Poor steering and handling on the highway.

[Mike N]

I finally got Toyota Corporate's attention about the handling and steering deficiencies with the 2004 Prius at highway speeds. I will be hearing from a Corporate technician in a couple of days to do a thorough and proper evaluation of my handling complaint.
If anybody else has an issue with the instability of your Prius on rain grooves, cross winds, truck wind blast, etc., send me an ae-mail NOW with your name and phone number. Include your case number if you have contacted the Toyota Customer satisfaction center about it. I will present them to the factory representative. The Prius specialist I spoke with this afternoon claimed she had NO knowledge of this kind of issue with the 2004 Prius. I find that to be very hard to believe. Help prove me right.

Mike (Mikenunb@aol.com)

[efusco]

Would you be willing to present testimonials from those of us having no issues at all so that they can see that it is an issue limited to a small number of vehicles?

[Mike N]

Absolutely!!! It does seem to be a vehicle specific problem. Many owners have no complaints about the handling. Some owners have complained. Maybe we can find a pattern. Maybe the problem can be traced to a limited VIN number range. Perhaps a defective batch of some part that went into a limited number of cars. All I know is I think my handling so poor at highway speeds that I am afraid to take the car on long trips. It takes every ounce of my concentration to keep it in the lane sometimes. Other times, at lower speeds, no crosswinds, no rain grooves, no large vehicles around me, minor road crowning and it's fine. I just want to hear from some other owners that are having the same problem as mine.

Thanks, Mike

[DaveinOlyWA]

im beginning to think the same thing. yesterday i was talking to another 04 owner at the gym and he mentioned that he felt his steering could be better at highway speeds also.

he had standard air in his tires and his problem seemed to be combination suspension, steering and alignment from his description.

i specifically asked him about the sensitivity to the drive by wire effect and he was aware of that so i would have to say that he has a valid issue.

he just got his car in Oct (im guessing by the tabs)

[richard schumacher]

Shout-out to other LA owners and swap cars for a test drive. I can't get there until January at least.

[DanMan32]

Not sure what the cause is. I don't seem to see that problem, but then I am not usually on a highway. Most of the time I am on US 19 in Tampa Bay area, where speed limit is from 45-55.

Someone on this forum mentioned the car was 'twitchy'. I find the steering sensitive also. Thought it was 'pulling', but if I let go of the wheel, it stays straight.

The prius has electric assist power steering using a torqe sensor to detect you turning the wheel, and thus operating a motor to help turn the steering. The sensitivity is supposed to change with speed. Toyota could look into making the steering assist less sensitive at higher speeds, thus letting you feel the road more.

For those of us with disabilities that make it hard for us to apply much torqe (in response to another thread in this or another forum), Toyota might be able to make the assist response MORE sensitive at low or no speed.

Of course, both of these suggestions depend on the limits of the torqe sensor itself, such as the minimum torqe it can sense, and the precision of the change in torqe it can sense.

[DaveinOlyWA]

well steering sensitivity is built in and it took me a week or two to get used to the fact that i no longer had an play in the steering wheel like my pickup had. but now that im used to it, i prefer it.

in my car, driving is very effortless. i have taken my hands off the wheel briefly and the car tracks fine. because of the road tilt for drainage purposes, even when pointing straight, it will eventually start to fade to the side, but it will ride straight for a good piece.

i think you have some flaw, could be tires. some flaws in tires dont show up until you reach a certain speed. could be suspension, could be a lot of things. i do have to believe that its probably mechanical as the computer settings i would have to assume would be the same for all cars and most Prius owners dont have issues with the car.

[GeoffM]

See my comments on this thread: http://priuschat.com/forums/first-1000-mil...html?highlight=

Bottom line is, I've got it too, especially in the wind. Might be my own fault though for changing tires. Still trying to find someone in my area to do a test drive comparison, but as I noted, I rented a 2004 for a day and never noticed the wandering issue at any time. I felt it immediately in my new car as soon as I got much above 45-50 in the wind - about 10 minutes after I started my trip home from the dealer.

Geoff

[mycounsel]

I have owned my Prius for about 8 weeks and I and my wife both have noticed that at highway speeds, the steering seems to be either overly sensitive and the car seems to sort of wander in the lane. It is exacerbated by wind conditions and by uneven roads. Sometimes I feel like I’m a drunk driver and I wonder what other people will think of me because I have actually wandered across lines from time to time. I’d be happy to talk to somebody at Toyota, but I haven’t said anything to them yet about this.

As I have gotten used to the steering, the problem now seems less noticeable. I suppose that I may have been oversteering before and the car is simply much more sensitive to even the slightest movement of the steering wheel than a normal vehicle.

[naterprius]

I just had a brainstorm. Why not cut the power to the electric steering above 15 MPH? I doubt any power steering is required above that speed. Perhaps I will cut the power completely and take it for a spin. I've often wondered why the steering doesn't feel like the electric power steering on my MR2 turbo. It felt perfect all the time, and was Electric and Hydraulic. It took some special fluid.

At around 40 mph, the steering wheel seems to "stick" in the last position you had it, regardless of whether that position was perfectly straight.

At around 60 mph, it tends to return to straight much more easily.

Nate