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First drive in heavy rain

Discussion in 'Gen 4 Prius Main Forum' started by unmesh59, Oct 16, 2016.

  1. unmesh59

    unmesh59 Junior Member

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    Went to the airport in the first heavy rain since we got the Two ECO and got a shock when the cruise control cut out on the freeway! I did notice traction control engaging once or twice prior to that and the car must have decided that cruise control was not appropriate for the driving conditions. An indication that this was what was happening would be nice since I initially thought something had broken!

    Anyone else experience this?

    P.S. A minor matter is that I noticed that the wipers chatter.
     
    #1 unmesh59, Oct 16, 2016
  2. jdenenberg

    jdenenberg EE Professor

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    DRCC shuts down if it can't reliably see the car that you were following. It does flash a message on the display for a moment when that happens (I have seen this twice while on a sharply curved exit ramp). You can try Rain-X to help both the DRCC in the rain and the wiper chatter.

    JeffD

    ps: I have seen warnings not to use CC in the rain anyways, but I have tended to ignore those warnings.
     
    #2 jdenenberg, Oct 16, 2016
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  3. gvp1995

    gvp1995 Active Member

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    Maybe it is because for Dynamic CC the camera is used together with radar? And in heavy rain camera could not see anything? It would be interesting to turn off DRCC in heavy rain, and just use the regular CC, and see if it works.
     
    #3 gvp1995, Oct 16, 2016
  4. drysider

    drysider Active Member

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    I hit a patch of ice in cruise control once and I do not want to ever do it again. If there is a chance of losing traction, I drop it out of cruise.
     
    #4 drysider, Oct 16, 2016
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  5. unmesh59

    unmesh59 Junior Member

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    I believe I have regular CC only, not DRCC. Also, I have already applied Rain-X.
     
    #5 unmesh59, Oct 16, 2016
  6. Lucifer

    Lucifer Senior Member

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    Mine cuts out at 25 when it goes up a steep hill, or around a sharp corner, in heavy rain at freeway speeds it... cut out, well, so now you know.
    Cutting out isn't as problematic as when for example, someone at high speed is turning out of the lane and you assume they are gone, but suddenly at 65 the car brakes, it sees an emenent crash, that's problematic, but, luckily, the learning curve is small.
     
    #6 Lucifer, Oct 16, 2016
  7. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    could be your tyres, what speed?
     
    #7 bisco, Oct 16, 2016
  8. unmesh59

    unmesh59 Junior Member

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    Car has only 12000 miles on it and tire tread looks good. Could be that OEM Toyo NanoEnergy A29 tires are not that great on wet pavement.

    Cruising at 70mph on a concrete freeway.
     
    #8 unmesh59, Oct 16, 2016
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  9. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    maybe worth looking into, unless you don't drive in the rain that often.
     
    #9 bisco, Oct 16, 2016
  10. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    70 mph, that's a bit over 110 kmh, in heavy rain? What was the posted speed limit?
     
    #10 Mendel Leisk, Oct 16, 2016
  11. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    it's cali, there's no such thing.:p
     
    #11 bisco, Oct 16, 2016
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  12. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Yeah I know, not gonna cluck. Was thinking in that other thread about autonomous features and accident rates, we could worse than to all get into Google cars. Everyone would magically rediscover the speed limit, and hey: slow down even more in driving rain, lol.
     
    #12 Mendel Leisk, Oct 16, 2016
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  13. unmesh59

    unmesh59 Junior Member

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    We don't have a lot of rain but I will bring this up with the Toyota Service Advisor

    The posted speed limit is 70mph and other cars were going at that speed but fair point.
     
    #13 unmesh59, Oct 16, 2016
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  14. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

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    Traction control engaging was not a sufficient indication?

    Both my Prius and Forester Owner's Manuals warn against using Cruise Control in rain or slippery conditions. Traction control engagement is prima facie evidence of such conditions.
    :eek::eek::eek:

    One of the serious wrecks here yesterday was from someone hydroplaning at highway speed.
     
    #14 fuzzy1, Oct 16, 2016
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  15. unmesh59

    unmesh59 Junior Member

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    The funny thing is that no icon lit up on the display the way it does on my BMW but I could feel traction control engaging. The second or maybe third time it did, CC disengaged, again without a visual or audible indication.

    Lesson learned!
     
    #15 unmesh59, Oct 16, 2016
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  16. WilDavis

    WilDavis Senior Member

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    I used to favour the 0000-SteelWool followed by Rain-X treatment (see youtube), but have since discovered something even better! (look on youtube for ClayBar plus wax treatment, it lasts longer than Rain-X and is more effective!) :):)
     
    #16 WilDavis, Jul 16, 2017
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