Wheels and Steering and Shocks, Oh My!

Alrighty. There have been scads of people claiming we at TMS have had no idea what we are talking about when it comes to wheels, steering, and shocks on the 2010 MY Prius.

You were right. But we have good reason, as a lot of final tuning has been going on. Now we think we're at the end of tuning, so in the interest of full disclosure, here's the skinny.

Wheels and Steering
Prius Connection LA/SF attendees were right to notice that on the Prius V, due to the 17" wheels, there is a different steering ratio (~2.75 lock to lock, versus ~3.75 lock to lock for the 15" wheel). This is planned for the production car. Fun fact: the 17" wheel EPS has a brushless motor system that allows the tighter ratio.

Shock Absorbers
We recently made a decision that all US cars will now come with the "European" absorbers (i.e., the same absorbers that will come on European Prius). Our understanding is that those of you who drove the car at Prius Connection events experienced only the "Euro" absorbers on the Prius V (all other cars had a different absorber that now won't come stateside).

EPS System
The same goes for the EPS tuning - the 17" wheels on Prius Connection event cars had a slightly tighter tuned system than the 15" wheel cars. Ultimately, ALL production cars will have the same EPS tuning as the 17" wheel (even 15" cars), but that won't begin in production until late Summer. We understand early buyers of the 15" wheel cars could probably update their system at the dealer later on.

Finally, none of the above is set in stone, but that's the way we understand it as of now.

Hope it helps.

Doug Coleman
Prius Product Manager
Toyota Motor Sales USA

Doug,

I really appreciate your effort here to continue communicating with us PriusChat-ers. Good will and reputation are increased when you take the time to listen and respond, and your Prius Team is shining now.

(Let's see if I whistle a different tune when price is announced.)

Heres hoping Australia gets the 2.75 steering. Please Toyota Australia, just do it!
I loved the quick steering on my 1969 Mini!!

We won't know until production units arrive, but we're hopeful it will be just software.

Doug Coleman
Prius Product Manager
Toyota Motor Sales, USA

Maybe I'm missing something, but if the tighter steering on the 17" wheel is due to a brushless motor system, how could that be a software upgrade?

They are two related, but independent aspects of the steering system. One is the mechanical motor, the other is the software.

Doug Coleman
Prius Product Manager
Toyota Motor Sales, USA

Umm.. no change with regards to sunroof and 17" available?

Any regards for sunroof and fog lamps in final production models?

If it's sunny you don't need fog lights and if it's foggy a sun roof is kind of superfluous isn't it?

I doubt they have invented software which can change the number of turns lock to lock, that is a gearing thing. The amount of boost maybe but not the quickness of the steering. I love quick steering!

It got me wonder.... Does the Iconic Prius (04-09) has brushless motor in the EPS?

I doubt it considering how much the manuel freaks out about burning up the steering motor (don't turn left and right without moving non-stop for like an hour or more....)..... That sounds like brushes burning up to me.

Good point! I have seen that warning in the manual too, thanks.

Now lock to lock ratio is the same between 17" and 15", I am assuming the 17" rims will still have larger turning radius.

Hello Doug,
Thank you for the information.
I just would like to know whether this thread is valuable on April Fools day only or not.

Ken@Japan

I believe it is true. It was posted yesterday, not today.

And all in all it makes a lot of sense, at least the suspension part. Everybody knew the suspension setting for Europe was far better than the USA one. And offering the cars for press testing with the European settings was probably an unwanted mistake.

They are far better now changing the suspension to European one, they will have less complaints for "boat riding" and the driving experience for the cars will be the exact same one that people experienced already in the preview.

Just my thoughts going out...

i doubt it will be "firm"... rather firmer than US setting .

But is great news as people with solar package can simply get 17" summer tires and keep their 15" wheels for winter for instance... no brainer really.

I wonder if change has come from Mr. Toyoda, as these kind of last minute changes are not common for Toyota (chanes, not fixes, thats something else ).

Wow... I really want to test drive the V. The 2.75 LTL has me intrigued. Are there any TRD parts out yet? Planned?

This gets a big hooray from me. The 3.75 turns thing is one of the few things that I really dislike about my '07. Anything over 3.0 turns feels... antiquated to me. Not to mention a nuisance to have slow steering on a car that's loaded with steering wheel buttons... the more spinning it takes the less you can manage to keep up with where your buttons are at any given moment.