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Most Obscure Gen III Facts (way out there)

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Main Forum' started by hill, Jul 13, 2009.

  1. Dominic

    Dominic New Member

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    actually, no. the wipers were on, but just on normal setting. hence why i was believing it was the radar who couldn't detect ahead. but i'm not sure
     
  2. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    Ohh ok. The manual said that warning comes up if the wipers are on HI.
     
  3. geodosch

    geodosch Member

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    I had a 2000 Maxima with auto headlights, and I just got a 2010 Outback with an auto setting. So I think it's safe to say that there were, and are, US vehicles with them.

    It is bad to use cruise control in the rain, for among other reasons if the car started to hydroplane it could be difficult to cancel it quickly enough. That said, the story about the woman's car that rocketed out of control because it hydroplaned with CC on is an Urban Myth. Cruise control senses the vehicle speed based on the speed of the drive wheels. If the car started hydroplaning, and the wheels started spinning faster, the CC would interpret that as an *increase* in speed, regardless of the car's actual speed, and back-off on the throttle.
     
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  4. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    The Hill Start Assist is on a timer (and I don't mean when you lift your foot off the brake).

    I found this out by accident. I was at the drive-thru and after a while, I noticed that the line is moving very slowly so I decided to use a trick I learned here and activate Hill Start Assist so that I can relieve some pressure on my right foot over the brake pedal.

    Well after a while, I heard the usual two "beep beep" and the HSA cancelled! I was sure I didn't change the amount of pressure applied to my foot. I checked the consumption screen and sure enough, I've been waiting for a while.

    I didn't catch the exact timing but it's somewhere between 2 and 5 mins (I was just switching btwn the 1 min and 5 min consumption since I really wasn't paying attention to the time/clock).
     
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  5. adrianblack

    adrianblack Member

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    I swear mine cancels after like 5 seconds...
     
  6. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    You're not pressing hard enough after engaging? It will cancel after 1 second if the pedal is released (or at least not enough pressure to apply braking power if you were to be in motion).
     
  7. adrianblack

    adrianblack Member

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    Oh you still have to keep pushing the break? What's the poinnt then? I use it on super steep hills to prevent the car from rolling back when I go to push the gas. What's the point of engaging it then holding.the brake pedal? _
     
  8. guinness_fr

    guinness_fr Junior Member

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    Well that allows you to press only lightly on the brakes while still making sure that the engine is no longer creeping.
    You indeed have to be careful in traffic jams because if you press too lightly on the brakes the engine might still be creeping and wasting some precious electric energy.

    The actual true reason is that you can activate HSA when you stop instead of just before starting, which saves some milliseconds...
     
  9. adrianblack

    adrianblack Member

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    The Gen 3 is so much better about the wasted energy than the Gen 2...

    Good point about the HSA activation when you first stop. Though I just wish it were on everytime you stop. My friend has a 2010 Passant and you can set the car to apply HSA every time you stop. Even if you roll to a stop. To creep you have to give it a little gas. I love it!
     
  10. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    That's not really HSA. The Passat has what is essentially "Auto-Hold" in Lexus speak where it holds the brakes every time you stop. Slightly different from HSA where it activates even when you take your foot completely off the brake pedal.


    I prefer my smart's HSA setup to Toyota's. Toyota requires that I activate it manually and then flash the Slip Indicator (which confused the heck out of me when I drove the HiHy and before I got the 2010 Prius). The smart automatically activates it every time you come to a stop. No beeps, no flashing lights. Just press the accelerator when you want to go like you normally would. If you want to creep, just let go of the brake a second earlier and let HSA cancel on its own.

    yeah like guiness_fr said. it's just a side trick of HSA.
     
  11. Lebowdia

    Lebowdia New Member

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    No card holder on my 2010 Prius. Its a base model with the JBL's and bluetooth. Bummer!
     
  12. cit1991

    cit1991 New Member

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    Apologies if this has already been noted in one of the 650 prior posts:

    The power window switches on the driver's side each have a small somewhat dim LED.

    If you push the button to disable power windows (disabling all but the driver's), the 3 LED's on those switches go out. So, at night, you can see the state of the window-disable button.
     
  13. Jon S

    Jon S Member

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    regarding the random shuffle of the cd player.

    My Prius has MP3 files on all four CDs. The CDs have the music in folders... e.g. my country CD has a folder for Willy Nelson, Garth Brooks, etc. If you select a folder (like Willy Nelson) and tap the random button to get a short beep, the Prius will randomly select the songs from that particular folder. If you hold down the random button and get a long beep, the Prius will randomly select songs from the whole CD from all the folders.
     
  14. Chrisjul

    Chrisjul Junior Member

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    Don't worry....I live in S FL and tint is also a requirement....GPS works fine!
     
  15. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    Doing that with regular discs will activate the Disc Random (i.e. play songs from all CDs in the slots).
     
  16. johalareewi

    johalareewi Member

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    The basic CD player in my T3 (your series II?) will play MP3 and WMA files from a CD but will not play lossless WMA. :(
     
  17. rleepac

    rleepac New Member

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    We actually fit a soap box derby car, production camera gear and tool boxes in my Gen II prius - all with only one seat folded down so my 8 yr old would still fit too. It was quite a sight but it all fit!

    [​IMG]
     
  18. tomlouie

    tomlouie Member

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    The temperature setting can be adjusted from (Low, 65F to 85F, High) using the Temp+, Temp- controls on the center console or steering wheel.

    Press the temp +/- once, and the setting will change by one value. Press and hold, and the value will keep increasing/decreasing, until it hits 75F after a few seconds.

    This is a nice way to get to a known temperature setting without having to peek at the temperature setting display.

    Tom
     
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  19. Eoin

    Eoin Active Member

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    The rear windows slow down just before the top and bottom, but the front windows do not.
     
  20. Lsegovic

    Lsegovic New Member

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    Instead of that you get an advanced VFD "green" screen :D because I don't see any colors there!! with the ATARI 2600 computer type software t!! HEY WE HAVE TO PAY for retro design !! LOL :rofl: