Unintended acceleration

no, it's the 'creep' feature. not us owners but to emulate an automatic transmission. how long have you owned her? in 12 years, and 3 prius, i've never let them get up to full speed on the flat to see how fast they would go.

 

It's called automatic transmission creep. If you really don't like this phenomenon, get a manual transmission vehicle.

 

or some bev's allow it to be turned off.

 

I had a car that would get up to 25mph at idle cold. I don't know where it would have topped out as I had to brake for a stop sign at the end of the street. I remember I had to stand on the brakes or shift in to neutral stopped at traffic lights on occasion. At best that's annoying and at worse it's dangerous.

I'd be real annoyed if I had that problem with the Prius. I'm now curious. I'll have to remember to check this out "next time".

 

Have you ever driven a car with a conventional automatic transmission? If so, didn't it do the same?

 

How's that unintentional acceleration when every automatic cars out there do it too? Back in high school, I had a class mate with an old El Camino that idles at 2500 rpm. When he released the brake while in D, his El Camino would speed up on its own and up shift on its own. It accelerates on its own to 75mph without him even touching the gas pedal. Now that's unintentional acceleration. 7mph is nothing and is normal.

 

It's trying to speed up the car payments...............

 

Its user interface and 'touch and feel' emulate an automatic transmission, including the familiar automatic transmission creep most people are accustomed to.

The old, worn, loose 1963 Ford stationwagon I learned on didn't creep either. It didn't even budge until I pushed the gas pedal down halfway.
The rest of the automatics I've driven did creep. (I personally haven't owned a true automatic in thirty years, just sticks and this eCVT.)

Many of us do call it that.

 

Look, The Prius came out in 2001. Back then, there were no other cars like it. To make a car that doesn't creep while in drive will get countless complaints about "There's something wrong with my car. It doesn't creep like all other automatic transmission cars out there" So, Toyota made it to creep to mimic all other automatic cars out there. It has not changed since first release. There's no way around that except sell it and get something that doesn't creep when in drive. When I test drove the i3, the first thing I told the BMW rep that there's something wrong with the car. It doesn't creep when I release the brake. That stupid rep didn't know any better and told me that it's a test car. Production version will be different. 7MPH is well within normal range. You can always take it to the dealer but you're wasting your time and pay unnecessary diganostic fees for normal behavior. Prius is CVT and mimics automatic when you release the brake. Did you test drive it when you first bought it or did you bought it sight unseen?

 

bob, again, i have to ask, how long have you owned her? if it just started happening, there may be something wrong. if you just bought her, and didn't test drive, trust us, it's normal.
one other thing that can make it seem worse is the grabby brakes.

 

Yes it does. Lots to learn you have: Automatic transmission - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

I'm also not a huge fan of auto transmission "creep" (never previously knew that this concept had a name). Truthfully, in true automatics, it's an unintended consequence of the torque converter, rather than an intentional effect. It would be cool if they would just give you a menu feature to decide if and how much "creep" to have. Nothing (and I mean nothing) is more annoying to drive than an automatic car with a high idle that feels like you have to hold the brake down hard just to sit still. Super annoying. Although the CVT is a type of automatic, I do not think that it has a traditional hydraulic torque converter as regular automatics do, that give them the unintended creep "feature" that people are so accustomed to.

BTW, my "other car" is a Honda Civic Si 6-speed manual. I often sit at red lights with no brakes if I'm on level ground.... why hold down the brake unnecessarily?

ZeroTX

2014 Prius Five
2014 Civic Si

 

I have no issues with creep. Sitting at a long light in traffic? I snick into N just like I do with a manual. I think you'd have a renewed appreciation for creep in you lived in a more hilly area than pancake flat ol' Houston.

 

I had to test this in an empty parking lot that was not level. I could get the car up to 7mph downhill and 3mph uphill. From my perspective that is "creep". It may be annoying and unnecessary from a technical viewpoint but even Tesla discovered they needed to offer simulated transmission creep.

 

they had to add hill start assist, because the creep wasn't creepy enough.

 

To conserve battery energy, the creepiness shuts off when you press the brake with sufficient force. That seems to have the unfortunate side effect of making the brakes seem even more grabby at very low speeds than they already are. When you're pressing the brake with gradually increasing force, just as the brakes take hold, the opposing creep force stops, so the car abruptly stops.

 

You can notice the effect very good when your going slow (few mph), brake lightly and then put the transmission in N. All of a sudden the car decellerates a lot more!

 

As mentioned:
For the Prius - it's normal
Keep foot on brake - car doesn't move
Lift foot from brake - car creeps

On to the next thread!!!