Some Hills just too steep?

[NoMoShocks]

Has anyone come across a hill that was just too steep for their Prius?

I was taking my son and a friend to a film party. We started up a private gravel road and the tires were spinning on a couple of rocks, but we were moving along just fine. Then we got to a steeper place and I slowed down just a little to avoid spinning the tires. All of a sudden, the car came to a complete stop and just would not go any further. It felt like I was out of gas, and the electric drive didn't have enough power. Either the feul pump didn't work at that angle, or the Vehicle Stability Control sensed that the wheels had no traction and sut down power to the wheels.

Fortunately, the homeowner came down and showed us another route that was not so steep. He said most cars could not come up that way unless they got a good run at the hill, but I was just surpeised with the feeling of having no power to even give it a try.

Still love the Prius though. Gave it a bath as soon as I got it home again.

[efusco]

I find that it'll handle any grade just fine...but if you throw gravel, wet pavement, ice/snow into the mix you're SOL. My '04 seems to be much worse than a friend of mine's '07 on the gravel drive at my lake house even though I have "good" Michelin HydroEdges and he's still on Integrities. This is "thanks" to the traction control which is very agressive so as to protect MG1 from over spinning and breaking.

If you can sustain your momentum on those kinds of inclines you're ok, if you stop or slow or hit a particularly loose/slippery spot you're screwed.

[ken1784]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(NoMoShocks @ Jun 17 2007, 06:29 PM) [snapback]463367[/snapback]</div>

He said most cars could not come up that way unless they got a good run at the hill
[/b]

So, Prius is one of the most cars.

Ken@Japan

[mbarrows]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(efusco @ Jun 17 2007, 04:35 AM) [snapback]463368[/snapback]</div>

This is "thanks" to the traction control which is very agressive so as to protect MG1 from over spinning and breaking.[/b]

Do you think Toyota will ever correct this design flaw and allow the VSC to be disengaged?

[qbee42]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(mbarrows @ Jun 17 2007, 08:04 AM) [snapback]463383[/snapback]</div>

Do you think Toyota will ever correct this design flaw and allow the VSC to be disengaged?
[/b]

It's not the VSC, it's the traction control. The traction control can be disengaged, but then you run a very real chance of damaging parts of the HSD.

Tom

[efusco]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(qbee42 @ Jun 17 2007, 07:52 AM) [snapback]463396[/snapback]</div>

It's not the VSC, it's the traction control. The traction control can be disengaged, but then you run a very real chance of damaging parts of the HSD.

Tom
[/b]

I would hope they could devise a way to simply attenuate the effect to the point that the wheels will continue to turn but at a rate that would prevent damage to MG1 rather than the dramatic complete cut-out that currently occurs with the slightest slippage.


It would seem simple enough to have a traction control system that measured the wheel slip speed and duration and adjusted the throttle accordingly to minimize the spin.

[MarinJohn]

The traction control has been the bane of many posts, and I agree with Evan. It does not seem insurmountable that Toyota could attenuate the effect thereby giving owners less problems on hills, in snow, and especially on quick start merging. While most of us learn how to anticipate the 'problem' still, there are times when no amount of careful acceleration can override the problem, and this could be a matter of life and death. Certainly it is obvious that a stalled attempt to jump into oncoming traffic could be fatal. Not so obvious are the times when, like the OP, one finds oneself on a hill, stalled and being forced to back down. It's the backing down in these touchy situations where problems could easily arise, either from an uncontrolled slide backwards on gravel or in snow/ice. THis problem must be addressed and fixed on the new models. We understand the Generation 2 was an 'experimental' vehicle where problems like this are uncovered. Generation 3 had better address all such inadequacies or TOyota will fall into the GM category of ignoring consumers, and we all know where that leads.

[usbseawolf2000]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(efusco @ Jun 17 2007, 08:55 AM) [snapback]463397[/snapback]</div>

It would seem simple enough to have a traction control system that measured the wheel slip speed and duration and adjusted the throttle accordingly to minimize the spin.
[/b]

It seems to be doing that already. From the video I made with my 06 during last winter, the traction was maintaining the wheel slippage to under 15 mph on the speedometer.

[john1701a]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(MarinJohn @ Jun 17 2007, 11:05 AM) [snapback]463451[/snapback]</div>

This problem must be addressed and fixed on the new models.[/b]

Camry-Hybrid offers an improvement already, where there is greater electric power and a secondary gearset. Its response is different. The development process hasn't concluded. The upcoming new Prius will likely offer fine-tuning to that.

[NoMoShocks]

Thanks for all the comments.

Just to clarify, I am not quite so concerned about the Prius being grouped with "Most Cars" that cannot make this particular hill. I was just very surprised by the sensation as the driver that I pushed on the pedal, and it was as if I were out of gas. Nothing. I probably could have made another run and made it if I kept my speed up, but it was over taxing the mudflaps, becuase these homeowners like to include many 2 inch diameter rocks rather than straight pea gravel ar even small 1/2 river rock on their private road.

I was happy the homeowner came down and pointed me to the other road. I had actually seen the other road, but it looked far less traveled to make me believe the steep one was the main one.