Any weird sounds from your car?

I have no c, but Priuses make a lot of weird sounds that are not heard on conventional cars.

You should be able to hear a brake accumulator (?) pump if you pump on the brakes a few times. It should be repro even if the car is turned off.

At low speeds w/the windows open in a quiet area, you should be able to hear the whining sound of the pedestrian noisemaker (aka VPNS). The electric AC compressor can be kinda loud when the AC is on (again, open your windows or stand outside the car).

 

Oh yeah, you should hear high pitched electrical/motor whines esp. when accelerating in electric only or while doing regenerative braking. It might even be warbly sounding almost resembling a warbly whistle (I've experienced this on mine and when test driving Gen 3 Prius liftbacks.)

However, the above might be masked by the noisemaker. (Priuses prior to MY 2012 had no noisemaker.)

vehicle proximity notification system aka the noisemaker | Page 3 | PriusChat is of the VPNS sounds from F8L's '12 liftback. In the first portion of the video, to me, the louder sound is the VPNS. The higher pitched sounds including the one that changes pitch sounds like normal sounds from either/both the motors and inverter. The noise at the 35 second mark sounds like the brake accumulator pump.

When backing out of a parking space, you may encounter the ICE (internal combustion engine) firing up a few seconds after power on, possibly while in the middle of reversing. The ICE (at least on other Priuses) doesn't fire up until a few seconds after power up. Don't worry about this. Prius has no reverse gear and the ICE doesn't participate mechanically in moving the car backwards.

The AC compressor will likely be louder and spin faster if cooling demands are high (e.g. very hot in the car and/or you turn the fan to the max w/the AC on).

 

All of the noises that u are hearing during powering up/down are all of the relays that transition the power from the accessory battery to the traction battery & vis versa

 

i enjoy the noises, echoing through my buildings underground garage, it sounds like the car is preparing to transform into something.

 

Autobots........transform

 

A great way to find out if your car is acting weird [when you're not sure what the systems are doing] is to go to the dealership (or meet up with another forum member) and drive another one of your model to compare.

Chances are they're just Hybrid-related sounds you're not accustomed to, especially if all is performing well and there are no warning lights on the dashboard.

 

I've gradually adjusted to a variety of noises too...definitely a different beastie compared to my previous conventional cars!

 

If you hang around the car for a bit after shutting it down (say you're collecting your things together) you may also be treated to the sounds of the car "doing stuff". You get used to it.

Prii also do their thing five hours later:

What is my Prius C doing when I am away? | PriusChat

This is not a normal vehicle.