Going up steep gravel driveway

Perhaps consider paving the driveway?

 

Taking some air out of the tires should help also.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(efusco @ Oct 14 2007, 12:17 AM) [snapback]525345[/snapback]</div>

I mean pump them back up once you reach the top.

Another suggestion is to gain momemtum first.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(catdancer @ Oct 13 2007, 09:59 PM) [snapback]525323[/snapback]</div>

Have you tried going up at 1 MPH? The nature of the drive train makes it impossible to stall a Prius engine. Get a running start at the highest speed you can safely achieve, and then let it slow down as you climb, all the way down to 1 MPH if necessary. Do this smoothly enough and you may avoid triggering the traction control.

 

I'd try to hit the bottom of the driveway running, I don't mean hitting the bumper on the ground fast but make sure you keep the car moving at a constant speed all the way up. You may need to approach so you turn left into your driveway to maintain momentum then a steady throttle all the way to the top.

It works on dirt roads anyway.

Failing that, how about reversing up? Don't worry that you need a lot of throttle to get up the drive, I think the prius is set up to not have excessive torque in reverse. I'm not sure that will work but may be worth a shot.

 

Hi Catdancer,

Getting as much speed as possible before the steep section is a good idea because it minimizes the torque you need on the steep section.

And you can only provide as much torque as the tire/gravel interface will allow. If that interface slips, the traction control kicks in.

So, the best thing is to gas it as much as possible on the flat portion, then get your foot completely off the gas as you coast onto the the incline at speed. Press down on the throttle pedal very gently and get the power back up just enough to maintain momentum. You might try this with the windows down, so you can hear the sound change from the tires on the gravel, just before they slip.

The Prius has all sorts of low-end torque, and its easy to break traction with it on sub-standard surfaces (such as damp or spinable man-hole covers, gravel and greasy road surfaces). So, keep your eyes pealed on the road, as well as the traffic. Which is good advice in any car.

 

One further data point. Replacing the tires with "REAL" tires makes a huge difference. The stock Goodyear Integrities are "adequate", but they are cheap tires. I put Nokian WR tires on my Prius and the difference in gravel is like night and day. BTW, I "threw away" the stock tires, even though they were almost new (10,000 km on them).

The reason for all this was I need good winter capable tires as I live where we have 6 months of winter. So I replaced the stock tires with Nokian WRs. I was actually shocked at the difference in handling, both on pavement and gravel.

 

My 04 would probably give up on your driveway, just come to a stop and refuse to budge, even with the gas pedal right to the mat. The first year I had it, some co-workers and I went on a little fishing trip to a tourist camp in NW Ontario.

My Prius refused to climb one steep hill, although a co-worker with a VW Golf tdi and 5 speed had no trouble whatsoever. The other co-worker with a Lexus SUV hooked up a tow strap to the emergency towing eyelet and pulled me up.

The stock Integrity tires are crap. If you value your life - especially on a rain soak highway - ditch them ASAP

 

I didn't realized you have a 07 model. You shouldn't have issues in 04 and 05's over sensitive traction control.

Remember, the electric motor torque response is very fast. There is no "sling shot" effect and delay like automatic transmission. Press the accelerator slowly in control. You will be able to move fairly easily. If the wheel slips, don't panic. You know now the torque limit on the road. Try again and give less torque to the wheel next time.

 

Maybe this was already thought of but did you think of backing up the hill? The Prius can't use the gas engine to back up a hill, it's a pure electric car backing up so maybe this would work?

 

Greetings -

In one of the past posts i read earlier today it was mentioned that reverse is powered ONLY by the electric motor and therefore may not have the oomph, (or battery life) to do an extended reverse up a steep incline. When I read that, I said ah-ha! This summer I tried reversing up my driveway (which is a 12-14% incline and almost 1/4 mile long). The car came to a near stop part way up and I got nervous so went back down to the bottom and drove up forward. When I got to the top there was a distinct odor of heated electrical components - so I don't try that anymore.

Mine is gravel as well, and of course now frozen. The stock tires did fine in the summer but were a joke after our first snow so I got some good 'snow' tires and it's still pretty easy, so long as you get a little head start. However, my driveway is covered in 'fines' (similiar to D-1) which is a mix of small rock 'chips' and sand that pack really hard, making a relatively smooth, not necessarily flat, surface. My neighbors' driveway is just as steep but his is covered with a more coarse 'pit run' gravel which is more like small, loose, rounded stones - and his is VERY challenging to get up.

So while the cost of 'paving' might be out of the question, you might look into just skimming it with a finer D-1 type topping that will probably help a great deal.

Derik

 

Just sharing our experience: Last evening my wife and I dropped off our daughter at house we had never been to. We took our 2008 Prius with 4k miles on it. The house was at the bottom of a steep hill and the access was a gravel road. Going down was fine. But coming back up the hill was a hair raising experience. Pacific NW, wet steep gravel road, near midnight and raining, out of cell phone coverage, no street lights, foggy windows, mountain on right, drop off on left to river, no guard rails ... you get the picture.

Good momentum till I slowed for some pot holes. When the tires started spinning, the TC kicked in and we were stuck. Backing down 1/8 mile to a flat area to start over was not on my list. So I tried a few times to get thru the pot holes.

Each time, I held the accelorator down but when the tires started to spin, the engine would disengage and the car would come to a stop, After a 1/2 second or so, the sequence would repeat: spin, disengage, reengage. However, without the ability to override the TC, we were stuck.

I share this as an FYI. I agree with one poster that Toyota did this to "protect" the car but they definitely put their cargo at high risk. There is no warning in the owners manual about this. I was totally shocked at the behaviour of this car. And for once, my wife was right, "We should have taken the Suburban".