Locking up anti-lock brakes?

As long as you slid straight and did not fish tail, it's normal!

 

Anti-lock really means an anti prolonged lock. Braking is most efficient right at the point of lock up so the system lets the tires lock and then release and then repeats the pattern.

I strongly suggest everyone pick an empty road or large parking lot and practice maximum braking. Don't wait for a panic situation to find out or, more importantly, freak out at what the brakes are doing when ABS activates.

 

I get an odd thing once in a while with the bakes: It only happens in our condo parking garage, when I'm backing into our parking space. The brakes become "grabby" and it's impossible to apply them gently. So I end up jerking my way in to the parking spot. I have not talked to the dealer about it.

 

Try putting your car in neutral while braking. This will disengage the HV battery and thus the regen braking and force the friction brakes. This will help wipe the brake pads and rotors and remove rust buildup. Some of this grabby brake issue is due to rust from lack of use.

 

I agree. A lot of us did this during the Unintended Acceleration media hysteria to prove to ourselves how effective the Prius brakes are, especially during a "panic" stopping situation. Brace yourself when doing this though. I just about ate the steering wheel when trying this in an open parking lot.

 

I might wait until winter to try that in a parking lot ... at least then - it will slide some with snow so as not to try and throw me through the windshield. I am impressed however, the regenerative grabs a lot - and then if you keep pushing the friction comes in and oh man, ... once or twice I nearly put my tool kit in the cargo area up in my lap...

The only thing I don't like is the low speed transition between the two... sometimes i roll up on a stop nice and smooth, othertimes, it seems too aggressive as the friction comes in - even with backing my foot off as i get slower and slower i still sometimes get that "nice person-drop" as the car comes to a complete stop.

 

I notice too how much the regen actually brakes the car coming to a stop. I'm learning to adjust and try to feel the brake transition to keep it smooth all the way to stop. Every stop gets better and better

Its kind of like in my old car(2008 Honda Fit) i found the manual transmission challenging to shift smoothly in that car on a consistent basis. Not sure if it was the car itself/daily environmental conditions, etc, or just my laziness/mental state on my part day to day, but some days i could make perfect shifts every time smoother than any auto transmission car, very satisfying. other days i would miss shift, grind gears, etc, it would be frustrating. Now with the Prius i find the brakes are like that, depends how relaxed i am that day, maybe depends how often the friction brakes have been used, cobwebs/rust on the rotors from lack of use, etc, my braking can be smooth or rough depending on the day/my state of mind. Its a different type of challenge. does that make any sense? lol

 

Makes perfect sense to me ... There are times or days where I get it nice and smooth -- then there are days where you swear you can feel it step up the pressure in stages... on the friction until pretty soon your come to a clunky lurchy stop.

I back off the pedal as the speed slows... and if i feather it just right, i don't even get the final umpf... as the car relaxes at the complete stop - but there are days where no matter what i try - i still get that... it's a challenge...

but over that - i enjoy the 50mpg displayed mpg...

 

I think that may be the brake assist (BA) in action.

But what I don't understand is the smart stop scenario when the gas has to be more than 1/3 open and the brake is depress at the same time!
My only guess is when I remember a friend who used to drive the stick shift and now he uses BOTH feet driving the automatic.