Just received my new Prius but have a problem

Yes, it does tend to wander a little at freeway speeds and it has sensitive steering. This tends to bother some people more than others. I'm already used to it, and find that if I maintain a light touch when steering it's okay.

It's possible that some individual cars may have issues beyond what is normal for a Prius.

 

Congratulations on your new Prius! I got mine about 3 1/2 weeks ago. I travel about 75 total miles to/from work, some highway - 65-70mph. The only time I noticed the car veer slightly was when we had extremely strong cross winds. Usually my car is very stable - I did feel the car move with the strong cross winds though.
How fast are you going? Is it very windy, or are there a lot of trucks?
Regards,
Kevin

 

Check that the front toe adjustment has them toed-IN slightly. The spec allows zero toe, which will cause wander. Aligning to spec isn't good enough.

 

CONGRATS, Brian... I'm sure you have also checked the air pressure the book calls for rear 40 psi..front 42psi... I run 42 psi...44psi and am real happy with the way my car drives... here is another thread relating to what you are going thru... good luck

http://priuschat.com/forums/poor-steering-...html?highlight=

Bob Andersen

 

Some people have also found that changing the tires has helped in their case - although this may not be the most ideal circumstance.

It may also be that new tires tend to wander a bit more than "broken-in" tires? I found it a little ackward at highway speeds when I first got it, but after having mine for a year now, I don't notice it at all, including last summer when I drove from Vancouver, BC down to L.A., through some very, very windy areas south of Oakland.

Dave

 

I have been reading a lot of posts about this and after 3 months and 8,000 miles of California's grooved (not groovy) highways I have this to say to everyone experiencing the Wanderlust that is the Prius....

RELAX !!!!! :silly:

Relax everything when you drive this car,

Now I didn't have the alignment problem dome Prius do, due to overtightening of their shipping anchors,

but I'll say this, the car has one of the most sensitive steering inputs of any non-sports car that I've driven. ANY movement of my steering wheel results in a reaction by the car.

I think that this is where a lot of people get to wandering.

I hold the wheel with one hand at the 7:30 mark (the other hand always at the ready if needed) and let the wheel "float" through a circle of my index finger and thumb.

I find that if I don't react to the car reacting then the car doesn't react.

If you are holding the wheel at the prescribed 10 and 2 that everyone learns about, then you are more likely to transmit unintentioned inputs into the steering. This position was OK when it took 3 to 6 inches of movement to get a car to react but unless you drive like an F-1 racer ALL the time you should have no need for this driving position. The position is inherently "unstable". think about it, you basically have to keep your ars held up and out for the whole time you drive.

Not to say it doesn't take a little trust to let the car wander in the rain grooves, but learning how the car reacts and how not to overreact to it would improve your driving experience. In other words learn to trust the car. I've found it very stable, the only 'instability' that I've experienced that was out of the ordinary come on the rain grooved freeway at 85 miles per hour through traffic (getting the wind blow from other cars) and about a 45 mile per hour cross wind. Still not that bad. :silly:

 

Heya,

First off - Congrats on the Prius! You got the color I wanted. I went with a white one because someone else didn't take delivery and it had pkg 6 that I wanted - saved me 2 months of waiting. I'm happy with the White, but you got my color!!!!

Next - I, also, noticed a slight "wander" on the freeway. My last car was a high-performance sports car (Trans-Am) so I AM used to "touchy" steering. Even "at first" the "wander" didn't really bother me much, now I don't even notice it. I think that my "lighter touch" on the steering wheel has eliminated the problem but I DO live in a non-windy area.

That said - I have two comments. First, I agree with KTPhil - Check the toe-in. That might solve the problem for you. Secondly, as other have stated, relaxing pretty much elimitates the issue.

After you drive a Prius for awhile - ESPECIALLY if you keep the consumption screen on like I do - the car will change your driving habbits. It literally TEACHES you how to drive for better fuel economy (and it's FUN too!). A side effect of this, at least for me, is that I find myself more relaxed when driving and not in such a "hurry" all the time. It's made my whole life better!

So - I say - check the toe-in. Maybe wait for the tires to wear a bit longer. I have a hunch that you'll get used to the way the Prius handles and this issue will disappear.

Just my 2 cents....

Yoda

 

blkc5. congrats on your new Prius. It's funny I have a 99 Chevy Venture also that we used to do our traveling in but now we use the Prius for trips. I've really haven't had much problems with the Prius on the highway, but i have to say on a recent trip to Florida i did seem to notice the wander that some people talk about. i think maybe it's because people in Florida go pretty fast(75-85) and maybe something to do with most of the Interstates in Florida are concrete whereas alot of the other parts of the country are asphalt. but anyway i think you'll get used to it. Even though i noticed a slight difference when we went to florida it didn't really concern me.

 

My commute is 30 miles and my usual sustained speed is about 75. I've had a number of commutes at mostly 85, and 2 at 102 or so. One of those 102s was a test that impressed me. The second 102 was for about 18 sustained miles.

Now I've read the posts above, and I agree that the steering on this car is "tighter" than I was used to. Just a little movement of the wheel will start to turn the car. At first I found this annoying and borderline unsafe. However, now I've very used to it.

And I am extremely impressed with the stability of this car even at 100 MPH. If your car is unstable on the highway, I suspect there is a problem. Do you know another Prius driver where you could trade cars for an experiment? Will your dealer let you drive a demo car?

If you can drive the demo and that demo does not do what you feel your car is doing, then take the service technician for a drive in each car. One for comparison.

I really think you may have a problem.

 

The front toe in your case is set to zero on one side, positive 0.01 on the other (which is toe-OUT). Ask that it be realigned with slight toe IN, which would be about -0.02, and make sure they match side to side.

Not sure about all that rear toe OUT, either, or the large discrepency between sides.

Both of these may be contributing to the problem.

 

I agree that the Prius is a sensitive car to keep lined up on the hiighway. Like
flying a helicopter it requires keeping hands and fingers on the controls. No auto pilot stuff or letting the brain matter drift off the job at hand. I can count two occasions this past week, the most recent today that the instant steering reaction saved me from being creamed down my left side by a vehicle which drifted toward me in the adjacent lane and another last week when a guy made a wide turn into my lane and a quick twist of the steering wheel saved us from a head on.
I'll take the Prius steering characteristic any time over the other floating balloons on the highway and particularily in cross winds.

 

I'm not sure what the best alignment is for the rear. Not sure if is is even adjustable. Maybe it uses shims? Sorry, I've not done it on this car and don't know.

 

It is not adjustable & you tap on the right front tire and it will Zero that is not the problem the problem is the camber it's adjustable with camber bolts that can be changed to bring that in to spec. the toe will be readjusted. Don't know if that will fix your "this car is VERY unstable and find its straight ahead stability to be unacceptable. " concern I think it may have more to do with the design and more so the tires. I would have them exchanged for better tires. http://priuschat.com/forums/viewtopic.php?...e%20replacement

 

Sorry I was adding that to this post. I had to go find it again I couldn't remember for sure. when I was typing it

 

I think these tires suck They are 50 doller tire who would replace them with a 50 doller tire. Not me.