As highlighted elsewhere, the toyota.com web page was updated with the 2006 Prius information. Logging onto techinfo.toyota.com shows that the new owner's manual is there as well. Unfortunately, the New Model Features document is not yet present -- usually that has some more technical details on new features (like the new MFD display resolution, etc.?). For those with an interest, go to techinfo.toyota.com. You can buy a 1-day subscription for $10, or 1-month for $50. Because the material is copyright Toyota, I cannot post it on PC.
Ethically and legally, it is inappropriate to post anything from TechInfo, or to share a login. I'm sorry, but if you cannot afford $10 to satisfy your curiosity, I don't know if you should be looking at buying a $20,000+ car. My post was intended for those folks who have TechInfo subscriptions already, or were waiting until the 2006 information was posted there before they paid for access. I have not gone through it all, but details of the tire pressure monitoring system (it is not based on wheel rotation speed, but rather direct wireless pressure measurement in each tire), the backup camera, etc. can be found there for the interested. Did the pre-2006 models have Dynamic Sound Level (DSL) where the radio volume is increased automatically to compensate for road noise? That appears to be on the Type 1 radio (upper-end JBL system bundled with the more expensive packages).
I will gladly pay $10 to receive the information, but I'd rather wait until the "New Model Features" document you mentioned is also on the site. Can you post here again to let us know when more documents appear? I'd appreciate it very much. Thanks, bobr1
Ooops. I forgot what the initials were... It shows "ASL" in the manual for the Type 1 stereo, and per that document is an adaptive sound level system. The Type 2 (and Type 3???) stereos have a "DSP" button in its place -- for digital signal processing. But the manual sort of makes that out to be a somewhat enhanced treble/midrange/bass functionality, nothing much more. If someone who owns an earlier model has access to techinfo.toyota.com, can you look at the stereo section and see if any of this is substantially different? -Ron
ASL = automatic sound levelling. This feature adjust the volume and compensates for road noise, wind noise and so on
I was wondering if someone with access could answer this question. I know that the base stero and JBL stereo can now play MP3/WMA encoded CD-Rs. My question is, JBL system comes with the 6 disc CD changer. Am I to assume that the changer will be able to play MP3/WMA type discs too? Thanks, John
There are 3 stereo options in the '06. They are called Type 1, Type 2, and Type 3 in the manual. The higher the number, the LOWER the number of features included in it (the Type 1 model is the 6-CD changer). Type 1 and Type 2 support MP3 and WMA. Type 1 and Type 2 are also associated with the upgraded MFD screen. The Type 3 radio has the old MFD screen (at least the pictures in the manual show how the look & feel is different). Basically, with the top-of-the-line audio option you get it all -- 6-CD changer, MP3/WMA, AUX, etc. With the Type 2 system, it looks like you still get MP3/WMA and AUX. With the low end system, I don't think you get either of those (but, frankly, I have not been paying much attention to the details of the Type 3 audio system). Its interesting that they chose to have 2 different MFDs -- the manual has to show everything twice for each MFD, and they need to have two different parts, etc. I think only the #1 option model has the old MFD, but I may be wrong.
