Does ECU Upgrade Fix 04/05 Traction Control?

[CHockMT]

2005 owner who grew up driving in snow. Never been stuck, even with worn tires, in other cars both front and rear wheel drive. The 2005 Prius traction control is inadequate, possibly dangerous, and I am hoping there has been a upgrade that either allows the owner to disable the system or severely restricts the operation of the system. Is there an answer from Toyota that I haven't seen?

[jayman]

Originally Posted by CHockMT

2005 owner who grew up driving in snow. Never been stuck, even with worn tires, in other cars both front and rear wheel drive. The 2005 Prius traction control is inadequate, possibly dangerous

Living in Montana, you also get "real" winter weather, and are probably just as cold as Winnipeg too

Tideland Prius got a new ECU when the dealership made a booboo during a reflash and fried the old one. He claims the Trac behavior is much improved

I test drove a 2008 about a year ago, and can honestly state the Trac behavior is much improved. Still nothing like the Trac on my FJ, but it isn't fair to compare a Prius to an FJ

I finally solved most of my winter traction complaints by running very aggressive, modern studded snow tires. From Canadian Tire I got the Goodyear Nordic, which is the same tire as the Ultra Grip 500 sold in the EU

Goodyear Eur-Winter Tire-UltraGrip 500

If you click on "Profile" a Flash movie loads that explains the tire construction and benefits. Studded, this tire works very well on glare ice, and the aggressive tread is great in snow. On dry pavement, noisy

I've heard good things about the General Altimax Arctic studded. A co-worker has them on a minivan and swears by them.

The factory studded Nokian Hakkapeliitta 5 is a very good winter tire too, but pricey

The only way to disable the Trac is to put the car into Inspection Mode. This is dangerous as you run the very real risk of grenading your PSD or CVT

[Patrick Wong]

Since this thread has been resurrected, could Tideland please look at his service invoice and let us know the part number(s) of the part(s) that was(were) replaced? Thanks!

[jayman]

I second that request

[cthindi]

I bought a used 2005 Prius as well.
a) Is there any way to know if ECU was upgraded ?
b) Is there a way to know if cars built prior to certain date were required in ECU upgrade?

I do not know from service records if this was done. I do not see this in any formal recalls for this car. I see that a steering recall was issued. My car has that recall addressed. I could not see any formal recall for ECU anywhere. Was that a voluntry or a soft recall from Toyota? Was there any letter sent to registered owners back then?

Thanks,

Parag

[jayman]

Originally Posted by cthindi

a) Is there any way to know if ECU was upgraded ?

Tideland Prius had his ECU replaced due to the dealer making a booboo and frying the original ECU during a flash update process for another problem

I'm not aware of any dealership procedure to "upgrade" the ECU itself, short of a problem requiring replacement. The flash updates for issues like The Stall (My '04 had that happen) do not have any effect on TC behavior

[cthindi]

I meant flash (software) upgrade when I said ECU upgrade.

Was that a standard recall based on some build date or was it done strictly as a resolution of the problem? Is there any version information you can find out yourself from some hidden screens?

[jayman]

I'm unaware of any flash to change the TC behavior. I had to have my car reflashed due to The Stall. It had no impact whatsoever on TC behavior

[mikey1377]

My 06 has this problem too (of spinning and stopping when trying to climb a snowy hill). I put studded snow tires on in the winter which helps a bit...but I'm wondering.

Would the "Power Mode" on the 2010 Prius help with this? Since the wheels stop spinning to protect the electric motors, I'm thinking power mode might give me that little extra boost to make it up the hill.

[Boo]

Originally Posted by mikey1377

My 06 has this problem too (of spinning and stopping when trying to climb a snowy hill). I put studded snow tires on in the winter which helps a bit...but I'm wondering.

Would the "Power Mode" on the 2010 Prius help with this? Since the wheels stop spinning to protect the electric motors, I'm thinking power mode might give me that little extra boost to make it up the hill.

Along the same lines, I had heard from a PriusChatter in Europe that with his European Gen II, the "EV Mode" solved this problem.