Releasing Cruise Control with Brake

[tochatihu]

Suggest that 2010 Prius owners needing to do this hard brake press, confirm that the brake lights indeed show with a light brake pedal press. If not your switch needs to be adjusted. I would be entirely surprised if such an adjustment were not done for free.

[garygid]

On my P-III, I have to depress the brake pedal about 0.5 inch to turn on the brake lights - tested in "aux" mode. Perhaps that is considered "normal"?

[jburns]

Originally Posted by garygid

On my P-III, I have to depress the brake pedal about 0.5 inch to turn on the brake lights - tested in "aux" mode. Perhaps that is considered "normal"?

That measurement really has no significance since there can be a varied amount of play in any pedal. What has not been normal in any car I have ever owned is the inability to release the cruise control with the brake pedal without significant braking action occurring.

A sleeping passengers head should not be rolling around every time you release the cruise control. It is abnormal behavior and it doesn't really matter if you can learn a work around. I can roll down the window and stick my arm out to legally signal a turn but I still want my turn signals to work.

[garygid]

So, what is the spec. for normal adjustment of this brake switch on the Gen3?

[Grateful11]

I've had like 17 vehicles since '84 and the Prius is by far needs the most brake pedal pressure to turn off the cruise. My son's Scion xD also needs too much pedal pressure to release the cruise.

[garygid]

The OM says the CC is, "... canceled when the brakes are applied."

So, does one just need to press the brake pedal enough:
1. for the brake lights to come on (most likely)
2. for an increased amount of regen to occur (probably not)
3. for the mechanical brakes to be applied (very unlikely)

However, it is difficult to tell when the brake lights go on when "cruising" ... unless one tapes a small piece of paper loosly over a small section of the 3rd (upper, center) brake light so that one could see (through the rear-view mirror) the brake light glow on the paper?

Is there a separate brake-light switch on the brake pedal (like most cars), or does the computer just read the pedal position and the firmware decides when to turn on the brake lights?

[archermoo]

Originally Posted by eglmainz

That's what I just said...

Yeah, well, that's what I get for replying while I'm at work. When I first started my reply yours wasn't there yet. It just took me a while to finish my reply. Work has been busy.

[tochatihu]

Originally Posted by garygid

...

Is there a separate brake-light switch on the brake pedal (like most cars), or does the computer just read the pedal position and the firmware decides when to turn on the brake lights?

Before 2010 Prius it was a single throw double pole switch (your first option). Some of those switches caused problems in 2004 and Toyota issued a fix. I don't know this detail of the new model.

[hobbit]

The absolute *last* way I'd disengage CC is with the brakes,
unless I actually had to stop in a hurry. If I use it at all,
which is rare, the challenge is then to disengage it *without*
any lurch at all. In cars with old mechanical cruise-controls
one could push the go-pedal far enough to feel it come up against
the throttle mechanism where the CC was holding it, and then
disengage CC without having the throttle move at all and just
smoothly take over. That's really *hard* in a Prius as there's
no mechanical detent in a fly-by-wire pedal; you have to press
a bit and guess about where the current demand is and try to
match it. I cheat, looking for a tiny upward blip in the current
meter that indicates the beginning of increased acceleration,
and then back off epsilon and pull the stalk. Bing, smooth
transition with no speed change or the car "falling on its face"
into regen drag.
.
_H*

[Holmesman]

I'm glad I saw this post. The first time I used cruise control on my new Prius IV I was surprised how hard I had to press on the brake to disengage it. Now I use the lever on the steering rod to cancel it.

My brother drove the car for the first time yesterday and he had it in cruise and when he used the brakes to disengage it, everyone in the car lurched forward. Toyota needs to address this.