Boot up sequence

Congratulations on your (your wife's) new Prius. Yes that's how it's done. And when you shut it down when it's stopped just hold the brake and push the power button, that puts it in park before it shuts off.

 

Yes, if you put your foot on the brake, you are telling the car that it needs to get ready to drive. Then you only need to push the button once, and it's on and ready to go.

If your foot is off the brake, then one push turns on accessory mode, and the second turns on all functions except the actual drivetrain. Everything works but you can't drive. From here youwould still need to put your foot on the brake and push power one more time.

 

Step on the brakes, put it once for "on". No brake -- push, push. push to cycle through the accessoriy and "ignition on" modes and off again. It's all in that 577 page manual you got. Haven't you read it yet?

 

Sometimes I hit Park anyway, as I still want to stay in the car for a while (listening to NPR or something). Otherwise, I do just hit power and do it all with one button push.

Isn't it funny that we are so concerned about pushing one button instead of two. I mean how much more time and energy does it take to hit Park then Power as opposed to just Power...?

Are we being efficient or lazy?

 

If you are in Acc mode (one push of power without the brake) you can still push the brake down and push power once to turn the car on, of course one push without the brake gets you to what is called the Ign on mode, which means that the ignition is off.

One thing some Prius drivers don't know, because they haven't read the book yet, <_< is that if you are driving down the road and poke the power button nothing happens, but if you hold it in for about 2 seconds the HSD will disconnect and the car will shut down in neutral. You will lose power steering and power brakes but you can still brake and steer just fine with a little more effort. After you pull off the road and stop you can restart the car in the normal manner.

 

I don't think so. If you start the car witht he fob in your pocket, you can still get out adn walk away. The car jsut beeps. Of course, if it's moving it may be different. Why don't you be the guinea pig and find out by "falling out of the car..." :lol:

 

That's one philosophy, mine has always been, with cars anyway, to try things. That way I can find out what they feel like so if something happens unexpectedly I have some idea what is going on.

After my car was well broken in (3000 miles or so) I tested my ABS and VSC. I didn't go out on the freeway and cram on the brakes at 80 mph or anything, I worked up to it starting at 50 mph or so I increased brake pressure gradually untill the ABS was activated. After I discovered what it would feel like I did cram on the brakes from about 70 mph and they work very well indeed, you can steer just fine due to the ABS system and you stop quickly. I tested the VSC much the same way, on a completely empty large parking lot. I went in large circles gradually increasing speed until the VSC activated and I noted the result, brakes applied individually to control the skid and power decreased to slow the vehicle. It was a lot of fun to do my "tests" and not scary at all. I think I have a lot more confidence in the car as a result.

I never try things that the car was not designed to do, and I make sure no one else is around.

 

Easier to activate the ABS and VSC, yes. It wouldn't be as realistic though, unless you drive on these roads regularly. The dynamics of pavement and gravel are different, and the gravel can throw off the VSC a little, as the car will not respond as it should when on pavement. If all you want is to induce the ABS and VSC, then try it on gravel, but if you really want o get an idea of how it functions, do it on a surface more like what you drive on most of the time.

 

I agree with DocV, do it on surfaces you drive on. If it snows try that too, just remember to give yourself more room when it's slippery. Also before you try the VSC on pavement make sure your tire pressures are up.