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For those of you with a push button shifter, does anyone else do this?

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Accessories and Modifications' started by kmkremer, Aug 24, 2014.

  1. kmkremer

    kmkremer Member

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    Until recently, I never really used the B shift position. I know it's good when you're going down a step incline to help slow the car and save your brakes but I didn't use it very much.

    Now, when I'm going into a corner at speed (which I'm doing a lot more frequently since I installed the TRD rear sway bar), I use B as a down shift and then shift back to D going out of the turn. It's really easy to do with the push button shifter (it's probably easy with the standard shifter as well) and kind of fun.

    Just curious if anyone else is doing this.
     
    #1 kmkremer, Aug 24, 2014
    Last edited: Aug 24, 2014
  2. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    I just use braking. I know it's somewhat counterintuitive, but with the regen braking, I believe for everyday driving, it's never advantageous to use B. It was designed for seriously long downhill runs, where the battery gets fully charged, to the point that it switches over to friction brakes, and then goes on long enough that they overheat. A few blocks of downhill doesn't warrant B, it takes something like coming down from a ski hill.
     
  3. The Electric Me

    The Electric Me Go Speed Go!

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    You know, I've hung around long enough to realize people are going to use "B" the way they want to use "B".

    But call me crazy, I ONLY use it going down long hills.
     
  4. Grren4ever

    Grren4ever Active Member

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    Using the "B" to me is not different from using the foot brakes. They both slow the car down and both engage regenerative braking. When I first bought the car, I used "B" to emulate downshifting since it seemed cool, but now I don't bother with that anymore. Probably less wear and tear of the system if one doesn't always move from B to D. In the long run I don't think anything's gonna break but just my 2 cents. :)
     
  5. vvillovv

    vvillovv Senior Member

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    Yes, I use B with my PiP when in ev only. I've heard using B with the ICE on can have unwanted effects on MG1, the ICE and mpg.
    But in ev it works seamlessly.

    If you shift from N to B the car beeps at you.. So you have to go back into D from N before going to B
    It's a lot like flipping the cruise lever,
    but different :)
     
  6. qdllc

    qdllc Senior Member

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    I find the whole "B" mode to be a bit of a gimmick.

    Yes, on a long downhill run, it's a way to save your brakes once the regen braking stops because your battery is maxed, but in all my professional training behind the wheel, you DO NOT want to employ gimmicks for daily driving. In a crisis, you do what you are used to doing, and that means working your bake and gas pedals properly.

    On a motorcycle, you have a front and rear brake. The front always does the majority of the stopping, but so many riders never learn to PROPERLY use the front brake to its fullest potential. Yeah, you have a rear brake, but the physics of a rapidly decelerating motorcycle makes that rear brake next to useless in a crisis, and it takes more moves to engage it than what most instinctively do with the front brake lever. In a crisis, they rely on both brakes (one of which has minimal influence and takes longer to operate) and they use neither to it's full potential...often to their detriment.
     
  7. kmkremer

    kmkremer Member

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    I probably should have clarified that I use the foot brake as well. I just don't have to press it as hard. I like the downshifting feel of using B.
     
  8. vvillovv

    vvillovv Senior Member

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    The eBrake is a tool to be use like any other tool that came with the car.
    But the people that don't use the eBrake have strong opinions about why everyone else should not use it either.
    I hope Toyota adds more control to the eBrake. I'd like to be able to use it instead of the foot brake, with brakes lights on as I pull back on the stick.