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Evan - please elaborate on gliding.

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by ny888, May 9, 2004.

  1. ny888

    ny888 New Member

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    Evan,

    I saw your posts in YG about gliding and wanted a little bit of clarity. I do not have my Prius yet but am doing as much reading and studying before hand.

    When you or anyone says "feather" or "glide", do you mean to ease up on the accelerator but not fully back to the unpressed state ?

    And then press a little bit back on the accelerator to maintain the speed ?

    Do you actually see no arrows at all on the MFD ?

    Thanks in advance.
     
    #1 ny888, May 9, 2004
  2. Frank Hudon

    Frank Hudon Senior Member

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    when your coasting down a hill or just trying to slow for a traffic light if you take your foot completely off the gas it goes into regen and you slow quite dramatically but if you back off then return a bit of pressure you can see a point of the MFD where the ICE is off and your not regening and you can feel the car coasting instead of decelerating. It's a fine touch but easy to master with a bit of time.
     
    #2 Frank Hudon, May 9, 2004
  3. efusco

    efusco Moderator Emeritus
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    Frank nailed it. I sorta throw gliding and stealth/hyper-stealth into the same basket. I generally accelerate to speed, back my foot quickly but very briefly completely off the pedal then gently depress the pedal aiming for that no-arrows glide.

    If I'm in a long straight flat area I will nurse in just a little HV batt/MG2 power to maintain speed. Generally I'll find that I don't need to even look at the Energy screen but can maintain 99.9mpg with very subtle pedal action varying from green regen arrows to no arrows, to HV power and even to ICE power at 99.9mpg. And that can, given a long enough area, be sustained for quite a long way and a very rewarding increase in the tank MPG.
     
    #3 efusco, May 10, 2004
  4. jamarimutt

    jamarimutt New Member

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    Isn't gliding (coasting without arrows) essentially the same as running in neutral? I have seen several posts about whether it's safe to shift into neutral and coast for a long time, but I have not seen a convincing reply one way or the other. :(
     
    #4 jamarimutt, May 10, 2004
  5. efusco

    efusco Moderator Emeritus
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    IMO, shifting into neutral on the road while driving is unsafe and could, in the long haul, damage the hybrid system as it could force MG1 to spin faster than it's designed to.

    The effect of no-arrows gliding is the same as being in neutral--essentially free-wheeling, but without the risk b/c the entire system is still engaged. You go over 41mph and the ICE spins up. You take your foot off the gas and the regen braking kicks in. You need to accelerate and it's instantaneous. It's just a subtle control tool for the car rather than the cumbersome sledgehammer of shifting into neutral and the loss of control/safety that accompanies that.
     
    #5 efusco, May 10, 2004
  6. rflagg

    rflagg Member

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    I'd say it's no more or less 'safe' than doing so on any other car - except in this car by doing lots of shifting, you have less worry about wearing down gears since it's by-wire. However, the brake and accel pedals in the Prius are computer controlled, and you may find yourself in the situation where even though you're maintaining speed the computer is regenerating power for the battery, with or without the engine - this you simply won't get in neutral.

    I liken it to having an automatic transmission car, but still wanting to shift into 1st, then 2nd, then drive. Sure, you can, but why?

    -m.
     
    #6 rflagg, May 10, 2004
  7. jamarimutt

    jamarimutt New Member

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    The idea behind coasting in N is that, if you go downhill in D but the incline is not steep enough, the car will lose speed. By shifting into N the car should pick up speed, which one could reduce by shifting into D or B. If the incline is long enough the battery will recharge completely and continuing to coast in D is not useful.

    The above resembles shifting into N in a stick-shift car. There I know that no harm is done to the transmission, but I gather that some harm may be done to a regular automatic transmission. I guess the question is then, if under these circumstances the Prius transmission behaves like a stick-shift or like a regular automatic.
     
    #7 jamarimutt, May 10, 2004
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