There was something to the BT Plate after all!

I guess I am the exception. I have one installed, I have driven it for a year and a half, I read all umpteen pages of the thread, and I am still unconvinced that it does anything.

Skeptically yours,

 

Remember that the buyers are essentially a self-selected group. The expectations of the buyers and their perceived need makes this anything but a scientific study.

Non buyers, on the other hand, are not involved and therefor have no first hand knowledge. All non buyers can do is analyze the mechanics of the brace and mounting, which, incidentally, points to the brace doing little more than the original member.

The best way to scientifically answer this question is to do stress analysis on the original brace and the replacement brace. Strain gauges would answer all questions very quickly.

Alternately you could do a double blind study. This wouldn't get at the casual effects of the brace, but would at least eliminate the major sources of subjective error.

Lacking either of these, we might as well argue about how many angels can dance on the head of a pin. Of course it all becomes history with the 2010.

Tom

 

My favorite fool-proof test involved the tester's wife jumping up and down in the front seat ... that was good for about 50 - 100 posts in the stiffening plate thread.

 

If it was as simple as replacing the plate with a sturdier one, Toyota could have done that for a lot less money. Instead they redesigned the entire back end of the car, featuring a much stiffer system.

My contention all along was that the OEM plate is only loaded in tension. It is already plenty strong for that application. The mounting bracket and spacing of the mounts fails to allow for much torsional resistance. Using a stiffer plate to resist torsional loading doesn't help if it can't transfer loads from the chassis.

When this subject comes up, people get the causes and effects all mixed up into some sort of froth. For example, when one of us states that the replacement brace does little to help, it does not necessarily follow that we also find the rear of the Prius sufficiently stiff. The two assertions are not logically linked.

Likewise, demonstrating that the replacement brace is stronger than the OEM brace does not necessarily prove that using the replacement brace stiffens the rear end of the car.

It is probably fair to assume that Toyota felt that the back end of the Prius could be improved with further stiffening, and it is very obvious that the new system is much stiffer.

Tom

 

Well I installed mine on 2/13/09, just before driving to Tampa for the weekend. I had owned my Prius for almost 2 months prior. It seemed to help a little with wandering & winds.

 

My favorite fool-proof test involved the tester's wife jumping up and down in the front seat ... that was good for about 50 - 100 posts in the stiffening plate thread.
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Best regards, Tom


I must agree..... That was a funny one!!

 

I don't think the 2004 to 2009 Prius is really going the vaporise Tom, I think they will be around for a few years yet.

 

The roads here are crap mostly. We have some great driving roads though and compared to the roads I saw in Northern USA the roads here are mostly deserted. Peak hour last just an hour or 2 and highway speeds can in fact be high.

Snow? no snow so ice occures only rarely and only in little patches. I've never had a problem with ice. Of course you need water to make ice, we have bugger all of that.

And that brings us to mud, you need water to make mud too, so it's very rare. Most of the roads around are sealed though, although there is a dirt road just 500 metres from here. I have spent some hours going sideways on the Strezlecki Track in mud, fun to remember but hard work at the time.

I find my Prius is slightly more confident around high speed bends since fitting the BT plate. With 195mm Michelin tyres I have no more an issue with cross winds in my Prius than I have in my Holden Commodore (Pontiac G8 with a 6 cylinder engine) patrol car I spend 7 hours a day in 5 days a week.

I have done some bloody long drives in some strong winds in the Prius, I did my last 10,000km service 4 weeks after the previous one and it was late. I love driving it!
I'll comment on the seat. I find the seat isn't the most comfortable on a short drive but on a long drive compared to other cars I have driven on long drives the Prius is great. I don't know why it is but although I never feel really comfortable, when I arrive I always feel refreshed and in good shape.

 

Hey Doc, there's an easy test you can do if you need some butt-dyno
convincing about the plate. Now that all the roads are beat
to crap by the cold weather, take the plate *off* and go for a
drive down your favorite chuckholed washboard.
.
_H*