Some Hills just too steep?

[derh2o]

i have experienced a similar problem. on a dry, steep hill, i can't get the car to move very much, regardless of how much throttle i give it. any idea's? I have an '07 touring model.

[ceric]

If not too long a hill, you might want to try backing up the hill. This effectively change Prius into a rear-wheel drive... It is on pure-electric in R mode, and RWD gives you more normal force on the driving wheels.

[dwreed3rd]

Originally Posted by ceric

If not too long a hill, you might want to try backing up the hill. This effectively change Prius into a rear-wheel drive... It is on pure-electric in R mode, and RWD gives you more normal force on the driving wheels.

Ditto to Cereic; Any front rear drive will have much better traction backing up a steep hill. Going up a steep hill forward shifts much of the weight to the rear wheels. Backing up keeps it on the drive wheels where you want it.
P.S. Please! This technique is only for off-road or back/dirt road conditions.

[tochatihu]

Here's yer steep road list:

http://www.geographylists.com/list17y.html

I have Prius-ed up one of those 32% grades and it works OK. To bicycle up Fargo Street requires all but the fittest to 'tack' from edge to edge. It is an annual contest for the LA Wheelmen.

There are steep unpaved roads that Prius must attack very slowly for other reasons. This puts the drivetrain in a very inefficient condition, and can actually bring the Prius to tears. The moderately insane can drive to the Mahogany Flats campground in Death Valley and see what I mean.

Besides those fixes already mentioned, a computer-braked vehicle such as Prius could be programmed* to slow the slipping wheel by friction, while continuing to apply power.

*Theoretically, I mean.

DAS

[David Beale]

Backing up a "too steep" hill is not an option. You WILL run out of power. The Prius is "gutless" in reverse, due to current limiting to protect the battery, among other things. I almost got stuck in loose wood chips on level mud when I tried to back up when turning around. The car would barely move, and the wheels were not traction limited. I just didn't have enough power to move at more than a crawl.

The traction control thing is not a failure or fault. It's there to protect the cars' mechanicals. Unless you really want to spend several thousands to repair damage you caused by spinning the wheels?

Standard off-road driving techniques (momentum maintenance etc) will get you up most hills unless the surface is just too rough. Prius is NOT an off-road vehicle. Get a Highlander hybrid if you want that, though even it is limited in what it can do compared to "gas guzzlers".

[dwreed3rd]

Originally Posted by David Beale

Backing up a "too steep" hill is not an option. You WILL run out of power. The Prius is "gutless" in reverse, due to current limiting to protect the battery, among other things. I almost got stuck in loose wood chips on level mud when I tried to back up when turning around. The car would barely move, and the wheels were not traction limited. I just didn't have enough power to move at more than a crawl.

The traction control thing is not a failure or fault. It's there to protect the cars' mechanicals. Unless you really want to spend several thousands to repair damage you caused by spinning the wheels?

Standard off-road driving techniques (momentum maintenance etc) will get you up most hills unless the surface is just too rough. Prius is NOT an off-road vehicle. Get a Highlander hybrid if you want that, though even it is limited in what it can do compared to "gas guzzlers".

Thanks that's good to know, bad news, but good to know. We lived up at the end of a dirt lane in PA,
The last 200 yrds was really steep and in the winter was a problem sometimes even for rear wheeled vehicles. If we still lived there I guess we would have to forego the Prius. Not a problem here in GA but we do go back for visits. Guess we'll have to park the Prius in the garage and take the Avalon. Not that we don't love our Avalon, it's obviously around 1/2 the mpg. Gee! I'd better check, our driveway, here in GA. It is really steep and well over a hundred feet almost 200. I need to check the slope. Not alot of room to turn around in the driveway and don't like the thought of backing down and into the garage. Can do it but it's tight.

[mingoglia]

Originally Posted by dwreed3rd

Thanks that's good to know, bad news, but good to know. We lived up at the end of a dirt lane in PA,
The last 200 yrds was really steep and in the winter was a problem sometimes even for rear wheeled vehicles. If we still lived there I guess we would have to forego the Prius. Not a problem here in GA but we do go back for visits. Guess we'll have to park the Prius in the garage and take the Avalon.
Gee! I'd better check hear our deiveway is really steepand a well over a hundred feet almost 200. I need to check the slope. Not alot of room to turn around in the driveway. Can do it but it's tight.

I backed up a pretty steep driveway once and it seemed to have enough power. Granted, it's certainly limited, but it feels more like it gently feeds the power in and that if it was steeper I'm confident it would have still gone up. It felt like it was probably 25-28% grade but I have very little frame of reference so that's a guess at best.

I did play on some residential hills this past weekend in San Diego that appeared to be at least as steep as anything I ever went up in San Francisco. My wife was at the hotel putting the kids down for bed while my mission was to go out and buy some sun block. Since I wasn't ready for bed myself I decided to take about an hour detour checking out some homes... I don't have very many very steep grades where I'm from I probably looked like a moron stopping and going up and down the hill to see how the Prius did. I spent at least 30 minutes driving around trying to find the steepest hills I could find. Anyway, the Prius did fine... but once again all I can say is I believe the steepest ones I found were at least as steep as the steepest hills I've driven/walked on in San Fran but I could be mistaken.... only been to San Fran 3 times, the most recent being about 2 years ago.

Mike

[dwreed3rd]

Thanks Mike, that's reasurring. Does that include Lombard St?

[combsad7]

On our family farm there is a hill with an old dirt road that my Prius can't climb. It is a very steep hill with about 55% grade between the trees. I think the road was a forest road.

[Rokeby]

OK, I'm getting very confused and concerned as to what to expect when the
going gets a little slippery; in this I include snow/ice, wet grass/leaves,
sand/gravel on the road, steep gravel road/driveway.

I have read threads that variously say that the Prius will grind its way out,
and others that emphatically say that the Prius totally shuts down. So which
is it?

Here are two threads that say the Prius just sat there, unmoving, paralyzed,
whimpering pathetically:

I got stuck in the mud!

I HATE my prius

Here is my thread reporting that I found that my 2008 did move on a slick
icy road:

Traction Control --- It worked... I Think.

There is another thread -- that I can't find --wherein a poster reported being
able to back out of a front wheel in a wet grassy ditch situation. (Help me
here, maybe you can find It.)

This Will-It-Go-or-Won't-It-Go? uncertainty just makes me crazy.

What am I to expect when, not if, I find myself in one of these situations?