Just received my new Prius but have a problem

[BT Tech]

Hello everyone. I have been lurking around here for some time and now that I am a Prius owner, have just registered here on the board.

On Monday I picked up my new silver 05 Prius with option package 6 and while I have only owned it for a few days, I must say that I am extremely unhappy with the way the car drives on the highway. In the city, the car is a dream to drive!! Very quiet, smooth and nice fit and finish. On the highway however, this car is VERY unstable and find its straight ahead stability to be unacceptable.

I have already been back to my dealer and they have since done a complete 4 wheel alignment and after getting the car back, it still has poor stability on the highway. After telling my dealer that the alignment did indeed improve this issue, it is still far from being acceptable. He has told me that he has heard of this complaint before and feels that it is just a characteristic of the car.

I already have a call into Toyota and am supposed to hear back from someone at the district office within the next several days.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this and is this a wide spread issue?

TIA,

Brian

[kidtwist]

Yes, it does tend to wander a little at freeway speeds and it has sensitive steering. This tends to bother some people more than others. I'm already used to it, and find that if I maintain a light touch when steering it's okay.

It's possible that some individual cars may have issues beyond what is normal for a Prius.

[kevin54]

Congratulations on your new Prius! I got mine about 3 1/2 weeks ago. I travel about 75 total miles to/from work, some highway - 65-70mph. The only time I noticed the car veer slightly was when we had extremely strong cross winds. Usually my car is very stable - I did feel the car move with the strong cross winds though.
How fast are you going? Is it very windy, or are there a lot of trucks?
Regards,
Kevin

[KTPhil]

Check that the front toe adjustment has them toed-IN slightly. The spec allows zero toe, which will cause wander. Aligning to spec isn't good enough.

[BobA]

CONGRATS, Brian... I'm sure you have also checked the air pressure the book calls for rear 40 psi..front 42psi... I run 42 psi...44psi and am real happy with the way my car drives... here is another thread relating to what you are going thru... good luck

http://priuschat.com/forums/poor-steering-...html?highlight=

Bob Andersen

[DaveG]

Some people have also found that changing the tires has helped in their case - although this may not be the most ideal circumstance.

It may also be that new tires tend to wander a bit more than "broken-in" tires? I found it a little ackward at highway speeds when I first got it, but after having mine for a year now, I don't notice it at all, including last summer when I drove from Vancouver, BC down to L.A., through some very, very windy areas south of Oakland.

Dave

[BT Tech]

Thanks everyone for the welcome and the replies!! I checked the air pressure and I set it to what was indicated in the door jamb. I believe that it is at 36 F 34 R but could be wrong.

Wandering is a PERFECT word to describe the handling at highway speeds. I am located in Fort Lauderdale, FL and our highways are for the most part pretty smooth. I can definitely feel the difference on windy days vs calm ones but even when there is little wind blowing, the car just does not have the straight ahead stability that I am used to. Even my 99 Chevy Venture minivan which has seen better days tracks straight and true with very little input required.

Most of my driving in the Prius will be done in the city so that is good news!! There are those times however that I will want to take a drive to my property located aprox 5 hrs North and I think taking this car will be a bit tedious.

I have been checking some of the past posts and it seems that this issue has indeed been brought up before. Since this version of the car is in its second year, hopefully someone will have an answer to why this is happening and what the solution will be to remedy it.

The fact that the car has such a low cd of .26, can this cause a lack of sufficient downforce on the car at speeds above 65-75 mph? Could the byproduct of a very low cd be instability at high speeds??

Any thoughts???


Brian

[Devil's Advocate]

I have been reading a lot of posts about this and after 3 months and 8,000 miles of California's grooved (not groovy) highways I have this to say to everyone experiencing the Wanderlust that is the Prius....

RELAX !!!!! :silly:

Relax everything when you drive this car,

Now I didn't have the alignment problem dome Prius do, due to overtightening of their shipping anchors,

but I'll say this, the car has one of the most sensitive steering inputs of any non-sports car that I've driven. ANY movement of my steering wheel results in a reaction by the car.

I think that this is where a lot of people get to wandering.

I hold the wheel with one hand at the 7:30 mark (the other hand always at the ready if needed) and let the wheel "float" through a circle of my index finger and thumb.

I find that if I don't react to the car reacting then the car doesn't react.

If you are holding the wheel at the prescribed 10 and 2 that everyone learns about, then you are more likely to transmit unintentioned inputs into the steering. This position was OK when it took 3 to 6 inches of movement to get a car to react but unless you drive like an F-1 racer ALL the time you should have no need for this driving position. The position is inherently "unstable". think about it, you basically have to keep your ars held up and out for the whole time you drive.

Not to say it doesn't take a little trust to let the car wander in the rain grooves, but learning how the car reacts and how not to overreact to it would improve your driving experience. In other words learn to trust the car. I've found it very stable, the only 'instability' that I've experienced that was out of the ordinary come on the rain grooved freeway at 85 miles per hour through traffic (getting the wind blow from other cars) and about a 45 mile per hour cross wind. Still not that bad. :silly:

[yoda]

Heya,

First off - Congrats on the Prius! You got the color I wanted. I went with a white one because someone else didn't take delivery and it had pkg 6 that I wanted - saved me 2 months of waiting. I'm happy with the White, but you got my color!!!!

Next - I, also, noticed a slight "wander" on the freeway. My last car was a high-performance sports car (Trans-Am) so I AM used to "touchy" steering. Even "at first" the "wander" didn't really bother me much, now I don't even notice it. I think that my "lighter touch" on the steering wheel has eliminated the problem but I DO live in a non-windy area.

That said - I have two comments. First, I agree with KTPhil - Check the toe-in. That might solve the problem for you. Secondly, as other have stated, relaxing pretty much elimitates the issue.

After you drive a Prius for awhile - ESPECIALLY if you keep the consumption screen on like I do - the car will change your driving habbits. It literally TEACHES you how to drive for better fuel economy (and it's FUN too!). A side effect of this, at least for me, is that I find myself more relaxed when driving and not in such a "hurry" all the time. It's made my whole life better!

So - I say - check the toe-in. Maybe wait for the tires to wear a bit longer. I have a hunch that you'll get used to the way the Prius handles and this issue will disappear.

Just my 2 cents....

Yoda

[paprius4030]

blkc5. congrats on your new Prius. It's funny I have a 99 Chevy Venture also that we used to do our traveling in but now we use the Prius for trips. I've really haven't had much problems with the Prius on the highway, but i have to say on a recent trip to Florida i did seem to notice the wander that some people talk about. i think maybe it's because people in Florida go pretty fast(75-85) and maybe something to do with most of the Interstates in Florida are concrete whereas alot of the other parts of the country are asphalt. but anyway i think you'll get used to it. Even though i noticed a slight difference when we went to florida it didn't really concern me.