Traction Control

Owners of the newer cars who had earlier ones (tradeins) report the TC is less aggressive on the 2007.

As for reacting to the TC cutin, try it both ways and see. I don't think it would make any difference on a wet road, but do try it.

It's when you have NO traction that TC has caused problems. Again, owners of the newer Prius report it is no longer "shutting down" completely. It will slowly spin the wheels even if there is no traction.

 

Welcome to PriusChat.

We bouught our 2007 on 30 October 2007 so I have driven the Prius through the winter season (I sure hope winter is over!). With the OEM tires there were a couple of times that the TC kicked in and the car accellerated slowly but never stopped. I got ride of the stock tires at 1800 miles and put on four BF Goodrich Traction TA in the stock size and that made a real improvement.

I tend to drive gently under conditions of poor traction. When the TC kicks in I gently feather the throttle and let the car drive through the problem. I've never floored it with poor traction so I don't know what the result would be.

Here in Erie we are finally having some really nice warm and sunny weather and the Prius really loves it!

My advice to you is to relax and let the systems in the car do their job.

 

Traction control never cuts out the engine. It does drop the power delivered to the spinning wheels(s), but it will keep trying unless you back off on the throttle. Bad tires (read OEM Goodyear Integrities) make a huge difference, so swap those out before winter. We get lots of snow and have found the Prius does just fine, traction control and all.

Tom

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tideland Prius @ Apr 22 2007, 06:32 PM) [snapback]427800[/snapback]</div>

Get used to the TRAC, and do not lift your foot off the gas pedal. After half a second of nothing the car will resume power and go on.


I tested my 2007 Prius on a steep hill surfaced with gravel and dust this weekend. Half way up I stopped the car dead on purpose. Then I firmly put the gas pedal to the floor, and we gently proceeded uphill without any further fuzz or wheelspin.


The only time I have had my Prius spinning its front wheels like an old fashioned stick shift car, was when going in reverse in deep snow. And still I was not stuck.



Does the TRAC have a different mode when in reverse?

 

When the traction control kicks in, it is doing it's job. If in response you let up on the accelerator pedal, you are telling the car to slow down, and therefor compounding the problem of loss of power.

In a situation where you wish to accelerate but the traction control kicks in, STEP DOWN ON THE ACCELERATOR MORE! Let the car know you wish to go forward and let the traction control take care of itself. This seems counterintuitive, but it works. In slushy slippery snowy conditions, it's actually fun - especially if you have VSC too. Just point the wheels in the direction you wish to go, then munch down on the accelerator pedal. Away you go!

Yes, the OEM tires cause the traction control to kick in more often.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tideland Prius @ Apr 22 2007, 05:20 PM) [snapback]428010[/snapback]</div>

I may have asked this before, but refresh my memory. What month did you get your '05? I got mine in August and haven't had that problem.

Dave M.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tideland Prius @ Apr 22 2007, 08:20 PM) [snapback]428010[/snapback]</div>

And I am thankful for that small thing. The previous TRAC would have been a show stopper for us considering where we live. The information here on PC gave me some confidence that the problem had been improved, so we took a chance and bought a 2006. Now having a winter behind us, it was the right decision.

Tom

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tideland Prius @ Apr 22 2007, 08:22 PM) [snapback]428128[/snapback]</div>

OK. So I"m blind. No, not blind. Just inattentive.

Dave M.

 

Just be thankful you don't have a 2004 Prius. I'm sure most are wonderful in the snow and will charge through 3 ft drifts on bald tires, but mine was helpless at icy intersections until finally last year I put on a set of studded Goodyear Nordic tires from Canadian Tire. They're the same as this EU Goodyear tire:

http://eu.goodyear.com/home_en/tires/repos...p?page=benefits

The Goodyear Nordic is very noisy on dry pavement though. On icy roads - which is what we experienced most of Feb and March - they're well worth it.

My problem is that I have a hobby farm approx 2 hours NE of Winnipeg, and have to venture down a winding poorly maintained 4.5km gravel sideroad to get to the place. I got stuck after the Dec 31 blizzard, and was again stranded after the March blizzard.

This is how I finally solved my hobby farm traction problems. It will only see trips out to the hobby farm, so probably no more than 6,000 - 10,000 km a year. It only gets 25 mpg, but easily handles in 2WD what would bog down the Prius running winter tires. Oh, and it also has a "real" traction control system:

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tideland Prius @ Apr 26 2007, 10:05 AM) [snapback]430603[/snapback]</div>

Jayman has electrostatic charge on the vehicle that repels all foreign matter. He has to discharge it before he gets in and out. Ha!

I will say it looks much better than any vehicle I've ever had at this time of the year. In fact, if it's not done with Photoshop or some equivalent, I'd say he must have wrapped it in plastic to get it where it is on that dirt road.


Dave M.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jayman @ Apr 25 2007, 08:27 PM) [snapback]430201[/snapback]</div>

25 mpg isn't bad for that sort of vehicle. I used to drive a Jeep C-J5, and that only got 16 mpg on a good day, and it certainly isn't any bigger.

Nice truck (car?). I'd like to have one for four-wheeling. I miss doing that.

Tom

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tideland Prius @ Apr 26 2007, 01:05 PM) [snapback]430603[/snapback]</div>

I washed it before leaving Winnipeg, and we had a good drop in temps down to -18 C. So the road froze up nicely and it stayed clean that trip out.

The last trip out, before I left on the business trip last week, it had warmed up and the thing was sinking 10-15cm into the mush. No way I felt like getting out into that muck to take a photo. That, and the soaked streets, and it looked pretty sad by the time I pulled into my condo

It's mostly clean now. I'm heading out tomorrow so we'll see how it looks by Sunday when I get back

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(qbee42 @ Apr 26 2007, 05:52 PM) [snapback]430787[/snapback]</div>

My first tank of gas I only got 17 out of it. The next two tanks I only got 18-19, and even though I'm not going to drive it that much, I was pretty disappointed

When I had around 1,000 km on it, I changed all the gear oil. The front and rear axles, and the transfer case, take GL-5. The same time I bought the FJ I stopped at a local Mobil industrial lube place and picked up a pail of Mobil Delvac 75W-90 synthetic

The front axle drained medium brown. The transfer case oil looked new. The rear axle drained BLACK. The magnets on the front and rear axles had what I consider "normal" wear, just a fine powder. Considering the condition of the gear oil, I refilled the front and rear axles with a cheap 80W-90 I had around, then drove up and down the 4.5 km gravel road in 4wd to circulate things.

Front axle came out clear, but the rear axle was still very dark brown. So I repeated the flush with the rear axle. I did notice some unusual things after refilling with the commercial Delvac synthetic gear oil

1. Much quieter. I had noticed a droning at highway speed that I assumed was the exhaust. No, it was actually gear noise. Now it's silent

2. Seems smoother. That is, when I put my hand on the transfer case lever, it doesn't seem as "buzzy" as before

3. Much better fuel economy. That factory fill gear oil must have been recycled sludge. With the drive out and return, mostly highway at 90-100 km/h, I'm now getting 25 mpg

As far as the Delvac gear oil, it's very good oil. You can't use it in a diff with clutch plates, or they will stop working. Almost all commercial gear oils certified to meeting/exceeding builder approval lists (Rockwell. Eaton, Sheas, Volvo, Mack, etc) don't allow or contain the friction modifiers to allow proper clutch plate operation. FWIW Mobil claims an average 10% improvement in fuel economy if their Delvac drivetrain lubes are used.

The biggest difference again is the "real" traction control in the FJ, vs what I had been used to in my Prius. My Prius has the optional VSC, it would have been trivial to engineer the traction control to work the same as it does on my FJ

Doc Vijay mentioned the Porsche system, which really plants your butt into the seat. Once I had around 1,600 km on my FJ, I decided to plant it at a red light on Fermor by the Mint. OMFG! Takes off like a skinned rabbit. You can hear tire squealing, but not out of control wheel spin, just at the edge. Kind of neat how the front lifts up a bit and the rear squats down. I won't make a habit of doing that ... maybe ....

The Prius remains the commuter car, but it won't be driven out to the hobby farm anymore. Just having a nice compliant suspension again over the washboardy roads, ruts, and holes, more than brings a smile to my face again