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Vehicle Stability Control ?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Technical Discussion' started by okiebutnotfrommuskogee, Dec 30, 2007.

  1. okiebutnotfrommuskogee

    okiebutnotfrommuskogee Senior Member

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    This may have been covered before, maybe even many times, but my question is this:

    I have a 2007 model with package 1, which does not include VSC. The question, is the necessary software/hardware already present and just need to be activated, or are some of the parts and pieces not there?
     
  2. efusco

    efusco Moderator Emeritus
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    AFAIK there are a number of parts not there, including the proper ECU and yaw sensors...there may be other things as well.
     
  3. okiebutnotfrommuskogee

    okiebutnotfrommuskogee Senior Member

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  4. jayman

    jayman Senior Member

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    Sometimes a vehicle is produced with many options, and the harness supports all of them due to the extra cost of producing many different wiring harness combinations. Then a software "switch" is all that is needed to activate the feature

    Not so with the Prius. It would be a fairly major job to add the sensors, wiring, and software. Not impossible, but a wrecked Prius with the appropriate package would be easiest to act as a "donor"

    Yet Toyota can produce a vehicle with "hidden" options that are usually easy to do. For example, my FJ Cruiser. I purchased one with all the options, such as A-TRAC, rear diff locker, etc. There are numerous hacks to add such features to base models that did not come with them, as the wiring harness and sensors are already there

    Again using my FJ as an example, I intend to add Hella xenon driving lights. This last time out to the hobby farm, I was driving in the dark and just about nailed a deer. The road I take is fairly untravelled, so one can chose to use accessory driving lights most of the drive

    Most of the wiring is already provided for extra lights, including space in the main fuse box for an auxilary light relay and fuse. All one has to do is plug in the extra switch in the centre console, run a simple wiring harness to a connector near the driver firewall relay box, and plug in the accessory lamp harness under the hood.

    Around 20 mins, tops.

    The system is then configured to only allow auxilary lamp operation when the high beams are flicked on. On low beam, the auxilary lamps are off.

    When I compare my FJ to the Prius, the FJ looks and feels downright ancient. Yet, Toyota has some very clever engineering in the FJ. In particular, the Trac on the FJ is far superior to the Prius implementation of Trac.
     
  5. eddieh

    eddieh New Member

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    Recommend you reconsider trying to add the VSC capability if you live in snow country or ever need to accelerate on rain-slickened roads; the VSC is overly sensitive and essentially shuts you down at even the slightest slip of the drive wheels. It can leave you hanging when you are trying to enter a busy highway, and can make it near impossible to asscend slippery hills.
     
  6. Presto

    Presto Has his homepage set to PC

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    That isn't VSC that you are describing, but the Prius' "traction" control. VSC is an awesome safety feature that should be standard on every vehicle.