Wind and highway speeds

welcome to priuschat! i have read that better tyres will help as well. all the best!

 

Yes, a large gyro(scope) will help.

Seriously, adding chassis braces will help for wind buffeting.

SCH-I535

 

Adding a rear sway bar helps tremendously

 

You're going to think me crazy and most of us old truck drivers are, but, sometimes it's as simple as loosening your grip on the steering wheel when it's windy. Believe it or not, holding onto the steering wheel very tightly can increase the discomfort level and anxiety some drivers experience in windy conditions. I taught students how to drive tractor trailers for nearly 25 years and this advice usually worked for my students who experienced wind buffeting, note I said usually.

 

Just to clarify a bit, your C already has a front anti-sway bar, but not a back one. There should be no danger in adding one that I can think of, though I've admittedly not added one to my car (it will be the first thing I add, however, because the one available for the C has gotten lots of great feedback here).

 

Which one are you referring to?

 

Jason
Greetings and Welcome!
If you have less than 5,000 miles in the car you may want to drive it for a while before tinkering with braces and unnecessarily replacing tires.
The steering in Priuses is electrically assisted and it leaves you with something of an X-Box 360 feel for the road.
If you're driving in dirty air, you can get knocked around a little bit but I found that I very quickly got used to it in my G3.

Priuses can feel a little twitchy at first at interstate speeds, but they're not in the least way unstable or dangerous for interstate duty---even the Priussy.

Good Luck!!

I don't think that you're crazy at all, since it works the same way for motorcycles.

 

Not crazy at all.

A LOT of what drivers perceive as being "blown around" by the wind is really just the driver being over-sensitive to the sounds and feel of wind gusts, then over-reacting and over-correcting.

Of course, when you mention that to any one specific driver he immediately dismisses it because it is obviously impossible that HE could be doing that.

The bigger side profile a vehicle has the worse the "real" problem IS.
A full size panel van with no load is probably the worst vehicle on the road for wind stability but even that is not really too bad for a properly trained and experienced driver.
Small and light vehicles suffer from the problem a bit more but all the visual and auditory "clues" make the situation seem worse than it really IS.

If you really want to see what nasty cross winds are, try riding a motorcycle down a 2 lane road with a 40 MPH gusty crosswind while meeting semi's going the opposite way at about 60 MPH.

 

I would recommend the whiteline adjustable or the trd, both from the yaris.

 

Thanks for the correction, I forgot it was produced as a Yaris part. Am I mistaken in thinking the TRD bar needed a modification to fit?

 

A member on the yaris forums just sold one to the prius c and installed it for them. Supposedly no issues at all. Bolt right on.

I myself ran the whiteline.

 

Please let us know the results.

 

+1

 

BAD idea.
Running less than recommended almost always results in uneven tire wear.
I personally would not run above 40 but also not below 35.
I have personally screwed myself to the tune of several hundred dollars by running the pressure too low.

 

What results do you want to know? Several members including myself have/had this bar and have posted their thoughts on it.

 

Ford tried that once.
It didn't work out so well for them.
Firestone and Ford tire controversy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This resulted in part with my having to pay for a TPMS for any new car that I might want to buy whether or not I'm smart enough to monitor my tire pressure.
Of course.....I have to share PUBLIC roads with morons who NEVER check their tires!
Darwinism can be a little sloppy about what genetic material gets edited out of the pool and so I'm generally happy that my cars have TPMS.

FWIW, it seems that you are monitoring your tire pressures, and I don't think that 10-percent plus or minus is going to make your car explode....but I also don't think that you're going to see sudden stability (perceived or actual) when you venture out onto the highways and byways.

Your car.
Your call.

Good Luck!