn't stick on the streets; too warm. There was more snow in the Galveston areas ( S Houston), but it still didn't stick on the road, melted mostly when it hit. There was some snow that stayed on the grass for a day or so. A true Houstonian has harrowing experiences every day driving. It is more harrowing when there is moisture. And even more harrowing when the moisture is in the form of white flakes.
I have RWD and FWD cars. One of the FWD ( the only automatic) has VSC and it used to do very well in the snow. Not so much becuae of the VCS but becuase it had M&S tires and was FWD. It rarely sees snow or ice anymore. I have a RWD car with traction control that is terrible in snow or ice and you are best to leave it a home.
VSC is beneficial for RWD becuase most drivers are not skilled enough or experience engough to turn into a skid. And the VSC is much much smarter and faster than even an experience driver can react. I think VSC provides benefit in this case. Especailly is a person tend to overdrive wet, icy, sleety, snowy conditions.
VSC is also good in cars with high center of gravity. Many SUV drivers drive their vehivcles like they were sports cars. SUVs being top heavy tend to roll-over instead of skidding. More sophisitcated VSC systems can help prevent rollover of the moderately stupid drivers. However, for the really stupid, even VSC cannot overcome the laws of physics.
Now FWD, VSC is only marginally helpfully. When you got to fast into a corner a car will tend to plow ahead instead of turning. This becomes more pronounced as the conditions of the rood become slicker dry:wet:sleety:icy Actually you should slow down in inclement conditions, but most people don't slow down enough. If you are goiung too fast for the road condition, then possibly VSC can help on FWD. However, I have driven in heavy snow with only FWD , with the right tires, without any problems. However, your experience may vary.
Good Luck,
MidCow
P.S.- I think VSC will be standard on all cars in 5-7 years.
I am opened minded and invite you to show me some references where I am wrong. You have alluded to some Euorpean testing and CU reprots, please provide some URLs.
I think plowing forward in snow is a very isolated case caused by driving way too fast under the conditions. I stand by my original premise that vehicle skid control is over-hyped in front wheel drive cars.
Thanks,
MidCow
Bob Q. :confuse:
JOHN
http://www.drivers.com/article/671/
http://www.hwysafety.org/news_releases/2004/pr102804.htm
http://www.automotive.com/news/25/7956/
I post these reports as numerous posters have said that stability control is not a worthwhile option. I, myself, would never consider a car without it.
That being said stability control is very important in preventing rollover in vehicles with high center of gravity such as SUVs. It is also more imporatnat in RWD ( rear wheel drive ) cars that tend to have the rear end swing around is the three (3) significant conditions : ( 1) entering a curve too fast for road conditions, (2) abrupt lane change, and (3) sudden wind gusts. The Prius is FWD (front wheel drive) and the benefit would be prevent plowing, going straight ahead instead of turning. The point is that VSC ( or whatever name stability control is called on a particular vehicle) is LESS BENEFICIAL ON FWD CARS
That doen't mean there isn't any benefit, no one ever said that. It is just that the best benefit for the buck in descending order is: (1) rollover prevention, (2) RWD swing around prevention and (3) FWD plowing prevention.
Now when, the insurance companies recognize the benfits of VSC with monetary discounts, example your car has VSC here is another 10-15% discount on your insurance rate, then I will recognize the importance of VSC on FWD.
QUESTION : do insurance companies give discounts for VSC ?
Drive the conditions, Live longer, cruis'n in 6th :shades: .
MidCow
I thought that I read that one Prius owner had difficulty going in snow because the VSC would not allow the wheels to spin. I may have read the post wrong. It was during the winter.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050601/ap_on_bi_ge/toyota_investigation
Regulators plan to conduct investigation over engine stalling.
http://money.cnn.com/2005/06/01/Autos/toyota_prius/
what did you put on, are they bigger, and can you make the car sit a little higher this way?
you can tell I'm kinda car-clueless.
and what SHOULD the motor be doing and when...with the reports that came out yesterday, I want to be sure it is doing what it should. I haven't stalled but the report also said that the engine malfunctions somehow and discharges the battery.
Hope I didn't make a mistake
The software stalls affect only a very small number and there are 2 TSBs that address the issues as currently known. You should already have had those two fixes applied. Toyota and the NHSTA are investigating the cause of the stalling and may have another TSB ( software fix) in the future. If there is a significant problem it will be fixed!
Mileage 35-40 is maybe a little low, but people who driving normal like they did with other cars seem to only get this mileage or in the low 40s. There are special hype-mileage techniques, but you really have to drive very slow and tepid (pardon the expression, like an old lady) to obtain them. There is a thread on getting high muleage or you can search this Prius thread; Edmund's search engine is very good.
Cruis'n in 6th :shades: ,
MidCow
P.S.- Relax and enjoy your Prius
Welcome to the forum. If you bought the car from a Toyota dealer check with the service manager for any TSBs that are issued for the car. Make sure they are done and you will be fine. Midcow is right the mileage is dependent on your driving habits. You will learn to take advantage of the Prius and get higher mileage.
Mid:
While your statement is technically correct, it must be noted that we are not yet sure if all the cars reporting the failure did not have the TSB applied. There could be a different error involved, perhaps even caused by one of the TSBs...
Whatever the cause, it is affecting only a very small percentage of the Prius out there.
What is VSC?
Thats all my questions
Thanks :shades:
On a recent trip I went 544 miles without a low fuel warning before filling up and got 52.1 mpg. On that same trip I drove another 500 + miles (from Espanola NM to Liberal KS) and averaged 54.3 mpg. I really like the new Prius.
The only truly annoying thing I have found on the Prius is the incessant "beeping" of the car when you put it in reverse. I would prefer that it beeped only when there was some obstacle behind the car when backing up.