EEEK sitting at light, car lurched forward!

[bac]

Originally Posted by Eve

I did not have my foot firmly on the brake

I think I see your problem.

... Brad

[Code Blue]

I'm too new at this to know if what you experienced was beyond the normal range, but it does re-enforce the need for the driver to keep his/her foot on the brake firmly, especially when waiting to turn left. If the guy behind you had bumped the car, or it surged as was described, it could have pushed the car over into traffic if the wheel was turned at all. As with a lot of this stuff, that's true with any car, but more so with Prii.

[bwilson4web]

Originally Posted by Eve

... NO CRUISE..this is a base..

I didn't realize any 2008 were made without a cruise control. I thought after 2001, all Prius came with cruise control.

Bob Wilson

[Maytrix]

Originally Posted by Jo_Vincent

Well, in the spirit of questioning how things work and after researching how the Prius works, I have difficulty understanding the following:

1. If the Prius car is stopped and
2. the ICE is off and
3. the driver selection is in drive "D" then,
The driver should depress the brake harder than they normall would in ICE only car (just in case the ICE in the Prius starts).
This comment is not intended to minimize the safety and advocate against the advice in this thread but to help understand what is normal and why.
I won't go into details in this thread but I think the Toyota PSD design team took the scenario that was first described in this thread into consideration. I will bring this question up in the technology thread.
Thank you.

It doesn't have to be harder. As the OP pointed out, her foot was not on it very hard - in fact it was so light, that the car was slightly rolling.

As long as your foot is kept on the brake keeping the car from moving, the car won't jump forward like that.

[Eve]

Originally Posted by bwilson4web

I didn't realize any 2008 were made without a cruise control. I thought after 2001, all Prius came with cruise control.

Bob Wilson

yup.. no cruise , no back up camera, no nav, no blutooth...
no nothing... extraneous that can go wrong....hehehe

of course unless i do something foolish ..and let the car roll... oh so slightly

just the wonderful silent sound of driving by the gas station and waving

[abq sfr]

Sometimes if I don't push hard enough on the brake at a traffic light I look at the mfd and power is going to the motors even though I'm not moving (especially if the road is uphill)... I don't like that because it's wasting battery power. So, I started pushing harder on the brake. Have not noticed any lunging however. It can be surprising when the ice starts up unexpectedly but I've never had any change in the motion of the car due to that.

[richard schumacher]

Startle reflex also, perhaps? The engine starts and you involuntarily jump, releasing what little pressure you did have on the brake pedal?

[hiremichaelreid]

Originally Posted by Code Blue

I'm too new at this to know if what you experienced was beyond the normal range, but it does re-enforce the need for the driver to keep his/her foot on the brake firmly, especially when waiting to turn left. If the guy behind you had bumped the car, or it surged as was described, it could have pushed the car over into traffic if the wheel was turned at all. As with a lot of this stuff, that's true with any car, but more so with Prii.

Drivers education taught me to NEVER turn the wheels left until you are ready to turn. This is precisely to avoid this problem of being hit from behind while waiting to turn.

It also taught me to ALWAYS stop with enough space in front you can see the bottom of the tires of the car in front. I often don't follow this rule precisely in high traffic so as to prevent lane cutters from stealing the space in front. YMMV.

[bwilson4web]

Originally Posted by Eve

yup.. no cruise , no back up camera, no nav, no blutooth...
no nothing... extraneous that can go wrong....

"Well there's your problem." You need the extra stuff to suppress the lurching, run away Prius problem. No doubt the other run away Prius we've seen reported in the past must have been basic units just like this one.


Bob Wilson <grins>

[LittlePinkSequin]

Interestingly, my VW Passat does this all the time. I know exactly what you're talking about - and w/ the Passat, it's a known issue with models made before 2004. I can't speak for the Prius, but with the Passat, it has nothing to do with braking (that I'm aware of)... I'm convinced the problem is with the computer that controls the transmission, but of course every time I've brought the car to the dealership, they just say they "can't duplicate the problem" even though a manager told me this issue has been fixed in newer Passats.

Fingers crossed this doesn't happen to you again.