General Prius Questions

Em, that particular item is for the 2000-2003 Prius only. If you're talking about the one that's "Coming Soon," like efusco said, don't hold your breath.

 

Remote unlock? Do you mean something that makes the hatch pop open automatically?

Hmm... well, i think SKS is probably better off anyway since all it requires is a touch of the hatch handle and all the doors or just the trunk unlocks.

 

My 05 Prius has far less wind noise than my 1996 Audi A4 did. In fact there is almost no wind noise, even at 75 MPH. Tire noise can be fairly high depending on the surface, but that may be due to the really crappy OEM tires. On a smooth asphalt highway at 75mph, the car is remarkably quiet.

 

Count me in for a remote rear hatch unlocker (especially perhaps an inside manual release!!!) Ever had your battery go dead? I did! I forgot to put the car in "P" when I first got it and ran the battery dead running the heater/fan trying to cook off the nasty outgassing. When I came out to check on the rig a couple hours later, NO GO, Dead. I called Toyota to request their assistance in walking me thru the Battery Jump proceedure, which turned out to be a piece of cake, but nevertheless, if the car loses power (perhaps like in an accident!!! the rear hatch is SEALED SHUT without nary a way to unlock/unlatch it! Power remote as well as Manual/Keyed Unlock Please Toyota!!!

Thanks,

Kenkneeb

 

Road noise: moderate. Wind noise, almost none. But I drive a lot on a well-worn, "pebbled" asphalt stretch of freeway, and it's louder than I like. When I get on a stretch of newly-laid-down asphalt, almost "sealed", it's heaven.

Can't help with the brakes; they "do their own thing", and I can't tell. Sometimes they seem touchy, and grab (friction) more than I expect.

Not interested in hatch remote.

There's a lot of controversy about driver's seat comfort. Some hate it, some love it, most seem neutral. If you have any back problems/pain, beware. There's a thread started by tcmalibu (I think) with HELP! at the end of the title dealing with this. Many people just want power seats, and many of those with lumbar support.

Good luck!

 

I am very happy with the lack of wind noise. Of course, I came from a SCION xB...but still, the car is very quiet.

 

The car alread has a manual release for the hatch. Granted its not an easy thing to do but it does have it

1. Enter the car using the metal key
2. Climb back in the hatch area
3. Lift the carpet nearest the hatch in the middle
Underthere there is a manual release lever

 

Olends!!!

Great news about the inside, albeit somewhat buried - esp. with a hatchful, manual release!!!

Now if they could just put a keyed lock on the outside of the hatch, perhaps near the black button, we'd be Golden Baby.

As far a wind noise, Ditto, None! With a Cd (drag coefficient/coefficient of drag) of .26 this sleek little guppie slips thru the air. The tire, etc. another story. I just had the goodyear integra's replaced with Bridgestone Turanza LSH (2 slots higher speed rating - not recommended in the Manual - S speed rating is) and the road noise is the same if not worse. I will be stepping down to the Turanza LST's (softer sidewall -lower speed rating). If the transmitted road noise is near the same, I will contact the local Goodyear dealer and see if they can swing me a deal on the highly rated (at least on Tirerack.com) Goodyear ComfortTreds. I was surprised that Goodyear's upper end tires (Comfortred and TripleTreds) were at the top of the Tirerack.com's customer Happiness list for Passenger All Season Tires (and no, I don't work for Tirerack!). Go here for the review: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/surveyresult...lay.jsp?type=AS

Prius Chat ROCKS!!!

On a mission to Silence the On-Screen MFD Beep!!!

Ken

 

Regarding questions:

1 Well answered.

2 Wind noise depends a lot on the wind direction. But is no worse than other cars I've owned.
Road noise was a bit high, but I added sound absorbers in the doors and changed the tires to quiet ones. Now my car measures quieter than my friends luxury Volvo by over 3 DB with A weighting. measured at 55 mph on smooth highway.

But noise in a Prius comes and goes, due to the engine on and off, and the small engine having to rev up for hard acceleration. This can make people think the car is noisy when it isn't. With a regular car the noise is much more constant.

3 Don't see any use for a remote opener. Just touching the handle makes it open and if you aren't at the handle why would you want it open?

 

HANDS FULL = WIRELESS REMOTE POWER HATCH OPENER PLEASE (like on the mini vans).

OPEN SAYS ME (Hey, how about a vox recognition hatch opener. Oh yeah, must train the machine recognize and only open to/on MY VOICE COMMAND). Never mind.

One Wireless Remote Power Hatch Opener please (hold the fries!).


Ken

 

Yeah, but I liked the one in my 1990 Ford Probe where the release was right in front of the gas door opener. Ah well.

 

Remote hatch opener = waste of time. If you can dig a fob out of your pocket to push the button you have enough hands available to open the hatch most of the time. It isn't all that heavy. 'Remote' inside? They are very useful on sedans which have no outside release but have no value on a wagon, hatchback, minivan.

Wind noise, as state, depends on direction. Sometimes I get a bit of wind noise in the driver's window (the only one I notice ) on the interstate if the wind is also blowing hard just the right direction.

Road noise, I would say, is typical for a car of it's class. Maybe a Rolls is REALLY quiet, but I have no way of knowing.

Braking: Shifts from regen to friction at 8 MPH and below. If you hit the brakes hard, panic (or near) stop, you get friction and you will know it. Otherwise, with normal slowing, you will never know when the friction brakes start to come in. I don't tend to push to the red light then stop fast so by the time the friction brakes take over, I'm hardly moving anyway. If you slow at a normal pace for a turn on green (probably at 15 to 20 MPH) the friction brakes will not come on. You WILL take a couple of minutes to figure out how much pressure you need to stop the car in various conditions, as you do with any other "new to you" car. The prior version (2001-2003) did have a 'bump' that you could feel when you went from regen to friction.

 

Mista Tomdeimos:

What tires did you change to???

Thanks for the dB info. I have several dB meters (love the A weighted scale) and will be adding b-quiet to all the doors.

Thanks, Ken

 

See http://priuschat.com/index.php?showtopic=9721&st=40